Conclusion

There are so many things that factor into a hotel's success, that it would take me probably another 50 posts to cover them all. However the things talked about on this blog are musts for any hotel to begin even think about being successful. The Guest arrival process is so important because it is the guest's first interaction with the hotel both visual and physically, it is also their first impression of the staff. If that interaction goes wrong in any way than the guest could have negative thoughts about the hotel right off the bat. We also talked about how social media is directly related to the success of a hotel. With the amount of people using social media today, it is a huge tool for advertising, marketing, and branding of a hotel. Using social media can get the hotel new customers, repeat customers, and inform current customers of events, parties, or anything of importance using social media. Finally the last blog post had to do with probably the most important of them all which is guest service. Great guest service is the bread and butter of any successful hotel. Guest service is a culture that must be practiced by everyone working inside the hotel and maybe even in a corporate office working for the hotel. While these are not all the factors that go into making a hotel successful, they are a good start and any hotel that can master the Guest Arrival Process, getting repeat customers, social media, and guest service is off to a tremendous start.

Guest Service as a Key to Hotel Success

Guest service is arguably the most important key to a hotel's success

Besides selling their rooms and beds, a hotel is ultimately selling themselves and their employees. In other words the employees of the hotel are really part of the product that the guest is buying. In order to have a successful hotel guest service must be the top priority and everyone from the bell staff to the general manager and everyone in between must make impeccable guest service their number one goal. You could have the nicest hotel in the world with big screen televisions, marble floors, and jacuzzi bathtubs, but if the staff is uncaring, and has an indifferent attitude towards guest service then that hotel will be closed in a matter of months. There is a quote from Hall of Fame head coach Vince Lombardi that goes; "Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all time thing. You don't win once in a while, you don't do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Now for the hotel industry just replace the winning with the words guest service and you have the perfect approach for impeccable service. What the quote is saying is, you don't practice great guest service some of the time like when the boss is looking, or you think you may receive a large tip you practice great guest service all the time regardless of the time, weather, or guest that arrives. If a hotel can commit to making guest service an "all the time thing" and hire people who have a passion to practice great guest service then they will be successful.

Social Media as a key to Hotel Success

Social Media is affecting every aspect of the Lodging Industry and is a major key to hotel success. 

Anytime I write a blog, paper, or anything about the hotel industry I always have a section that talks about the effect of social media on the industry. The shear number of people that use social media make knowing about and using it effectively a must for any hotel to be successful. Facebook is estimated to have close to one billion users, twitter has approximately 600 million users, and single YouTube videos can have hundreds of millions of views. The best thing about these sites for hotels is that they are free! It is free advertising and marketing and it can reach more people then television or radio ever could. A lot of the big chain hotels do a great job showing and advertising their properties and brands on social media, the Marriott chain even has their own hotel game on Facebook. However one thing I have noticed from even the major hotel chains is that they are not present on some of the major social media sites. For example Trump Hotels, Marriott, and some major Las Vegas hotels are not on Google Plus or Hi-5. To me a major hotel, or any hotel for that matter should be taking advantage of every social media site that is out there. As I stated earlier all of these sites are free so the more your hotel is exposed, the more recognition and business it will receive.

Creating Repeat Customer's in the Hotel Industry

Creating repeat customers is vital to a Hotel's success. 

More than any other business, the hotel business needs and relies on repeat customer to compete, survive, and succeed. There is an old saying that goes "You can only make one first impression" well this could not be more true then in such a guest driven business like hotels. This is why hotel's place such a huge importance on customer service and the notion that the customer is always right. Earlier in the year we had guest speaker Terry Hammer come in to class to talk about the importance of guest service. During that talk he told us a story about a couple who complained about the room and his property even though they were treated great, he had a suspicion that these people were trying to get a free room or a discounted stay. Rather then argue and accuse, he charged the guests nothing for their entire stay because he wanted repeat customer business. This is why guest service in any hotel must be outstanding because the guest needs to feel welcome, at home, and that they would like to stay again whenever they get the opportunity. A major way that hotel's create repeat customer's besides providing exemplary guest service, is by creating a rewards program based on the number of nights a guest stays at a particular hotel. Rewards programs encourage guests to stay at the same hotel every time they are on the road or vacation, because if they do so, they will get free rooms, free plane tickets, or things like television and stereo systems. Repeat customers is not just necessary they are vital for a hotel to succeed, which is why good hotels will do anything for you to have you back.

The Guest Arrival Process

                      This video from Curb Your Enthusiasm demonstrates part of the guest arrival process, with the bellhop showing Larry the "features" of his room. 

The beginning of the guest arrival process first starts when the guest drives onto the physical property itself, the moment the guest's eyes see the property the hotel has made its first impression on the guest. With that being said the hotel must make sure the the outside of the hotel is clean, well landscaped, and pleasant to look at. Once the guest parks his or her car(or at upscale hotel's hands the car over to the valet) the bell staff must be ready to greet the guest and assist with any belongings that the guest may have on them. It is crucial that the bell staff be friendly and courteous because this is the first human interaction that the guest will have with the staff. After the bell staff has assisted the guest with their luggage, then the next interaction is the with the front desk. Once again the front desk must greet and welcome the guest to the hotel and check them into their room, in a timely, efficient manner. The front desk is also responsible for taking the reservation of the guest which includes their credit card information or any other form of payment. Finally the front desk attendant will give the guest directions to their room, ask them if they have any questions about the property, and thank them for choosing their particular hotel. Now in some cases with more upscale hotels or usually resort hotel's a member of the bell staff will take your luggage and show you to your room. The video from Curb Your Enthusiasm is a great, but obviously exaggerated example of this process. 

Introduction to Keys to Hotel Goals and Success

Hello and welcome to the Keys to Hotel Goals and Success blog, an entire web page dedicated to laying out the most important factors for Hotel Success. Throughout this blog there will be several posts on keys to hotel success including, the Guest Arrival Process, Front Desk behavior and interaction, Overall hotel guest service, and much more. For a hotel to be successful day in and day out, there are so many things that must be practiced and perfected. Everyone in the hotel from the front desk to the general manager must known their job and perform it well for the hotel to succeed. A hotel is much like a sports team because if one area of the hotel is unsatisfactory it could ruin a guest's experience and reflect poorly on the entire hotel.