Live and direct

• Q&A’s decision to offer cash back to direct bookers as part of its membership of The Guestbook reward program for independent and boutique hotel brands is an interesting move, and echoes my call in the previous SAN newsletter for serviced apartments to increase their efforts to market to affluent leisure and bleisure travellers.

Aligning the brand with boutique hotels, rather than the more traditional corporate housing associated with Q&A’s parent company Furnished Quarters, is a definite b2bc play and is clearly beginning to pay dividends – during an initial test phase, conversions increased by 25 per cent whenever the reward program was visible to prospective guests. Due to the results, Q&A Hotel has rolled the program out to all guests who book direct.

Loyalty and membership programs are an area where serviced apartments – with a few exceptions – can learn a lot from mainstream hotels, and it’s encouraging to see traction in this area.