I cannot think of many, if not any, more important aspects of the hospitality industry than constantly listening and responding to your guest’s comments, whether negative or positive. The customer is king. I recently stayed at two ‘4 star’ hotels in the Florida Keys. The first, Hawks Cay was excellent and met every expectation. The second, a major branded hotel, fell dramatically short and I thought that it was only constructive and objective to report our experience.
Sadly, while staying at the hotel management did not respond to concerns raised and as I had pre-paid in full, weeks prior to arrival, felt we did not have the option of moving to another property. Even though the nightly rate was close to US$200, I made the mistake of booking a standard room, largely based on the individual property’s website description which, included ‘153 oversized rooms’ and ‘most with balconies’.
It transpired that well over 40 rooms did not in fact have balconies and to describe the two rooms we saw or occupied as being ‘oversized’ must border on misuse of the English language. There were other issues, including the level of noise during the night, non-smoking areas that effectively were not and sliding doors that would not lock.
Customarily, following a hotel stay, especially for the first time, I posted a review on TripAdvisor and only then noticed that this particular property had not responded to a single one of over 900 postings by previous guest’s comments, good or bad, since July 2002. It seems inconceivable in these days, considering the power of social media that any major brand could consider this best practice.
Undaunted, I then contacted the Corporate Headquarters and finally received the following email from them, some 16 days after check-out. ‘We apologise for the delay in the response from the hotel. We have been in contact with the Guest Services team at the Key Largo Bay Marriott Beach Resort. Due to being understaffed, the team has not had an opportunity to respond to your concerns yet’.
I cannot recall during the nearly fifty years working in the tourism industry, ever being told this before. Days later following the intervention of the Office of Bill Marriott, the hotel finally proffered an apology, with the promise of a room upgrade during any future stay. Sadly, they did not address any one of my concerns at the outset.
Perhaps not widely known is that TripAdvisor closely monitor all ‘Contributors’ reviews and frequently report back to the individuals just how many people have read them. In my case, the last number was well over 7,000, of which 92 per cent were geographically located in the United States.
Not for a second, would I herald TripAdvisor as a gospel in influencing choice, but when used properly, it can provide an invaluable insight, especially when you are considering choosing a hotel or location for an initial stay. The objective of this week’s column was to concentrate and focus on what our visitors reasonably expect and something we all have to practice to bring them back.
Over the last month there has been a lot of discussion regarding the extraordinary concessions granted to Sandals on Barbados. With over four weeks now under their belt, it’s time to personally experience if the ‘Sandalize’ effect will help take the sector out of the current morass.
More next Monday!
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