796. Travel Stories - First Impressions Count

7am Abacus tierpark hotel to Hamburg airport to Dubai.

WHAT MAKES THIS HOTEL SUCESSFUL AS A BUSINESS?

Abascus TierPark Hotel, Berlin, Away from downtown, Near Zoo. Has theme of animals e.g. dining table has a wooden elephant. Big framed close up of a cock, fish, fruits on walls.


1. First impressions of reception and dining room shows a well managed hotel.
2. Affordable to tour agencies. Top in travel tour gp revenue in Berlin? Least costly 4-star hotel for Gulliver and other travel agencies apparently.
Rates 99e single 120e double for walk in clustomers
3. Free car parking.
Free Independent Travellers around 30% estimated. Free car parking. Weekend v high occupancy tour gp (Europeans mainly).

4. Provides 8 lots for coach parking. Max 400 tourists if all 8 coaches come. Hotel has only 300 rooms and therefore occupancy rates can be 100%.
Hard to find free car park lots in Berlin and this is probably its selling point.

5. "A" introduced. ABACUS Tierpark Hotel. I noted that the neon sign shows only Tierpark. Therefore ABACUS must be a later addition to the name. "A" is top of phone listing advantage. Has a real abascus displayed at reception but hotel owner is not Chinese. "Abascus" is just for top listing

6. Robust revenue is dependent on buoyant tourist economy. Berlin's downtown and Brandenburg gate appeared to be full of Caucasian tourists in the time I was there. Long queue outside Madam Tussard Wax Museum.

7. Privately owned

OTHERS
No free internet access Around 50% of Berlin hotels do not provide free internet access
Zoo theme
bedroom 2 single beds slide towards each other to form a double bed. One of the beds creak and squeak. No maintenance check as the Winchester Hotel in Dubai has good beds, mattresses and two solid pillows. European hotels provide one thin pillow and soft mattresses in general or is it the quality of hotels selected by EU tours? What to expect for packaged tourists on a lean budget?
Mainly Netherland tourists for this hotel.

TIPS
1. Temp around 4 deg C. Can be quite cold inside the room

Steam heating in this hotel. Must check as the setting in room and bathroom. The setting may be zero and the room is cold. Setting no. 5 means a hot room.

Ensure windows are properly shut or cold air comes in.


Berlin has >1 million tourists a day according to desk manager and low unemployment rate of 7% (Dresden 17%).

NO English brochures for guest - Not interested in English-speaking or Asian groups as Europeans form main clientele
Free n lots car park spaces unlike Berlin's other hotels