How to "Sell" a Hotel:怎么卖酒店

The Three Pillars of a Quote: Hotels, Vehicles, and Interpreters

— A Personal Evolution on "How to Choose a Hotel"

When preparing a quote, three elements are unavoidable: Hotels, Vehicles, and Interpreters. Vehicles and Interpreters are relatively straightforward to explain:

• Vehicles: Route, duration, and car model.

• Interpreters: Language proficiency, professional background, and working hours.

However, the Hotel is always the most difficult "sell." How do you sell a hotel? How do you convince a client to accept your recommendation? This is a challenge I’ve encountered repeatedly and a rite of passage for every newcomer in this industry.

A Simple Question That Is Getting Harder to Answer

Recently, I’ve been asked frequently: "Which hotels do you usually work with? What are their features? Why choose them?" Interestingly, my answer to this question has changed at every stage of my career.

• When I first started: Someone would ask why I chose a particular hotel, and my internal monologue was: "Because the boss told me to." At the time, I didn't see anything wrong with that. "Safety" was the only standard—the company used it frequently, seniors recommended it, and the system had a set price.

• As I became more experienced: My answer evolved to: "Our operations team is familiar with them, and it’s easy to secure rooms." This is a very "industry-centric" answer. It means I know when to book, how to negotiate policies, whom to call if problems arise, and how to have a backup plan. But honestly, this answer doesn't necessarily move the client. Sometimes they’d even joke: "Why is it always these few? Are these the only ones you know?" (I used to feel a bit defensive—sales is always the meat in the sandwich! 😂)

The Realization: Sales as a "Storyteller"

I eventually realized that from an overseas traveler’s perspective, the logic of choosing a hotel is entirely different. Before they understand the Japanese hotel ecosystem, they prioritize "recognizable security."

This is why, for two hotels of the same four-star caliber, the confirmation rate for international brands is often much higher than for local brands. It’s not because the local hotel is inferior; it’s because the client doesn't know how to judge its quality.

Japan’s "Counter-Intuitive" Hotel Feature

There is a uniquely Japanese trait that isn't intuitive to foreigners: Japanese hotels, especially Ryokans (hot spring inns), usually don't have an official star-rating system. Unlike many countries with government-mandated stars, a hotel’s status in Japan is built over time through:

• Long-term reputation

• Market feedback

• Actual operational standards

If no one "translates" this logic for the client, it remains invisible. Therefore, the problem isn't "whether the hotel is good," but rather:

1. Have you placed this hotel into a story the client understands?

2. Have you explained why this local hotel is a more rational choice than an international brand within this specific city, budget, and itinerary?

Once I realized this, "ease of booking" stopped being the selling point and became merely the internal foundation for my decision.

The Spark: The Origin of Prince Hotels

My recent reflection wasn't triggered by a specific quote or a client challenge. It came from a YouTube interview I saw a few days ago. The interview had nothing to do with tourism, but the subject briefly mentioned the origin of Prince Hotels. Despite using the Prince chain so often, I never knew its history—shame on me! 😂 The history of Seibu Prince Hotels is not just about real estate; it is deeply tied to Japan's post-war social changes and Imperial history.

• 1947: After WWII, members of the Imperial family (the shinnoke and ōke) lost their titles and faced massive wealth taxes. To survive, they had to sell their estates.

• The First "Prince": Yasujiro Tsutsumi (founder of Seibu) purchased the summer villa of the Asaka-no-miyafamily in Karuizawa. He preserved the Western-style building and opened it as the "Prince Hotel." The name "Prince" was a tribute to the original owner’s status, lending the brand an aura of nobility and elegance.

• The Expansion: He continued acquiring former Imperial lands in Tokyo: Takanawa/Shinagawa (former Takeda-no-miya estate) and Akasaka (former residence of the Yi royal family).

Hotels as a Gateway to Discovery

When travelers come to Japan, they seek more than just scenery; they seek the intersection of humanity, politics, and geography. When we design an itinerary, we must ask: Why is this hotel here? For whom was it built? What era and demographic did it serve?

When you ask these questions, a hotel stops being just "a place to sleep." It becomes a link to:

• The logic of urban development

• The functional positioning of a district

• The evolution of the clientele

To me, this is the process of re-learning "tourism." Looking at a hotel this way is like reverse-engineering a destination. Instead of looking at the sights first, you look at who comes here and why. When a hotel is placed back into its original context, it becomes an entry point for deciphering a city or even a nation.

This is where we, as a DMC, can provide true value—using the hotel as a thread, a background, and a storyteller.

Of course, this also means continuously exploring new hotel options to match different client profiles, purposes, and expectations.

It is a journey that requires us to keep moving forward.

