When Hilton’s Hampton Inn managers and franchisees decided to “turbocharge” the brand in time for its 2004 20th anniversary, a revamped complimentary breakfast bar became the focal point of a $100 million mission to raise quality and service standards.

According to Brian Cooper, senior director, product and service development, for Hampton Inn in Memphis, and a former franchisee of the brand, the new Hampton On the House breakfast is just one part of the “Make It Hampton” program upgrades. Additional features include complimentary highspeed Internet access, new art throughout public spaces, and a more comfortable and homelike bath experience for guests of 1,350 properties located primarily across the United States.

Make It Happen
Building the brand objectives meant defining guest expectations that could be fulfilled behind each and every Hampton Inn door, says Cooper, a sort of “I know what I am going to get” anticipation. And because 90 percent of guests take the breakfast, it is the program’s centerpiece.

The challenge: create across-the-brand consistencies by bringing structure as well as some flex for individual variations among an almost fully franchised network that impacts about a million people every 10 days.

“We began this program during the economic doldrums,” says Cooper, “and many told us it couldn’t be done. But we went ahead with our objective to put everyone on the same playing field.” The old breakfast bar environment varied a lot, he says. Some properties had great displays. Others were using wicker baskets and hay bales. So it was decided to throw everything out and start over. The objective was to have one point of view. And after a lot of due diligence and consult, that view became the clean sleek look of chrome and Lexan. Tests were done in 100 properties, and numerous changes ensued. For example, 15 cereal dispensers were tried before one got elected.

“We worked with many consultants,” Cooper says, “from designers to corporate chefs, just to get to the launch last fall. Our breakfast committee includes a corporate chef, person from the supply management chain, and two franchisees. We meet at least quarterly to taste food and discuss everything from brand R&D to towels.

Choice of vendor partners was key in the development process. Cooper says they looked at companies who could match needs not just with product, but also with the important details like distribution. One scrambled egg product vendor couldn’t keep up with Hampton Inn production level needs so they were dropped. Those who did make the grade to today include Michael Foods for egg patties, Kelloggs for cereal bars, Sara Lee for muffins and bagels, Smuckers for jellies, Promise margarine and Land O’Lakes butter, Juices by Vitality and Royal Grove.

Zoning
Hot zone: All bars have a hot zone where the menu is different at least three days in a row with choices from seven menus. For example, grits are a universal alternative, but they may never get served in a Seattle property because of regional preferences. New menu items are added regularly, to offer variety and frequently requested selections.

Cold zone: The cold zone has cereals, yogurt, and instant oatmeal in a variety of flavors. The baked zone offers bagels, muffins, wheat break, and sweet pastries.

Fresh zone: The fresh zone is where guests find apples, cut fruit, and bananas. The juice zone has two to four selections, always including at least one orange juice.

Coffee zone: The coffee zone includes three custom Hampton Blends (regular, decaffeinated, and robust) from S&D, Sara Lee or Royal Cup. Teas are by Pickwick and Bigelow.

Jay Javid, assistant GM at Hampton Inn in Manassas, Virginia, says one item on his hotel’s breakfast bar stands above all others—the bagel topper. “It is by far the most popular item we serve,” Javid says.

Cooper says Javid’s customer favorite has national scope. The little Hampton breakfast pizza laden with bacon, egg, and cheese bits is a product of Better Baked Foods, Inc. in North East, Pennsylvania. “We discovered them at a food show while trying out a variety of breakfast meats,” says Cooper. “Lots of people want bacon, but many state health departments object because bacon frying produces grease-laden vapors. With this product, we can add bacon to the lineup. It’s been so popular every where that the folks at Grand Prairie tell us they have had to put on another shift to keep up with our needs.”

Consistency is not airtight, Cooper says, but each property has the same set of Logos and quality control, including unannounced quality assurance “we are tough” auditors. Customer opinions count too, and they reply to more than one query.

SALT (satisfaction and loyalty tracking system) by Medallia of Menlo Park, California, is one Hampton Inn measurement that tracks a comprehensive roster of opinion points—from the reservations process to fitness facilities, guest-room cleanliness, and the breakfast bar. SALT surveys get mailed or emailed to frequent guests’ homes, and there’s a return goal of 50 per hotel a month. Rate of return is high from these loyal customers, Cooper says, and they are telling management they are happy with the new breakfast standard.

“Our initial breakfast launch took our consumer satisfaction rating up five points, and it’s now up a couple of points even more.”

Guests who leave before the 6–10AM breakfast bar hours can grab Hampton’s “On the Run Breakfast Bag” from the front desk, available from 5:30 AM. It’s also complimentary and prepackaged with nutrition and appeal in a blueberry muffin, cereal bar, apple, bottled water, Hampton mints, and a napkin.

Though it looks as if the brand’s new standards for breakfast are taking Hampton where its managers want it to be, nobody is coasting. “We’ll never stop the fine tuning in order to freshen the product and offer new taste experiences,” says Cooper. “We will continue to innovate, meeting quarterly, if not more often. We operate on the adage that if you rest on your laurels, you are wearing them on the wrong end.”

Ruth A. Hill is a Virginia-based writer.