Evolution of Aquatics: Hospitality
On a recent visit to a nice, but not too fancy franchised hotel in a major city in the US, my wife and I got an overnight away from the kids. Sure enough this hotel had a pool! This hotel was not overly fancy but not generic either. Not only did it have a pool, but the pool was jam packed with people. I mention this specifically because most hotel pools do not typically generate high volume of usage, however this was no ordinary pool. This pool had: a mini- slide, a kiddie water fall, and L-shape play areas, and little spray features around the edges! There was no smell of chlorine, there was no oily film on top of the water, and we could see all of the safety drains. In my personal and professional experience those positive qualities are not common in a general hotel pool. My wife and I actually almost felt guilty for not bringing the kids, but over that quickly when we saw how crowded it was.
I had 2 major epiphanies watching all of the children playing. The first was that this is a trend! More and more hotels are attempting to enhance their standard pool(s) to create an "experience" in their pools to draw the families/younger crowds. As new hotels are being built there is a strategic thought about how to draw local business and families for overnight events. The second light bulb that went off in my head was...there was no increased attempt to keep the kids and parents safe. While there was extensive thought process about "guest fun" in this new and fun hotel pool, there was not an equal thought to increased safety. The standard "no lifeguard on duty" sign was there. The standard "warning" and "depth markers" signs were there, but nothing else. No extra staff. No extra eyes. No extra emergency communication instructions. Nothing different, regarding safety, from this pool to most any other standard hotel pool. I even asked the staff at the hotel desk about usage of the pool and was told it was usually busy at night, especially on the weekends. This weekend happened to have multiple gymnastics teams in town for a tournament. You could only imagine what gymnastics routines were being practiced on the pool deck and in the water by 6,7,8,9 and 10-year boys and girls. Yikes! I was very quickly reminded of how important it is to have a collaborative effort in the hospitality industry when it comes to water!
This hotel was creating a wonderful guest experience but equally setting themselves up for challenges at the same time!