Episode 32: Personalizing Your Travel Experience with ExpectMe with Roeland Verhamme & Jeroen Vaassen

Ready to take your travel experience to the next level? In this episode of "Hospitable," co-founders Roeland Verhamme and Jeroen Vaassen of ExpectMe reveal how their cutting-edge platform is revolutionizing hotel stays by allowing guests to select specific rooms based on personal preferences. Imagine choosing a room just like you would a seat on a plane – it’s a game-changer! We dive into the power of personalization in hospitality, the impact on guest satisfaction, and how hotels can unlock hidden revenue with this innovative approach. Whether you're a frequent traveler or a hotelier, this episode is packed with insights you won't want to miss!

Podcast Timestamps:
[00:03:58] Room selection in hospitality.
[00:08:45] Guest experience and technology integration.
[00:11:00] Personalized guest experiences.
[00:14:20] Personalized hotel room selection.
[00:18:04] Unique travel experiences for guests.
[00:19:01] Room selection and guest preferences.
[00:23:36] Guest experience and hotel flexibility.
[00:25:44] Human connection in hospitality.
[00:30:01] Guest experience and room selection.
[00:34:39] Customer lifetime value in hospitality.
[00:37:11] Flexibility in hotel room selection.
[00:39:57] Guest experience in podcasting.

Quotes:
00:01:08 - "You can create so much of a unique opportunity for the guest experience and the hotel that provide that guest experience."
00:04:43 - "That was a real anticlimax because I booked a room with a sea view... but that expectation was definitely not met."
00:09:07 - "I do think that also bringing somebody in that's not his whole career and whole life could also be super helpful by thinking about how do we build a better mousetrap."
00:10:55 - "I think that hotels, they can do such a great job by focusing more towards the experience that they can provide."
00:14:11 - "I love this idea that you can actually personalize that experience based on the city that you're in and the type of travel that you're doing."
00:16:02 - "I think if you think about the rigid room types, you're sort of forcing people to think in what makes sense for you as a hotel."
00:19:31 - "I want a different experience every time I go somewhere."
00:22:09 - "There's only one person that knows which room you really would like and that's you as a hotel guest yourself."
00:24:39 - "Even if some of those simple questions, that could have been a huge change in the guest experience taking into account."
00:27:11 - "We want to take the burden away from the hotel as well so that they can actually have time to spend with the guests on talking about how was your flight?"
00:28:36 - "That is something to pay attention to, right? And that does affect the guest experience."
00:31:07 - "For them it's a no-brainer because they all say, I mean, yeah, why am I not able to select my room? Yeah, that would be actually a really great experience."
00:34:03 - "I think that's such a unique, there's a uniqueness to this where this could really change how you experience the hotel."
00:35:58 - "I think we're just at the beginning, right? And I think to your point, we're obviously a startup, we're just getting warmed up."
00:38:51 - "We're omnivores. We love automation. We love process simplicity, right? That's the name of the game."