Category Archives: Guest Issues

by | October 28, 2010 · 3:13 pm

Hotel Industry Guest Relations: Hotels Will Increasingly Opt For “Check-In Kiosks” To Provide “Cozy, One-On-One Welcomes” To Improve Guest Satisfaction

 The key is removing the barrier between the guest and the hotel — be it for better service, streamlining, experience or profit. The sitting-behind-a-desk days are not what travelers want,” Sinclair said. “However the hotel chain chooses to roll it out — kiosks, check-in pedestals, tablets or iPads — you walk to the lobby and whoever you speak to can handle your entire needs …

“Traditional front desks, however, may be destined for a scrap heap teeming with bygone lobby fixtures like key boxes, desk bells and hat racks. Some mid-market chains already are dumping imposing check-in counters for cozy, one-on-one welcomes or for virtual check-ins through kiosks or mobile devices.

When Sherry Richert Bulel entered the Andaz West Hollywood in February, she was greeted by a “host” who offered her wine, a comfy chair and room selection via his laptop. “There was no looming desk between us to indicate that he was the hotel staff and I was the guest,” said Richert Bulel, author and founder of simplycelebrate.net, which creates tribute books for special occasions. “I immediately relaxed.”

In addition to Andaz, Courtyard by Marriott has renovated 201 of its 800 U.S. lobbies, swapping its standard front desks for smaller “welcome pedestals” that allow clerks to step out to meet patrons, then step back to check them in. Courtyard will finish the makeover by 2013.

Meanwhile, Starwood has used one of its urban-style Aloft hotels to test a tech-driven welcome service. Several thousand customers who already carried Starwood Preferred Guest cards were texted their room numbers before arriving at the Aloft Lexington in Massachusetts, allowing them to bypass the front desk and head to their floor. 

FITs, or Free Independent Travelers. In general, FITs have above-average income, prefer to roam alone, in small groups or as couples, avoid tourist tracks, research their explorations via their mobile devices, and spend freely. They are, Sinclair said, “now the dominant market traveler being sought after by most major brands.” FITs, experts believe, prefer hotels that offer texted check-in codes or lobby kiosks that spit out room keys. So how long until old-school front desks vanish from most or maybe all mid-market hotels?

“Within the next 36 months,” forecasts James Sinclair, principal of OnSite Consulting, a national restaurant and hospitality consulting company. His clients include W Hotels and the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Related: Tech-savvy travelers embrace self-service model “ You sit on a couch and wait your turn rather than (stand) behind Bob who is arguing that he didn’t have the salt-and-honey peanuts from the minibar.” Viewed from the bottom line, chopping the front desk also “makes sense for the hotel in terms of profit maximization,” Sinclair said. “As the hotel market has become more competitive with the various online practices and the need to refocus on margins, there are only a few areas that can be looked at.” Number one: payroll. No front desks, or smaller versions, could allow hotels to operate with fewer employees. What’s next? No beds? Then again, that’s the chief reason why some mega-mile travelers — like comedian Dan Nainan — hate the downsizing of check-in counters. Spending huge chunks of their lives on the road, they befriend hotel employees and feel somewhat protective of them. “If I ever see a hotel without a front desk, I can guarantee you that that is a hotel I would never, ever, ever patronize,” said Nainan, who flew 200,000 miles last year. “I will turn right around on my heel and march out of that place so fast I will actually do a wheelie. What brilliant cost-cutting move will they think of next? How about hotel rooms with no beds? Imagine the savings!” But hotel chains say de-emphasizing, shrinking or removing the front desk simply gives their guests more options. Further, the tactic is part of a larger shift, they say, to entice patrons to spend more time — working or relaxing — in attractive, compelling lobbies. Courtyard’s fresh, first-floor face, which costs the chain about $750,000 per makeover, includes free WiFi, “media pods” where patrons can plug in laptops and watch TVs, plus a 57-inch, LCD touch screen — the “GoBoard” — that provides news, weather, and directions to local attractions. An eat-in bistro — “Starbucks meets Panera,” they say — offers breakfast, then later a casual dinner and cocktails. About three years ago, Courtyard’s lobby designers used Styrofoam cutouts to simulate changes — including the “welcome pedestals.”

