I think we all agree on that the Real Club de Golf El Prat is one of the world’s foremost golf clubs. I don’t think I have to introduce you the club.
I will just list the most interesting facts:
- Real Club de Golf El Prat was built on a 518-acre estate of BonVilar in 2002.
- a 10-time host of the Spanish Open;
- boasts 45 holes over five Greg Norman-designed courses;
- an exclusive and private club but arrangements can be made to play here;
- one of the 125 Platinum Clubs of the World – Five-star Private Club – recognition of attaining a standard of excellence by an international panel of experts, historians and connoisseurs in a confidential ballot, as well as being granted the Golden Plaque of the Royal Order of Sporting Merit.
The Real Club de Golf El Prat is not the only Spanish golf club that has been granted royal status by the Spanish royal household.
I also heard that Valderrama (now Real Club De Valderrama), the Sotogrande (now Real Club de Sotogrande) and the La Manga Club (now Real Golf La Manga Club) also received this recognition.
The Real Club de Golf El Prat is providing all those services that we can expect from a private golf club (e.g. Wellness center, swimming pools, mountain bike trails, relax area and clothing rooms, bridge room, hotel (DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel & Conference Center La Mola is the official Hotel of the club) etc.).
To generate extra revenue, they created a special package in cooperation with The Serras (in Barcelona; Opened January 19, 2015; cca. 31 km and 31 minutes drive from the golf club). The Real Club de Golf El Prat has been already in cooperation with 8 leading hotels in Barcelona.
The hotel is housed in a 19th-century Francesco Daniel Molina-designed building in the Gothic quarter of Barcelona that was Pablo Picasso’s first studio when he was just 15 years old.
The luxury hotel, which has just undergone a €125m refurbishment, boasts a rooftop pool with panoramic views of the Mediterranean Sea, a modern Catalan restaurant. The Michelin-Starred Chef Marc Gascons is at the helm of the hotel’s restaurant.
This package will be available throughout this year for sure. It includes:
- a bed and breakfast basis,
- one green fee at Real Club de Golf El Prat with shared buggy,
- costs €225 per person per night for a shared room.
Real Club de Golf El Prat: cares about its guests & members
I cannot agree more with Bill Quiseng who said “The only metric a guest cares about is this: one to one. That one guest in front of one associate. Will that associate take care of me? And does that associate care about me?“.
The real challenge for golf clubs is to meet those clients’ needs that are beyond a secure locker room, a wellness center, a hotel, a well-kept golf course that will distinguish them in golf club hospitality (e.g. attentiveness, empathetic and intuitive service).
Like I said before, it is not enough to meet expectations of our customers, but we must exceed them to stay in business.
It is all about the focus on the unique needs of our customers. Your customers will always give you clues that are specific to them. They are looking for someone with whom they can faithfully share information. If they feel that your intention is not honest and true, then they won’t do it.
The problem with missing this learning opportunity is that it will be more difficult for you to improve your services.
At the same time, we can conduct internal benchmarking to understand and to identify which unit(s) of your golf club is delivering exceptional customer experience. It is not enough to identify those units but interview those people who are working in those units. Based on the outputs of these interviews you can modify the existing processes and procedures or create new ones.
Your customers and guests must feel that they have got 120% of your attention! Are you and your team ready for the smart and sophisticated customers?
Have you got well-trained teams who understand the importance of exceptional customer service?