If you’re looking for ways to improve guest experience at your hotel, who better to ask than the winners of the 2017 Boutique Hotel Guest Experience Awards?
We asked the owners, managers and operators of the winning hotels from 2017’s Boutique Hotel Guest Experience Awards to let us in on the secrets to their success, and have put together these five tips for award-winning guests experience based on their expert insights.
#1: Keeping guests comfortable means getting the details right
Sometimes a great guest experience is about a big moment that stands out in a guest’s mind. But, more often than not, it’s the small details that make a stay memorable. Your guests might not consciously notice how wonderful the carpet feels beneath their feet, how soft the sheets are, or how perfectly lit their room is, but, as the proprietors of Cedar Manor Hotel know, these all add up to making guests feel comfortable.
“Ensuring that everything possible is ‘right and ready’ with the rooms before guests arrive goes beyond making them spotlessly clean, warm and functioning correctly. We have refurbished all our guest rooms using the best wall covering, fabrics and materials; we plan for the lighting to be right for anything, from makeup to reading; and we make sure there’s lots of hot water and big fluffy towels.” – Jonathan Kaye, Cedar Manor Hotel
#2: Ensure your team cares about guest satisfaction as much as you do
The management team at Rivonia Bed & Breakfast know that their staff are the backbone of their business, and without them, providing great guest experiences would be impossible! Making sure that everyone has a positive attitude towards providing excellent experiences will help create a fantastic guest culture and show your team how instrumental they are to your success. Positive feedback from guests about particular staff members will also be very motivating.
“Having the right calibre of staff is critical, but we have found that having the right attitude far outweighs competence. We reward our staff for guest satisfaction, which creates its own feedback cycle: we and our staff try hard, guests are happy and jovial during their stay, our staff are complimented directly by guests, leaving us all feeling rewarded and wanting to try even harder.” – Nikki Swart, Rivonia Bed & Breakfast
