An overview of technology for hospitality.
By now, everyone knows that breaking into the mobile space is a must for any brand. Travelers, especially, are fitting their experience into their pockets. From initial research, to booking, to itineraries on the go, smartphones have made their way into every aspect of travel. Our latest GEM Report will help you to understand how your guests are really using mobile and help you to find your brand’s best use of mobile technology. You can view the entire Q2 Guest Experience Management Report, or request to be notified of future reports here. Please share your thoughts and suggestions via email, or tweet them using #GuestExperience.
What one thing can ruin a stay for a guest? Lack of cleanliness Excessive noise Preset alarm clocks (this falls under the “noise” category, but it bothers enough people that it deserves its own mention) Electronic issues (wifi fees, not enough electric outlets, difficulty using the TV) What one thing can ruin a guest for a hotel worker? Bad attitude on arrival Questioning policies and pricing High expectations on front desk employees (especially overnight) Expecting hotel schedules (housekeeping, room service, check-in or check-out) to conform to their whims Why the disconnect between these two lists? These groups simply don’t understand each other. It is easy to see why many in the industry are fed up with guests before they arrive. A demanding personality, a list of requests (or demands) a mile long, and the expectation of a discount based on nothing but their threats to complain to management are enough to push any overworked staff member over the edge. But what about the other side? Why do guests behave in this fashion? Why walk in the door with expectations that go so far beyond what was promised? I believe that a large part of the responsibility lies with OTA-type organizations …
When the going gets tough, the tough get going – on vacation, that is. Taking a one or two day “sleepcation” is a growing trend among exhausted new parents. After months of sleepless nights, some young moms and dads are ready to do anything to get one full night of sleep, including booking an overnight sitter and local hotel stay. I have done myself, and this is one vacation when the success of the trip rests almost entirely on the hotel. On my first sleepcation, I planned a trip close to home and chose a hotel with plenty to offer in-house in order to maximize rest time. I had never been so excited to go to sleep in my life. I had a nice (blessedly quiet) dinner, then settled in for the night. Or so I thought. The first night was a disaster, from traffic noise to a pre-set alarm clock sounding at 2:30 in the morning, raising my blood pressure enough to give up on sleep for the remainder of the night. The second night, I decided to upgrade from the inexpensive stay and switched hotels. I was booked on a floor with some sort of visiting baseball team. …
A savvy hotel manager views a guest mishap as a pinpoint for service excellence. A few years back, I was on a little weekend excursion and booked a fairly nice hotel for one night. The check-in process was neutral, nothing was wrong, but nothing stood out. When my fellow traveler and I arrived at our room, however, we found we had been given a key to a room already occupied. We left quickly and shut the door, feeling lucky that the other guests seemed to be absent and did not know about our intrusion. We headed back to the front desk and they apologized profusely while arranging for a different room. We laughed it off. It was the other guests, after all, who would have been upset at this mistake. For us, it was a minor inconvenience. Upon entering our new room (free of strangers), we found a tray of cheesecake and champagne, along with a handwritten note of apology from a manager. Not only did it more than cover the mistake they had made, but it brought attention to the outstanding service we would otherwise never have noticed. Before this incident, taking the time to comment on or review …
A recent poll by USA today asked readers what they expected from their hotel’s social media accounts. Top answer? Local information. While it is a well known fact around here that local information is a top request of hotel guests, I still found the results to be surprising. While our own research has shown that 73% of front desk requests are for local information, what surprised me was the word “expect”. Travelers expect to have access to recommendations through other channels aside from a front desk visit or call. Savvy travelers of today are researching every aspect of their trip. They want a local, authentic experience that extends beyond search engines and brochures. They want insight into the very best their destination has to offer. And now they expect to have that information at their fingertips. I checked around and found that, for the most part, the hospitality industry is using social in an entirely different way. I’m positive that some of this has to do with the transparency social media brings to the picture. Angry guests on Twitter or Facebook need prompt attention, which leads to many social media pages being full of apologies and troubleshooting. On a brighter …