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by | October 26, 2010 · 12:14 pm

Hospitality Industry Food Safety: U.S. Food And Drug Administration (FDA) Is Recommending Restaurant Operators To Employ A Certified Food Protection Manager

 Calling for continued improvements in food safety, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended that all restaurants and retailers employ certified food protection managers, according to a report by Nation’s Restaurant News.

Donald Kraemer, the FDA’s acting deputy director for operations, told Nation’s Restaurant News that the agency plans to add a provision requiring restaurants to employ certified food protection managers to a future edition of the federal “FDA Model Food Code.”

The recommendation, which was met with support from both the National Restaurant Association and the National Council of Chain Restaurants, came Friday as the agency released the results of a 10-year study of retail food risk factors. While the study found overall improvement, the FDA said the presence of a certified food protection manager correlated with significantly higher compliance levels with food safety practices, the report stated.

“In looking at the data, it is quite clear that having a certified food protection manager on the job makes a difference,” said Michael R. Taylor, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods. “Some states and localities require certified food protection managers already, and many in the retail industry employ them voluntarily as a matter of good practice. We think it should become common practice.”

The FDA has no timeline for adding a food protection manager provision to the Food Code, but Kraemer said the agency will work to that end through normal channels involving the Conference for Food Protection (CFP). The CFP provides the FDA with input and recommendations, and is made up of members of foodservice trade groups, the food industry, government, academia and consumer organizations. The group meets biennially and convenes next in 2012.

NRA spokesman Mike Donohue said 24 states currently require restaurants to have certified food protection managers. He added that in the other 26 states, some local jurisdictions may have requirements for the employment of such specialized employees, or the state may require such a hire for a specific restaurant or chain that has had food safety problems.

Taking the concept further, some states — including Oregon and, beginning next year, California — require all food handlers to undergo basic safety training and pass an exam attesting to their understanding of the coursework, according to the report.

The FDA’s 10-year study of retail food risk factors found full-service restaurants with certified food protection managers had a 70-percent compliance rate with food safety practices, vs. a 58-percent compliance rate at restaurants without such an employee. In delicatessens, compliance was 79 percent with a manager, compared to 64 percent without, the FDA reported.

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by | October 20, 2010 · 3:20 pm

Hotel Industry Guest Issues: Hotel Guest Databases Such As “GuestChecker.com” Can Assist Hotel Management In Avoiding “Problem Guests”

“Many hotels now refuse guests based on their perceived or real behavior,” the story says. “For example many hotels in Florida and the Caribbean will not accept reservations for “Spring Break” groups. In Europe, hotels shy away from groups of British Soccer fans.”

Hotels are increasingly interested in swapping information with each other about “bad” guests, just like guests do with “bad” hotels using TripAdvisor, according to Hospitality Business News.

Most hotel guests, naturally, are good.

But when hotels do encounter guests who, for instance, call their credit card company to reverse a charge, assault another guest or even smoke in a non-smoking area, they just might wind up in the type of database maintained by GuestChecker.com.

  • What private information is kept on me?: The database contains a guest’s name, address, and phone number only, as opposed to more personal information such as credit-card number, race or religion. The information is kept in a database with “bank-level security” and is not available to the public.
  • Can hotel managers see the full list?: Hotel managers can’t scroll through the database to see who’s on it. They can only search for specific names and receive a “Match” or “No Match” result.
  • Is this a blacklist?: The company doesn’t call the database a “blacklist” because members “do not have the ability to advise other accommodation providers to refuse service for a guest.” It’s designed to help the next hotel “make an informed decision on how to best prepare for that guests arrival.”
  • What offenses land me on the list?: The company tracks five categories of behavior, with the worst being stealing, assault and non-payment. Lesser offenses would include actions such as smoking in non-smoking areas or using facilities such as the swimming pool or tennis court after hours. “Someone who accidentally knocks over a lamp and offers to pay for it should not be placed in the same category as someone who purposefully trashes a hotel room,” the company says.
  • Who reports me? One person per company or hotel can report a guest for an offense, and GuestChecker.com requires that person be a senior manager. “This stops any malicious reporting by the night watchman, for example,” the company tells Hospitality Business News.
  • How long will I be on the database?: A person could stay on the database for as long as four years.

