For the past two months, Marriott Marquis and Hyatt Regency at McCormick Place have been offering weekly running tours to their hotel guests.
Complimentary for the guests, easy for the hotels. And a very visible way to extend the guest experience beyond the front door.
The runs start in the hotel lobbies and take guests along Chicago’s scenic waterfront, with one of our local guides leading the way. In Chicago, General Managers Matt Schalk and Didier Luneau also joined, adding a personal hotel welcome.
Guests can just show up and run. No route planning, no safety worries, no hotel treadmill while the city is right outside.
There have been three pillars of success.
- GENERAL MANAGERS AS CHAMPIONS
The weekly running tours were championed by each hotel’s General Manager and the runs were called “Run with the GMs”. Matt and Didier would lace up and join guests every week on the run, leaving guests with a unique welcome and attention from the hotel leadership into their hotel stay.
- WORD OF MOUTH (GUESTS MAKE MEDIA NOISE)
Guests post about the run on LinkedIn, on Instagram and on Strava. They tag the hotel, they show the waterfront, the guide, the group and the “look what my hotel offered this morning” moment.
- GUEST DELIGHT
Guest are delighted by the service and view the hotel as understanding and prioritising their routines, their wellbeing, their wish to explore, and their need to feel comfortable in a city they may not know. Some of the guests joining the runs specifically noted that they would have skipped their run had it not been for this service.
Go! Running Tours can provide weekly hotel runs in 80+ cities worldwide and we are not lying when we say it is easy for hotels. We provide a full marketing plan and materials, consistent guide service, great routes and a quality experience in line with your standards.
If you would like to create memorable moments for your guests through running and brisk walking tours, just click here.
