MY PLATZL - YOUR REGULAR CUSTOMER AREA

Hotel director of the Platzl Hotel Heiko Buchta in a noble suit.

Since Heiko Buchta took over management of the Platzl Hotel, much has been renewed and begun. The latest of his endeavors involves the introduction of the regular customer area MY PLATZL – we asked him a few questions about it.

Mr. Buchta, the Platzl Hotel basically lives on its regular customers. With this in mind, a regular customer program is almost overdue. What benefits do guests receive with MY PLATZL?

Well, for one thing, we start with a price saving of 10.00 euros per night for members. We want to test how this is received by our guests. But we are also planning additional benefits, such as discounted breakfast or parking, things such as late check-out, or exclusive offers. These things must first be developed – and, in doing so, we want to listen to our guests above all, to make sure that we are not offering things which are of no value to the customer.

Before you came to the Platzl Hotel, you were initially more at home in the chain hotel sector. What differences have you discovered between regular guests in a family-run private hotel and those in the chain hotel industry?

The guests in a privately-run establishment have emotional ties to the hotel, and are thus considerably more loyal than those in chain hotels.

Why the Platzl and not one of the many, many other hotels in Munich?

I took a look at the hotel and saw the potential within – a place with many opportunities due to its unbeatable location. I am the kind of person who is not satisfied with the status quo, and who questions things – here, I have the opportunity to design and change (insofar as this promises economic success, of course).

 

Of course, we are also interested in the perspectives of the regular guests. Some of our most loyal guests were nice enough to answer questions about their ties to the Platzl. Here are some of the best answers:

Your loyalty will soon be rewarded with “My Platzl”. Can you still remember your first visit to the Platzl? What are all of the things which have changed since then? (Only for the better, we hope ;))

That is quite a long time ago, and I can no longer remember exactly when that was. I am not getting any younger, after all ;) But some things really have changed. There is always been changes going on around the outside of the Platzl Hotel and, in the past two or three years, especially within the hotel itself too. The rooms have become more modern, the bar refurbished, but these new features can also be recognized through the uniforms. Previously, everything was furnished in a more old-fashioned way, darker – now the hotel is moving with the times. I feel just as much at home in the Platzl Hotel as I did before, otherwise I would not keep coming back after all these years ;) I also value the long-standing employees, whom you meet again on every visit.

With all your visits to the Platzl, you have surely experienced all sorts of things. Do you have any “Platzl tales” which you recall now and again with a smile?

That is a difficult question... But I recently received a Platzl bathrobe with my name on it – that was really a lovely moment!

What would have to happen for you to stay in another hotel in Munich instead of the Platzl Hotel?

A scenario which I cannot really imagine, as the employees would have to be unfriendly, the service incorrect, an atmosphere of a lack of respect would have to prevail, and the warmth would have to disappear. So I would have to say, I am staying loyal to the Platzl :)