SAN DIEGO—For Hard Rock Hotels, rock and roll is a way of life. Not only is the décor dedicated to music, but many artists make it their hotel of choice as well. And one request the brand often recevied from those artists, said Blake Smith, global music marketing manager for Hard Rock International, was for guitars to use during their stay.
To accommodate those requests, the Hard Rock Chicago began offering them the ability to have a high-quality guitar and amp sent to the guestroom. With the reselling popularity of the program, the hotel expanded it to all guests.
Called “Check In, Rock Out,” the program is expanding to the Hard Rock Hotel here, with the official launch earlier this month. The program in Chicago now offers 20 Gibson guitars available for guests to check out when they arrive. San Diego debuted with 14 instruments available.
“These aren’t bottom of the line instruments; they retail for around $2,000,” said Smith. He noted that the program gives hobbyist guitarists, who might never have access to such high-end instruments, a chance to play with one.
The Hard Rock doesn’t charge guests for the program, but it is on a first-come, first-served basis. Normal wear and tear, Smith noted, isn’t a problem, but the hotel does take a credit card number when the guitar is checked out, in case of theft or major damage. He noted that, to date, no guitar has gone missing or experienced any problems. “People take pretty good care of them,” he noted. “It’s like holding a high-end piece of art.”
Given the success of the program in Chicago and the launch in San Diego, Smith said the remaining hotels in the brand are now interested in adding the program to their roster as well. The problem, he noted, is the limited availability of the instruments themselves. “Each guitar is hand made; it’s not like Gibson has thousands in a warehouse somewhere,” he said. “We’re trying to strategically work it out with Gibson to decide which properties and in which order [the program will roll out to].”
The Gibson guitar program is only the latest in a series of music-related programs Hard Rock has introduced. They offer one program, for example, called “Sound of Your Stay,” where guests can choose a 15-song playlist from 45 available songs to listen to while they’re a guest at the hotel. Like the guitars, the program is free for guests to take advantage of.
“We’re obsessed with music as a brand,” said Smith. “We’re trying to stay ahead of everybody else [looking to offer music-related amenities.]We own it, and we’ll continue to own it.”