    • For more:   http://travel.usatoday.com/hotels/post/2010/10/hotel-blacklist-how-do-hotels-define-a-bad-hotel-guest/127726/1

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    by | October 19, 2010 · 11:21 am

    Hospitality Industry Information Technology: Small- To Medium-Sized Hotel Owners Should Support A “Shared-Services” Model For Data And Call Center Services

    CLICK ON PICTURE TO READ ENTIRE "SHARED TECHNOLOGY REPORT"

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    by | October 14, 2010 · 6:24 pm

    Hospitality Industry Security Risks: Arizona City Hotel Ordinance Seeks To Curb Guests Who Pay In Cash And Withhold Registering Name In Attempt To Stop Crime

    The city is advancing a hotel-motel ordinance designed to track who stays in hotels, which police say will drive away prostitutes, drug dealers and other criminals who pay in cash and don’t give their name.

    Police are more interested in patrons who pay by cash or who check in at hotels that don’t require a name, Chief Frank Milstead said. Patrons who check in with a credit card aren’t trying to hide, he said.

    Mesa hotels will likely be forced to ask guests for an ID or some other proof of identity under a push to drive crime out of the city’s hotels.

    The city is advancing a hotel-motel ordinance designed to track who stays in hotels, which police say will drive away prostitutes, drug dealers and other criminals who pay in cash and don’t give their name.

    Police say other cities have fought crime with similar rules, but technology is posing a challenge as the city drafts an ordinance that requires a hotel to see a guest’s ID, verify license plate numbers and keep records for a year.

    Many hotels are converting to paperless registration, so it’s possible for guests to check in, pay by credit card and get a key without interacting with a hotel employee. Hotels don’t want to burden guests with showing an ID when a swipe of a credit card will identify who is checking in, said Robert Brinton, president of the Mesa Convention and Visitors Bureau.

    “We don’t want them to say it’s a hassle staying in Mesa,” Brinton said.

    Police are more interested in patrons who pay by cash or who check in at hotels that don’t require a name, Chief Frank Milstead said. Patrons who check in with a credit card aren’t trying to hide, he said.

    “Those aren’t the people we’re looking for,” Milstead said.

    The city’s Public Safety Committee agreed to move forward with the rules on Thursday. The proposal stems from police statistics in 2009 that showed 6 percent of all warrant arrests and 4 percent of all drug arrests were at hotels and motels. Just 10 hotels accounted for 49 percent of the warrant arrests and 64 percent of drug arrests. Police say regulation will greatly reduce the time they spend at hotels and allow them to fight other crime.

    A hotel-motel review board would oversee the rules, with some members being nominated by the hotel industry and some by the city. Hotels that don’t collect IDs and keep the information for a year could face fines of $250 to $2,500.

    Hotels support the rules, but say the ID issue needs to be resolved so it’s possible for guests to check in without showing an ID to a hotel when their identity has been revealed through a credit card payment. Also, Brinton said the six-page ordinance could probably be thinned to two pages to make the rules simple.

    For more:  http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/local/article_cdd2a84c-d7e3-11df-a6e4-001cc4c03286.html

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    by | October 11, 2010 · 2:08 pm

    Hospitality Industry Health Risk Management: Hotel Owners Must Establish Formal “Bed Bug Infestation Risk Management” Protocols For Preventing And Then Eradicating Infestations

    In certain cases, courts can even levy large judgments against hotel operators who rent rooms infested with bed bugs. In 2003, a federal appellate court awarded $372,000 in

    State inspectors have the authority to shut down an establishment that poses an "imminent health hazard" involving fire, flood, sewage backup, rodent infestation, bed bug infestation or "any other condition that could endanger the health and safety of guests, employees and the general public."

    punitive damages, roughly 37 times the compensatory award in the case, to a couple bitten by bed bugs while staying at a chronically infested Motel 6 in Chicago.

    Hotel owners and operators have faced periodic reports of bed bugs for decades, but a newfound public fascination with the problem, combined with the proliferation of websites dedicated to documenting bed bug outbreaks, has created a frenzy of media activity never before seen. Indeed, bed bug stories have been reported in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and many other local television and print outlets across the country. Stoking the traditional media’s interest in bed bugs is a rash of new online forums where travelers post the unsettling details of encounters with the pests.