报价离不开的三项：酒店、车、翻译

——关于“怎么选酒店”的一次自我进化

做报价，永远绕不开三项：酒店、车、翻译。

车和翻译，相对好解释：

路线、时长、车型

语言、专业背景、工作时间

但酒店，永远是最难“卖”的那一项。

怎么卖酒店？怎么让客人接受你推荐的酒店？这是我在工作中反复遇到的难题，也是新人培训的必经之路。

一个看似简单，却越来越难回答的问题

只要是遇到新的客户，都会问的问题：「你们经常合作的酒店有哪些？有什么特点？为什么选这些？」

很有意思的是，这个问题，我每个阶段的答案都不一样。

刚入行的时候：

有人问我为什么用这个酒店，我心里的 OS 是：老板说用这个。

当时并没有觉得哪里不对。公司常用、前辈在用、系统里有价格——“安全”就是唯一标准。

做熟之后：

再被问到同样的问题，我的回答变成了：手配比较熟，好拿房。

这是一个非常“业内”的答案。意味着我知道什么时候好订、什么时候能要到政策、遇到问题找谁、怎么兜底。

但老实说，这个回答——并不能一定能打动客人。

很多时候还会被吐槽：「怎么来来去去都是这几家？你们到底行不行」

哈哈哈😂当时还会有点委屈，营业就是个夹心饼干呀，哈哈哈。

直到后来我慢慢意识到一件事：

营业在这个时候，应该是一个“会讲故事的人”。

从海外游客的视角，酒店选择逻辑是完全不同的

站在海外游客的角度，他们在还不了解日本酒店生态之前，往往会优先选择“看得懂的安全感”。

这也是为什么在很多情况下，同样是四星级别的酒店：

• 国际品牌的确认率

• 往往远远高于 local 品牌

不是因为 local 酒店不好，而是因为——客人不知道该如何判断它“好不好”。

日本酒店的一个“反直觉”特点

这里其实有一个非常日本特色、但对海外客人并不直观的点：

日本的酒店，大多数并不是自己给自己评星的。特别是温泉酒店。

不像很多国家有官方星级体系，日本更多是：

• 基于长期口碑

• 市场评价

• 实际运营水准慢慢“刷”出来的认知

当然，也有一部分酒店在建成之初，在规模、设施、动线设计上就对标了某个等级，但最终能不能被认为是“好酒店”，依然是由口碑决定的。

而这一整套逻辑，如果没人帮客人翻译，他们是很难自己理解的。

所以，问题从来不是“酒店好不好”

而是：

• 你有没有把这家酒店放进一个客人听得懂的故事里

• 你有没有替他解释清楚：

  为什么这家 local 酒店，在这个城市、这个价位、这个行程里，是一个比国际品牌更合理的选择

当我意识到这一点之后，“好拿房”“合作多年”就不再是对外的卖点，而只是内部决策的基础条件。

为什么会突然开始反复思考“卖酒店”这件事

其实我最近会反复想到这个问题，并不是因为某个具体的报价，也不是因为某一次被客人 challenge。而是前几天，在YouTube上看了一个和酒店完全没有关系的采访。

采访的内容本身，与旅游、酒店、报价都没有任何直接关联。但在中间的某一个片段里，采访对象很轻描淡写地提到了一句——Prince 酒店的起源。prince系酒店我真的用的非常多，但这是第一次了解到他的由来，失礼了😂

西武王子大饭店（Seibu Prince Hotels）的起源不仅是一段商业地产的发展史，更与日本战后的社会变迁和皇室历史紧密相关。

“王子饭店”（Prince Hotel）的名字首次出现是在 1947年。二战结束后，日本皇室成员（旧宫家）失去了皇籍，且面临盟军司令部（GHQ）征收的巨额财产税，生活陷入困境。堤康次郎收购了位于长野县轻井泽的朝香宫家（Asaka-no-miya）的夏季避暑别邸。他没有拆除这栋西洋建筑，而是将其改建并命名为“Prince Hotel”开业。由于其原主人的“王子”身份，这个名字极具品牌魅力，象征着高贵与优雅。在收购了轻井泽的物业后，堤康次郎继续在东京市内大规模收购由于皇室缩减而流出的土地：高轮与品川： 1953年，他在原竹田宫（Takeda-no-miya）的领地上开设了高轮王子饭店（现高轮皇家王子大饭店）。赤坂： 1955年，他在原李王家（朝鲜王室后裔）的宅邸遗址上开设了赤坂王子饭店（已拆除，现址为东京纪尾井町王子画廊）。1956年，西武铁道将旗下的饭店业务正式独立，成立了“株式会社王子大饭店”，以此奠定了现代连锁品牌的基础。

为什么叫 Prince 而不是 King？ 据传堤康次郎非常尊敬皇室，他在收购这些宫家土地时承诺会妥善保护建筑，并以“Prince”命名以示对原主人的敬意。这种做法在当时帮助他顺利购得了很多由于政治原因难以出手的核心地段。

如果说来日本参观，除了看风景，日本的人文政治地理也是客人所需所求。

我们在设计行程或者选择酒店的时候，要考虑到一个问题，酒店：它为什么会在那里，它适合谁，它有怎样的故事。

带着问题去看酒店，看到的是更深层次的旅游信息

当我们开始问：

这家酒店为什么会在这里？

它一开始是为谁而存在的？

它解决的是什么时代、什么人群的需求？

你会发现，酒店就不再只是一个“睡觉的地方”。

它开始连接起：

城市的发展逻辑

区域的功能定位

客群的变化

以及这个目的地真正想被如何使用

对我来说，这也是重新理解“旅游”的过程

带着这样的问题去看酒店，其实是在倒着理解一个目的地。

不是先看景点，而是看——谁会来这里，为什么会来。

当酒店被放回到它原本的语境里，它自然就成为了解读一个城市、甚至一个国家的入口。

也正因为如此，我希望在提供酒店服务的时候把它当作线索，当作背景，也是我们作为 DMC，能够真正提供价值的地方。

当然，这也意味着要不断发掘更多的酒店资源，去匹配不同客群、不同目的、不同期待。

这是一条需要一直走在路上的工作。

ーーー今日份有感而发

2026/1/26

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