TYSONS CORNER, VA—What could be better than traveling with your BFF? Not much, particularly if you’re a young lady whose constant companion is her American Girl doll who enjoys almost as much primping, clothes shopping and accessory acquisition as her flesh-and-blood bestie counterpart.
And, what could be more apparent to a hotelier with proximity to an American Girl retail outlet than to connect the dots and bring the doll, the doting owner and her family to a property that understands it all?
“We’ve done other promotions through various methods,” said Daniel Amato, general manager at the recently opened 300-room Hyatt Regency Tysons Corner Center. “But, this one is very specific; it’s a partnership with the American Girl store.”
The store itself is part of Tysons Corner Center, a mixed-use development that incorporates the hotel, office, retail and residential.
Even prior to the Hyatt Regency’s grand opening this past April, the hotel’s executives were in discussion with American Girl on creating a promotion.
“It’s kind of a natural,” said Amato. “Folks come from all over to go to the American Girl store. There are very few of them…there’s a market for it.”
The GM noted other hotels in the area and elsewhere have promoted an American Girl package, including the Hyatt in New York City.
At the Tysons Corner Center hotel, children whose families have opted for the package upon check in receive a welcome amenity—a colorful cupcake created by the F&B team—to start their American Girl Experience. They also receive a pint-size bed to accommodate their American Girl doll in the guestroom, which they can keep as a souvenir and collectible. American Girl candy also is placed in the room.
The package includes deluxe accommodations for the family, breakfast for up to two children 10 years of age and under, complimentary self-parking and complimentary basic Internet access. Currently, the hotel is revising what incremental charges would be for a family traveling with more than one child who would want the amenities for all their brood.
Amato noted the American Girl Experience is not a fixed-price package. “The rate of the day is set by the revenue manager. If you come on a Tuesday, the package costs more than if you come on a less-demand type of day—a Sunday or Friday night—since this is primarily a business-travel hotel during the week. Let’s say we’re charging $109; it would cost $149 for the American Girl package,” said Amato.
While they may not need it, families who buy the package are encouraged to visit the American Girl store in the adjacent shopping mall, which is connected to the hotel. There, the latest dolls are on view, along with doll outfits, furniture and accessories. The store also features a doll hair salon and a bistro where shoppers may order appetizers, two-course dinners, desserts and afternoon tea.
“This is a day out. This is a whole adventure,” noted Amato.
The hotel is considering installing a display case in its lobby that will include an American Girl doll and feature some of the numerous items that may be purchased at the store. Amato said there’s no plan to sell any of the items at the hotel.
That said, the GM felt the promotion helps the Hyatt Regency have synergy with the shopping mall. “We are doing everything we can to cross-promote the mall and work side-by-side with them. They’ve been very helpful to us in terms of including a lot of what we do on their websites. There is a partnership based on the fact that we have shared ownership [Macerich, together with other investors, owns the mall and the hotel, according to the GM].” For example, he said, the mall offers an all-access card that gives shoppers various discounts in participating stores. The Hyatt Regency parlayed that by having the all-access card printed on one side of its hotel key cards so shoppers can show their room keys in the mall to get the discounts.
Amato said guest response to the package, which was launched at the end of June, has been positive, with at least 50 American Girl Experiences sold and more on the books.
“It’s incremental revenue; close to an additional $10,000 in revenue in two months,” said Amato. “It’s a special niche; a market in and of itself. People are coming to the mall for that store.”
To heighten the promotion even more, families who buy the package are entered into a quarterly raffle for an American Girl doll.
And, while most corporate-business hotels may not concern themselves beyond office parties during the holidays, Amato has his eye on New Year’s Eve.
“Some of the American Girl folks were telling us they introduce the new Doll of the Year on New Year’s Day. I don’t know if they were completely serious or not, but they said, ‘You’re not going to have to worry about selling out on New Year’s Eve because everybody’s going to be driving in so they can wait in line before the store opens on New Year’s Day to be the first to have the new Doll of the Year,’” said Amato.
And, a new BFF.
—Stefani C. O’Connor