Boutique Hotel Acacia clearly shows what added value means in the hotel industry

Free for guests...or a story about added value in tourism.

If we were a little smarter, i.e. watched and learned from other people's mistakes in our tourism development, such as Spain, small family hotels (now also boutique and luxury hotels) would be the backbone of our tourism.

If we started with private accommodation, it would be a logical sequence if only today, after 20+ years of tourism, we had a transformation from private accommodation to small family hotels. Of course, not all, but at least a few hundreds of small family hotels all over the Adriatic coast that operate throughout the year. Or small family hotels ( MOH ) with a story, as I personally call them, since each MOH is different, has a personal and personalized approach, has a soul, just like us people. 

I was recently in Lovran and just chose a small boutique hotel for my accommodation. The word "accommodation" is kind of empty to me, because as much as the motive of arrival is not a hotel or a bed, accommodation certainly plays an important role in the overall experience. And when we talk about small family hotels, the owner's approach and the overall quality of service are certainly additionally emphasized.

Boutique Hotel Acacia is a small family hotel that has nurtured the family tradition since 1952. It has 8 rooms at the 4* level, as well as a small wellness oasis.

The Štanger restaurant, located within the hotel, functions as an a la carte restaurant, but they offer breakfast for hotel guests - serving and service is a personal approach, not a buffet, more "a la carte breakfast" - again a story for itself. 

As part of the accommodation, they also offer dinner with two menus that change every day by choice and at a promotional price of 20 euros per person. Which is way below the restaurant's regular a la carte price and also goes into another added value. The hotel also has its own free parking, which is certainly important for every guest, as well as a charging station for electric vehicles. There is also a small wellness area with an indoor pool, three saunas and a massage room.

Free for guests - added value for hotel guests

Often, hotels additionally charge for parking per day, as well as sunbeds on the "hotel" beach. Personally, I think it is better to include that price in the total price of the accommodation.

I don't know how Boutique Hotel Acacia formed the accommodation price policy, but I can certainly say that it is much better when these services are free for the price of accommodation. 

On the Acacia beach below the hotel guests have free sunbeds, canopies, kayaks and vultures. Free for hotel guests. Of course, they are not free, but are included in the price of accommodation. 

Very simple. It is about added value. 

It is not about money, but about added value as well as an overall better experience of the stay and the entire service of the hotel.

They also have electrical sockets on the arranged sunbathing area, which is certainly a great move because we are all dependent on various electrical devices today, from cell phones, laptops, tablets, smart watches to electric cigarettes. By the way, the number of sockets in hotel rooms is one of the big problems for hoteliers. Today we need a minimum of 2, if not three sockets per person in the room. That's why I always carry an extension cable with me in my bag, because hotels simply don't have enough sockets. But that's another topic. 

As the hotel has 8 rooms, all guests have their own place, on a deck chair or a canopy. Of course, beach towels are included in the accommodation price. There is also a shower on the "beach" as well as the hotel staff, who take care of the guests and I didn't have the burden of leaving my things on the beach while I relaxed enjoying the sea.

The only suggestion to this hotel would be to have a bar, i.e. offer drinks, since the staff is on the beach anyway, and does not have a demanding function other than charging for sunbeds for visitors who are not hotel guests, helping with lowering kayaks into the sea and keeping things away from guests. When they already have staff on the beach, there is a small number of places, and that would surely increase the income a little, because everyone would drink at least one drink on the beach if they could. Admittedly, as far as I understand, you can order drinks from the hotel, but since there is no bar on the beach, no one consumed a drink, at least on a couple of occasions while I was on the beach. 

But the point of the story is the added value. Even if the price of the accommodation was lower, and if by paying the price of the deckchair I had come to the same financial end, I would have chosen sooner and felt better if everything was included in the price of the accommodation and the deckchair was free. Again, it's not about money, it's about they make me emperor philosophy. 

/ / / When the article from 2018 is still relevant: "MAKE ME CARE" as the main philosophy in tourism

In the domain of added value, they also have free coffee in the room. 

As a coffee drinker who has to drink espresso in the morning, I don't understand hoteliers (4* hotels in most cases now have coffee in the room) and accommodation owners who don't have a coffee machine in the room.

Give me that feeling of drinking coffee in the morning on the balcony with a view of the sea. Charge me extra for that coffee if you have to, but don't deprive me of that experience. Guests don't want to go down to the hotel reception to get coffee. Simply because it's a hassle - you have to get dressed, and thus wake up to the end, go down to the cafe and take the coffee to the room. In this way, I can literally get out of bed and go to the terrace and enjoy my coffee with a view. In fact, nowadays hoteliers should also think about the quality of coffee they offer in the room, and not just whether they have a coffee machine.

Of course, we paid for all that in the price of the hotel. Great value for money. Not only are we delighted, but the service or the entire hotel package is beyond expectations. Definitely a positive example for all current and future tourism workers. 

Boutique Hotel Acacia works all year round (except for a week around Christmas if I understood correctly), employs local workers, I don't know when was the last time I spoke in Croatian with the staff in charge of cleaning the hotel, uses local supply chains as much as possible , hires throughout the year. 

This is the tourism we must strive for. This is higher quality tourism. It is value-added tourism. Deliver value for money, not just raising prices without raising the quality of service. 

An added value that I'm sure will return to the owners of Boutique Hotel Acacia in the long run with referrals and regular guests. They bought me at first, from the first contact to asking if we have any food allergens due to breakfast.

All the added values ​​I have listed are part of a mosaic of small things or pieces in the overall mosaic that make a difference. It is value added and value for money. 

If the Faculty of Management in Tourism and Hospitality Opatija has to send students for internships somewhere, as well as provide support in development with its knowledge and resources, then it is certainly Boutique Hotel Acacia as well as other small family hotels. I won't talk about the tourist board's focus on them. Unfortunately, small family hotels are in the most difficult situation to be profitable due to their high standard and small number of rooms. It takes a lot of pieces to line up so that at the end of the year, not the season, they are in the red. 

The basis is family and tradition, as in Austria, where we have been looking to for decades and pointing to a positive example. Boutique Hotel Acacia was not created overnight, but was built since 1952. This is now just the crown of family work and development over the years and generations. 

Well done to the owners of Boutique Hotel Acacia in Lovran. Thank you for being a guide for future generations. 

PS also use the domestic booking system Rentlio, which further strengthens the domestic economy. 

PS 2 This is not a paid article.

PS 3 Always book accommodation directly on the hotel's website.