Transforming Guest Complaints into Opportunities: Pro Tips for Hoteliers As a hotel, providing top-notch customer service is crucial in ensuring guest satisfaction and repeat business. However, it’s inevitable that guest complaints will arise during their stay. Here are some common complaints in the hotel industry and tips on how to handle them:
Dirty laundry left uncollected, used cutlery left in the room, floors not cleaned – the list of housekeeping complaints can be endless. But your guest does have a right to make a fuss about these if the housekeeping staff isn’t doing their jobs properly. Ensure that the housekeeping is on their toes during the guest’s stay and they have a clear set of instructions about what all falls within their job description. A schedule marking out a time for each task and cross checking by a supervisor goes a long way in avoiding these common hotel complaints. If a guest does complain about housekeeping, apologise immediately and offer to rectify the situation. Offer to send in a supervisor or housekeeping staff to tidy up immediately and give the guest a complimentary amenity as compensation for their inconvenience.
What do you do when one guest complains of another raising a ruckus and disturbing them? The toughest part of handling guest complaints arises when you have to ask one guest not to do something because another has complained. Remember that your guests pay to enjoy their stay in your hotel. That means they are entitled to peace and calm. Talk to the noisy neighbour calmly and politely. Tell them that they have to quieten down so that other guests in the hotel can go about their business peacefully. Offer to move them to another room if necessary. And, of course, apologise to the complaining guest for any disturbance they may have experienced.
Uncomfy beds, small beds, not enough beds – these complaints are common with high end business guests or families. A simple solution would be to switch the mattress if the complaint seems genuine. But if it’s not possible, offer extra pillows or blankets for added comfort. If the guest wants to change rooms, try and accommodate their request if there are available rooms. Mentioning the bed sizes and numbers prominently in your brochure or on your website gives you a simple way of handling guest complaints about ‘small beds’, ‘not enough beds’. Politely point out to the guest that this is what they signed up for and offer to upgrade them to a bigger room with bigger bed for an extra charge.