A bit of shrinkage

New and old conditioner bottles, Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Vancouver, BC

Almost all companies are looking for ways to cut costs.  Some of these ways are obvious, others are more subtle.

A few times a year I stay at the Hotel Vancouver. I've been keeping an eye on the ways that the hotel is working to keep its costs in line.

The shrinking size of the bathroom supplies is subtle. Unless you are a regular visitor you will have no idea that the old bottle were over twice the size of the new ones. The 3 ounce/90 millilitre bottles are enough for a multi-day stay. The new 1.4 ounce/40 millilitre bottles will be good for a day or so, but no more.

Another cost saving is replacing the paper newspaper with an electronic version. The hotel used to deliver newspapers to any guest wanting a copy, and there were piles of additional papers in the hallways of the upper floors for any guests who wanted an extra copy. Now there are only a few newspapers available at the concierge's desk for luddites who can't handle reading via the pressreader app.

I'm sure that there will be plenty more ways that hotels will nibble away at their costs. The question is will the customers react. Unlike the airlines in Canada where consumers have very few choices, hotels face dozens if not hundreds of competitors. Pare down the offering too much and the customers will go elsewhere. (And perhaps never come back.)