How to Curate Viral Experiences

Understanding "Experiential Hospitality" can dramatically impact your property's return profile.

Get it right– your virality potential and pricing power go through the roof. Get it wrong– you'll be stuck with a mid-tier product and average returns.

From Viceroy to glamping stays, "experiential hospitality" is being used everywhere…

… but the nuances matter.

This week we're cutting through the fluff to separate truly experiential properties from the rest.

First, a caveat.

“Experiential Hospitality” often leans into one-of-a-kind design or unique experiences or both. 

We talk about unique designs all the time. 

So, this week we're just focusing on the experiences at your property.

And with that…

The importance of experience selection.

The perfectly selected experiences can:

• Increase your Instagrammability & virality potential

• Give you higher pricing power in your market

• Increase the number of repeat guests

• Drive more direct bookings

Key word there–perfectly selected.

Modern travelers are seeking out unique, one-of-one experiences. 

If an accommodation can provide both unique design AND experiences, they will happily spend a majority of their budget on their stay.

No longer is the accommodation just four walls to lay your head at night, it is starting to become the focal point of people’s getaways.

They want the place they are staying to be an experience filled with “perfect moments.”

But these new demands can be easily misinterpreted.

Many big hotels think “experience focused” means MORE.

More experiences. More activities. More options for guests.

Resulting in a laundry list of average offerings.

• Adventure activities

• Cooking classes

• Art experiences

• Hiking

• Wine tasting

• Massages

… none of which were carefully selected to match their ideal guest.

It’s kind of like going to a buffet– a million options, none of which are all that great.

This is not experiential hospitality.

And it doesn’t result in above-average returns.

Here’s what experiential hospitality truly is…

Combining a unique property with experience offerings that cater to your ideal guest profile.

Every experience you have should be carefully selected to match who your guests are and why they are coming to your resort.

Your experience offerings shouldn’t feel like a laundry list of things to choose from, it should be carefully selected to enhance the guests' experiences.

Take Onera for example, our ideal guest profile is central Texas couples looking for a relaxing getaway.

Our experiences include:

• Private wine tours

• Romantic packages

• Premium wine selections

• Catered meals from private chefs

• In-room couples massage

Our guests aren’t coming for an adventurous, high-octane weekend, we don’t have big group activities or strenuous hiking tours. We offer private, intimate experiences often brought directly to our guests in their one-of-a-kind accommodations.

With that said, you do need “enough variety.”

This allows guests to have new experiences every time they visit. Increasing the number of repeat guests (a challenge at many unique stays whose target guests may be seeking a novel experience every time they travel).

Why would they come back if they got the full experience the first time around?

Some of our favorite examples:

1. Chalet Al Foss: A couples oriented romantic mountainside getaway in Italy.

Experiences–

• Rose petal-filled pools & hot tubs

• Heated beds for breakfast in the snow

• Romantic dinners in the forest/ in a treehouse

• Proposal packages

2. Kisawa Sanctuary: A beachside, nature-oriented wellness resort in Mozambique.

Experiences–

• A unique “beehive” spa and wellness studio

• A dune-side lap pool, gym and yoga area

• Active watersports options

• Curated beachside private dinners

3. Babylonstoren: One of the oldest farms in South Africa turned into a couples culinary stay.

Experiences–

• Farm-to-table dining

• Garden & farm tours

• Garden spa experiences 

• Bikes to explore the farm

• Morning harvest and break baking classes

• Wine, olive oil and tea tastings (all grown on property)

4. &Beyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge: An adventure lover's paradise in the middle of the Namibian Desert.

Experiences–

• Dining in the desert

• Stargazing hikes on the dunes

• Helicopter tours over the desert

• Hot air balloon tours over the dunes

• Hiking and e-biking options around the property

How to find the perfect experiences for your property.

While we can’t give you the exact experiences to add to your property…

… here's the thought exercise we use to choose the best experiences.

✅ Your ideal guest profile

• How old are they?

• What matters most to them?

• What hobbies/ interests do they have?

✅ The reasons for visiting

Is the guest looking for a peaceful escape from the city? Are they looking to have a romantic getaway weekend? Are they looking to “reset” from a busy life? Are they looking for adventure and excitement? 

✅ The experience you want to create

What’s the experience you want your guests to have? How do you want your guests to feel when they leave your property? What perfect moments do you want to create?

Once you have a crystal clear vision of your ideal guest and the experience you want them to have, it’s much easier to say “yes” or “no” to the experience offerings you want on your property.

The focus of an experiential hospitality project is not to have as many offerings as possible. It's to curate the perfect experience combinations that help guests maximize their time at your property.

The more we can lean into more carefully selected experiences, the better guest satisfaction we can create and more impact we can have to our bottom line.