    Much of the coverage seems sensational and overblown, but property owners and third party operators in the hospitality industry have to face the reality that the process of eliminating bed bugs from hotel rooms can be quite expensive and can lead to litigation and costly settlements. Additionally, reports of infestation on online travel sites like TripAdvisor and bed bug reporting sites like bedbugregistry.com and bedbugreports.com can cause significant reputational harm and loss of business.

    The good news for hospitality companies is that robust risk management practices, and the appropriate insurance and risk financing programs, can significantly mitigate the financial impact bed bugs can have on a hotel organization.

    Establishing formal risk management protocols around bed bugs is an important first step in minimizing the cost of infestation. Proactive steps for hotel organizations include creating a formal program to train housekeeping staff on spotting bed bugs, creating a policy on how to handle outbreaks or complaints and implementing regular pest control inspections.

    “Bed bugs are on our list of emerging issues facing the insurance industry, not only for hotels, but in the retail, apartment, and residential healthcare sectors,” noted Brian Gerritsen, Senior Director of Hospitality Business at Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company. “The recent increase in bed bug related claims has prompted us to become more proactive about the issue with our insurance customers.” Mr. Gerritsen’s team recently released an industry alert recommending that hotel operators take several actions to prevent potential infestations in guest rooms including:

    • Chemically treating mattresses and sealing them in plastic

    • Washing/drying bedding and towels regularly and daily if possible

    • Vacuuming cracks, crevices and other hiding places and sealing openings permanently so the bugs don’t have a place to hide

    • Having regular inspections and extermination services done by a qualified pest control contractor

    • Training and educating housekeeping employees to recognize the presence of bed bugs and immediately report any activity to the appropriate personnel

    For more:  http://www.pressreleasepoint.com/don039t-let-bed-bugs-bite-insurance-and-risk-management-perspective

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    by | October 5, 2010 · 5:39 pm

    Hospitality Industry Guest Relations: “Problem Prevention” Is The Key To Customer Satisaction

    J.D. Power and Associates continues to observe that high levels of customer satisfaction are dependent on problem prevention, rather than problem resolution. That is not to say that service recovery is not required when a guest experiences a significant problem; however, it is more difficult to achieve the satisfaction level of those guests who don’t experience a problem in the first place, than for guests who experience problems that are eventually resolved.

    Across the industry, overall satisfaction is 144 points higher when guests did not experience a significant problem (781), compared with when they did (637). While there is a significant gap in satisfaction among the guests for whom the problem was resolved (705), compared with those for whom the problem remained unresolved (582), satisfaction still falls significantly below that of guests who did not experience a problem in the first place.

    While it is possible to so impress and exceed a guest’s expectations during recovery that they are more satisfied after recovery than if they never had a problem, these are rare occurrences.  We certainly would not advocate creating false problems in order to heroically swoop in and solve the problems for guests as a business model, but it does reinforce the important opportunity recovery represents. It makes a statement to guests about your brand and how you value their business.

    You might wonder, what are the most frequently occurring problems that guests cite?

    Across the industry, the top three problems guests cited are:

    1. Noise
    2. Hotel/room maintenance
    3. Heating ventilation and AC problems

    For more:  http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/4128/Guest-problems-better-prevented-than-resolved

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    by | October 4, 2010 · 6:24 am

    Hotel Theft Risks: Florida Law Protects Hotel Ownership From “Most Liability” But Continued Guest Loyalty Demands A Secure Premises

    “…A… Naples, FL couple’s plans were shattered…when their motel room was burglarized shortly after they checked in and went to dinner. Everything of value — including electronics, cash, a designer purse and sunglasses, theme-park tickets, a passport, checks and Social Security cards — was gone when they returned…”

    They… filed a police report and demanded reimbursement from the motel for the $5,200 loss, but it was denied. A Florida law protects operators of public lodgings from most liability. Even when a hotel is negligent, a guest cannot recover more than $500 in most cases and $1,000 for jewelry or cash left with the hotel for safekeeping.

    In Orlando, where tourism is the engine that drives the economy, hoteliers are well aware of the need to protect their guests as much as possible, said Rich Maladecki, president of the Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association.

