You had me at Chatrapati...

I wrote about my positive arrival experience at Bombay's airport. With my departure to London today, I have completed my first arrival and departure sequence from the new international terminal.

I must admit, I'm impressed.

You had me at dedicated, fast and friendly business class checkin, security and immigration. You just overwhelmed me with flowing natural light, convenient gate access, impressive retail, moving walkways everywhere, high vaulted ceilings, creative art installations, green eco-walls, water features galore... and that's just the start.

People who read my posts know how critical I can be. First impressions here are very positive. Well done Bombay, well done.

Tons of natural light, high ceilings and no lines welcomed me to the new departures terminal.

Moving walkways, eco-walls, and convenient gate access? Yup.

Hello Boston!

According to the Boston East India Hotels business plan, "instead of catering to primarily Western or American travelers, hospitality companies of the future must plan to be conversant and proficient in the needs and desires of global travelers."

This "Hello Boston" ad for Emirates Airlines' new service to Boston from Bombay (via Dubai), which blanketed Linking Road in Bandra, Mumbai, today shows the resonance of our vision as we build our Troca Hotels brand into a collection of exceptional lifestyle luxury hotels in global gateways designed for travelers from around the world exploring an ever expanding universe.

Bombay's Airport Grows up - First Thoughts

I had heard a few rumblings about the new international terminal at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. Having lived in Bombay for several years a few years ago, I remember the airport being the bane of my travel existence. Dusty, dirty, functionally difficult, it was everything I didn't want in a travel experience.

I am happy to report that things have changed. Here are my first thoughts from landing at Bombay after a red-eye flight from London on BA199: Arriving at BOM was a breeze. Lots of carpeted territory to cover, but miles of moving walkways to assist.  I felt like I was at Delhi's airport, perhaps without the chauvinism and fear of being shot on the highway.  I thought the art and installations were - dare I say - interesting, and this was the first time in my life that Bombay immigration wasn't revolting. That said, the customs bit was still overkill, including the massive "x" marks they scribble in chalk on suitcases they suspect contain an extra few Rupees of goods. Saw a few nice suitcases indelibly marked so.

Parking and airport exit also happened smoothly. Yes, that's right. Smoothly. All in all, though, positive marks for an airport experience I once dreaded. Thankfully, the one hour backup steps away from the airport on the Western Express Highway traversing the ill-placed and poorly-timed construction effort on one of Mumbai major arterial highways reminded me, alas, I was back in Bombay. Unlike the US, however, this was likely sheer incompetence at the highway planning department and a healthy dose of low level corruption than the efforts of a New Jersey Governor Christie wannabe at work. Ahh, Mumbai, there you are!

Hotels On Point But Off The Beaten Path

Looking for hotels in Aix-en-Provence, France; Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany; Malmagen, Sweden; Oletta, Corsica; Puglia, Italy; Zafferana Etnea, Sicily; Istanbul; or London but tired of the big brands and being treated like a number by their loyalty point programs? Check out this article by Odine Cohane and Gisela Williams in The New York Times for some cool hotels off the beaten path.

Loyalty Programs for Small and Boutique Properties (NYT)

Loyalty programs are the drugs that keep frequent travelers addicted to large hotel companies and brand systems. Whether for points or recognition, frequent travelers as a class have repeatedly demonstrated that they will pay more and be more loyal to a company if it belongs to a program that offers them benefits and/or points that become more valuable or accrue more rapidly as frequency of use increases. Best depicted in the recent George Clooney movie Up in the Air, loyalty programs have become an end, not merely a means, for the frequent hotel consumer

Big hotel companies such as Marriott, Hilton, and Starwood have built and are able to maintain a critical mass of hotels in their systems and therefore gain nearly automatic distribution for their rooms. With the exception of Starwood's W (which may not really be an exception), there has not been much in the way of loyalty programs for lifestyle and independent hotels. For the most part, having a loyalty program and running a boutique hotel have been mutually exclusive activities. With the growth in the importance of loyalty programs and the continued interest in the boutique or lifestyle segment, a new trend has emerged: the creation of consortium of independent assets tied to a common rewards system (see NY Times article). That development will most certainly aid in the development of innovative and independent properties, something we should all note.

As the larger hotel brands soften their sometimes stodgy images and products and open their own lifestyle and luxury hotels, it is important to note that loyalty and rewards programs, once viewed as a feature reserved for big chains, are fast becoming quite ubiquitous. Such programs, if available to boutique and independent properties, may no longer shield poorer branded products and services, like they have in years past. Branded products have long offered the promise of consistency and rewards. Creativity, passion, and excitement -- things we associate with lifestyle products -- have not been features we expect from the bigger brands. The availability of rewards and loyalty programs to consumers of those products may very well change the landscape of the industry by (a) further leveling the playing field between the independents and the brands and (b) altering the hotels that the large brand companies decide to build as a result. Stay tuned.

Click here for an article from the New York Times on loyalty programs being launched by small and independent hotel,.