Many hotels and resorts
carry exciting service mottos, but the reality is another story. From my experiences of traveling and staying at
many hotels and resorts, I almost do not believe information on their
websites. Most time, it is disappointing
because the information provided gives me certain expectation which is
unreachable.
When I talk about
expectation, it basically refers to the knowledge that a customer receives
about product and service of the organization.
For example; two weeks ago, I and my colleague of Mai-Bs’s are on a business trip
and need to find a place to stay. My
partner glances through several websites and one of the hotel websites hit the
eyes, consequently, that brings to the room booking decision. However, beautiful pictures are for website
purpose ONLY as its reality is wordless and unexplainable.
My partner is very kind. The guest room photos are well taken and they are sent directly to
the owners via email as a constructive feedback. Guest room pictures create certain expectation,
but it is not met. In conclusion, we
both decide not to return to that hotel as a guest as we think one-time bad
experience is more than enough and the overall unsatisfying service urge us to
feel that this hotel is overcharging their customer.
More simple examples to
learn from, many hotels and resorts have a long list of their amenities and
facilities provided on websites, but half of them are not functional. For instance, hot water is un-hot, hair-dryer
that takes 100 years to dry, shower gel smells like detergent – don’t want to
take a risk to have skin allergy, high speed internet that customer must
communicate to at least 3 staff to understand how it operates and for its speed,
I think turtle walks faster, in-room welcome fruit is shocking – some are black
and rotten, or even 24-hour security mentioned but there is an additional note
reminding that the hotel will not be responsible to guest’s belonging that left
unattended in the room and so on and so forth.
The basic of service
excellence is to meet the expectation. The above cases at times are often being viewed as an unethical
advertisement. From both customer and
consultant's advice, I wish to urge the owners or senior mangers to revisit their products
and services offered and ensure that they are good and functional. This is something that many managers overlook
and almost do not care. So, let’s ensure
that amenities and facilities are filled with true caring hospitality before
talking about “service excellence”.
© Tevabanchachai N.
(2009), Honorary Advisor / Director, Mai-BS (THAILAND)
© Tevabanchachai N. (2009), Program
Director at Travel Industry Management Division, Acting General Manager at
Salaya Pavilion Hotel and Training Center at Mahidol University International
Collegehttp://www.mahidol.ac.th
