Why hotel guests are "liking" The Cavendish London's Facebook page

Dec. 5, 2010 - PRLog -- SINCE The Cavendish London hotel in Piccadilly started taking social media networking seriously, it has gone up 23 places on TripAdvisor. It is now 26th out of 1,053 London hotels currently reviewed by the site. [Checked: Dec 2, 2010]

On average, London hotels get four reviews per month on TripAdvisor – The Cavendish London’s guests exceed this with around 13 reviews a month about their experience of the hotel.

Fabricio Torres, business development co-ordinator at The Cavendish London, says: “We’ve got a 91% rating in guest reviews on TripAdvisor and will always make a point of responding to our customers on the site – even if they are complaining about something that is out of our control.”

In July, The Cavendish London called in the services of William Murray Communications. The agency started by assessing whether the hotel’s website was optimised ideally for social media. The PR and communications agency then made recommendations to find an internal member of staff who could represent The Cavendish well on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, and who wrote well.

A social media workshop was then carried out for staff. They learned why great content and a good use of keywords attracts more followers and increases the hotel’s rankings on search engines. William Murray has now helped The Cavendish develop an editorial calendar of topics for its blog.

“Our own data found that more customers rely on previous guests’ experiences before booking hotels and restaurants,” says Bernadette Costello, social media director at William Murray Communications. “It was important for The Cavendish to start responding to their guest reviews on TripAdvisor and this has attracted more people to its website.

“When you get potential customers on your website you want them to stay. And by creating rich content that they’ll find useful, you can then subtly include a link to the room booking page without them feeling you’re being too pushy.”

Elsewhere on social media networking sites, The Cavendish has revamped its Facebook page to make it a colourful, vibrant area where customers interact and ask questions about the rooms, hotel and its location before they come. There is also a “book a room” button on Facebook and the menu for dining.

This Christmas, The Cavendish is also running a seasonal, interactive competition to grow its fan-base with free room and prize giveaways. The hotel's internal social media networker has saved costs by learning Facebook coding to run this unique competition, which encourages more fans to “like” its Facebook page. It has increased fans by over 30% in less than a week.

Twitter and Facebook are also used to give hotel visitors frequent insights into the local area of Piccadilly and Mayfair. And because staff at The Cavendish speak several languages, overseas guests are likely to get an answer in their mother tongue if they ask a question on Facebook.

Blogs at The Cavendish can vary. One week it might be about green initiatives the hotel is taking to provide a more eco-friendly luxury stay. Another week it’s the managing director himself, Ciaran Fahy, who is sharing a piece of history of the hotel, whose famous proprietor from 1902-1952 was the celebrity chef of her time Rosa Lewis.

Rosa cooked for King Edward VII, Winston Churchill’s family and would often compete with Auguste Escoffier down the road at The Ritz. Escoffier eventually gave in and crowned Rosa “The Queen of Cooks”.

“All of this rich anecdotal history is so interesting for overseas visitors to The Cavendish and it’s these insights that can be highlighted in blog posts and a special section on The Cavendish website,” says Bernadette Costello, digital and social media director of William Murray.  

Head chef Nitin Padwal introduced a Rosa Lewis-inspired dish at The Cavendish’s British restaurant Petrichor recently and this also gave The Cavendish something unique to blog about. Another social media initiative got the attention of BBC Radio who sent a reporter down to The Cavendish to interview Padwal for its London programme with Jo Good.

Padwal’s Rosa Lewis-inspired dish was roasted fillet of beef served with braised ox cheek millefeuille, celeriac & black truffle puree, which went down well with guests. The recently-renamed restaurant is now getting more of its own reviews on customer review sites such as TopTable.co.uk and Yelp.com.

“No other hotel in Piccadilly can lay claim to such a rich history of cooking, nor such a unique location – and it gives the best views of London from its 15th floor,” says Costello from William Murray.

“The Cavendish London was the first hotel in London to reach an 84% rating for its sustainable practices by Green Tourism London. It’s telling stories like these that make the hotel lively and interesting on social media networking sites.”

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