    Most hotels have full-time security staff and work with law enforcement to root out problems, he said. Look for hotels with good lighting in hallways, at entrances and in parking lots, experts caution.

    For more:  http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/law/os-law-and-you-hotels-tourist-rights-20100923,0,6507664.story

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    by | September 29, 2010 · 6:51 am

    Hotel Industry Employee Issues: Study Finds That “Front-Line” Employees That Are Envious Of Co-Workers Represent Potential Risk To Guest Relations

    “Limiting envy is crucial not just to the success of the employee in his or her career, but it’s crucial to the success of the hotel itself,” said O’Neill. “The success of a hotel lies in how it treats its guests.”

    Guest relationships can become collateral damage when hotel employees envy the relationships co-workers have with their bosses, according to an international team of researchers.

    In the study of front-line hotel employees — desk staff, food and beverage workers, housekeepers — workers who have poor relationships with their bosses were more likely to envy co-workers with better relationships with supervisors, said John O’Neill, associate professor, School of Hospitality Management, Penn State. The study showed that the envious workers also were less likely to help co-workers or to volunteer for additional duties. The researchers report their findings in the current issue of International Journal of Hospitality Management.

    “People who are less envious often go above and beyond their normal job duties to do things like cover for an employee who has gone home to help a sick family member,” said O’Neill. “Conversely workers who are more envious are less willing to perform these additional duties.”

    Front-line employees are typically hourly employees who interact directly with guests. Since these employees have personal contact with guests, people staying at hotels become the unintended victims of on-the-job envy, according to O’Neill, who worked with Soo Kim, assistant professor, management and information systems, Montclair State University, and Hyun-Min Cho, tourism policy research division, Culture Contents Center, Republic of Korea.

    For more:  http://live.psu.edu/story/48699

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    by | September 28, 2010 · 5:50 am

    Hotel Industry Security Risk Management: Hotel Surveillance Systems Used For “Outsider” And “Insider” Threats As Video Systems Perfect “Facial Recognition” Systems

    “A homeless person was trying to sneak into the hotel, and we got a shot of him and put it in the system,” explains John Alan  Moore, the hotel’s director of security and life safety, by way of example. When the video system picked him up trying to enter the hotel again, the system sent off an alert, so security might escort him off the property.

    “…the hotel isn’t just monitoring for potential outsider threat; it’s also keeping an eye out for rogue insiders, too.The hotel is using facial recognition to monitor employee behavior, paying particular attention to any former employees who leave on less-than-pleasant terms. All employees are informed that video monitoring of them takes place…”

    As open buildings, hotels are typically on guard for any signs of trouble. So it’s no surprise that the downtown Hilton Americas-Houston just upgraded its video-surveillance system, installing one based on 3VR Security’s digital recorder platform for the sake of efficient retrieval of video footage for research.

    Americas-Houston’s new networked digital-video system also includes facial recognition capability so Hilton can input a digital facial image that can send out an alert related to that individual if picked up by the video surveillance cameras.

    But the hotel isn’t just monitoring for potential outsider threat; it’s also keeping an eye out for rogue insiders, too.The hotel is using facial recognition to monitor employee behavior, paying particular attention to any former employees who leave on less-than-pleasant terms. All employees are informed that video monitoring of them takes place.

    The video system monitors the areas where employees come to punch into time clocks in order to verify the person’s identity. But perhaps more significantly, the facial recognition system is used to watch for any suspicious activities of employees or former employees.

    “If someone leaves under bad conditions, we set up alerts for that,” Moore says. If the former employee suddenly showed up at the hotel, the video surveillance system would send out an alert.

    In any serious cases related to any trouble, the video surveillance footage is stored and can be e-mailed to insurance carriers or the local district attorney. The system has 1TB each of storage and backup and only saves movement in clips.

    The video surveillance system is used far more often for examining more mundane problems, such as when a guest complains of misplacing an item or wondering where the valet is. And the hotel isn’t doing facial recognition of its guests — though it would be nice to know whenever a top celebrity might walk through the door.

    Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/09/27/urnidgns852573C400693880002577AB003BA3C6.DTL#ixzz10pcTDCVe

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