Westin Arlington Gateway
Situational Analysis of Westin Arlington Gateway
The customers that patronize the Westin Arlington Gateway cannot be easily stereotyped or generalized, even though this is an expensive hotel. Typically the guests at the hotel include: a) the business traveler in his mid-fifties; b) the science instructor visiting the National Science Foundation nearby; c) the family visiting Washington D.C. (and the famous sites) with two children; and d) and the recent college graduate applying for an internship at the Smithsonian. For the recent graduate, Arlington is ranked #1 for the Best Places for Recent Grads to Find Jobs, according to the Arlington Economic Development website. Arlington is also ranked #6 among the top 10 healthiest cities, and this appeals to the person or family that care about clean air, public transportation and efficient services.
As for the family with two children (who also have a gentle dog that the family idolizes) who came to the Westin hotel because the hotel's website offered a dog-friendly "oasis of calm," so this family took the hotel up on it. They brought their dog, and even though they forgot to ask the concierge about the "Heavenly Dog Bed" the marketing literature offered, there was a knock on their hotel room door and a housekeeping staffer brought the bed and a pair of bowls for the dogs. Everything else seemed to be perfect except one showerhead leaked, and "the toilet screeched like a banshee when flushed" and they were situated in a room directly across from a loud construction site (Kyrstal, 2010).
Customer Issues / Complaints
Clearly not everyone that stays at the Westin Arlington Gateway is fully satisfied, nor are everyone's needs fulfilled. The "Guest Reviews" reveal problems and negative issues. On March 10, of this year a customer vowed never to come back. The room he was in smelled of stale cigarette smoke. The handle on the shower came off in his hand. The hallways smelled of chlorine, and after notifying the front desk, "nothing was ever done."
Another guest (March 12, 2016) also complained of cigarette smoke, in rooms and on the elevator. After complaints, "The staff didn't seem to care and offered nothing in return for the inconvenience." A guest on March 6, 2016, said the "service was mediocre," the check in process was "slow" (a long line of guests waiting to check in were not assisted), and the water in the shower "was tepid rather than hot." On January 28, 2016, a guest claimed he was overcharged for his room (he found out when he got his credit card statement). On January 13 a guest complained that the ice machine was not working, the room was noisy, and dirty clothes from another guest were found under the bed. Also, no utensils were delivered with the room service food.
On January 12, there was no soap in the room and the restaurant and bar was "badly understaffed," a guest wrote. A lot of noise kept guests awake when pipes were knocking. On August 3 another problem with the restaurant was raised; a party of 12 waited over an hour for their food and one meal that was supposed to be with shrimp had no shrimp. On June 18, 2015, a guest mentioned noisy pipes again. And the air conditioning did not cool off the room. (Guest Reviews).
Company: There are approximately 200 Westin Hotels and Resorts, and the company overall has a good reputation. The "Well-Being Movement" is a very positive marketing tool but judging from some of the complaints from customers Westin has some work to do to improve services.
As to company ownership, a Chinese consortium is "challenging Marriott International's $12 billion takeover of Starwood Hotels, operator of upscale hotel brands including Westin" (Gara, 2016). That consortium is offering $76 a share for Starwood, but Marriott is due a $400 million breakup fee if Starwood accepts the Chinese offer (Gara, p. 6).
Competition: A number of hotels are located in the Ballston region of Arlington. The traveler has a wide choice in terms of price and location. The Econo Lodge Metro (for the budget traveler) is a few blocks from the Westin (from $135 a night; free parking; no pets). The Hilton Hotel Arlington & Towers starts at $218 a night, is about 6 blocks from the Westin, has 209 rooms, and is next to the Ballston Metro Station (no pets allowed). The Comfort Inn (from $225 a night) has 126 rooms (no pets; free parking) and is right on the busy Memorial Parkway leading into Washington, D.C. (10 blocks from the Westin). The Holiday Inn at Ballston (from $299; no pets; parking $14 per night) offers 221 rooms and is the closest competitor to the Westin. And the Westin Arlington Gateway has 336 rooms (pet friendly; $26 per night for parking) and starts at $324 per night (HotelGuides.com).
Collaborators: The Westin Arlington Gateway collaborates with vendors like the...
Bipolar Disorder English Literature Bipolar disorder, as much as thirty years ago, was a big American secret. Bipolar disorder was not as common knowledge as it is today. During the latter 20th century and 21st century a lot of light has been shed on the subject of bipolar disorder: the diagnoses, the treatments, the signs, and the ways to live with the disorder, both for the sufferer as well as the
Educational Leadership in Latino Students Flow of Information: Introduction/Preliminary Lit Analysis Status of Performance of Latino Students Why Study Latinos? Why the Latino Performance is Low? How to change the situation? Los Angeles Specific Data/Information Increase & Improve Teacher/School Parent Communication Train the teachers - Development Improve Substitute Teaching Set High Expectations Latino Experience in Princeton Tracking of Students' Performance - Is it Right? Latino Para-Educator Vs Latino Student How do teacher expectations affect student outcomes? This study was intended to investigate whether teacher expectation of
Government Subsidized Student Loans Have Economic Costs but Political Benefits Higher education has become increasingly important in the contemporary world scenario today where globalization has led to a higher need for a skilled labor force that is mobile and that is well-versed in the academic disciplines followed all over the world. In fact university education is starting to be seen as a hallmark for success, even though there are college drop
The acculturation model developed by Schumann (1978) consists of a taxonomy of variables that were developed based on the concept that both social (group) and affective (individual) variables are the primary causative variables as shown in Table __ below. In this regard, the term "acculturation" is used to refer to the learner's positive identification with, and hence social and psychological integration with, the target language group. For instance, Schumann
Columbus (3) found that within the customer service arena, one CRM capability in particular demonstrated the greatest impact on profit improvement -- customer service execution. Integration into Overall Marketing Strategy SAP seeks to improve global campaigns' effectiveness at generating qualified sales leads, and to do so at lower cost per lead and greater speed over the Internet. To accomplish this SAP conducts an internal evaluation of its Marketing practices and uncovers the
One of those alarming physical changes is that the younger a person is when they begin drinking, even at low levels the more likely they are to become alcoholics. This change even overrides a known genetic predisposition for alcoholism. (Butler, July 4, 2006) Time forward ads regarding adult failure could be developed at a later time but again such images and concerns do not seem to sway teens. Funding
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now