Case study

This assignment was carried out in the Caribbean. We spent 3 days examining hotel services anonymously. We evaluated the catering, bar, beach, room, reception desk and janitor services, among others, creating problematic and challenging situations which we requested employees to resolve.

Situation Analysis:

The room we were assigned upon arrival was in very poor condition. We complained at the reception desk and were given a different room. The second room was in better condition but the air conditioning was not working. The attendant at the reception desk told us they had sent someone to repair it. However, after waiting for two hours, the air conditioning was not repaired and we had to move again to another room.
At the buffet, we repeatedly found the same soup and the same dishes being offered as those that were served the day before.
At the bar, the attendant only paid attention to people who left tips, when in fact the hotel’s package was "all-inclusive".
The beach service collected the towels and charged us for them saying the towels were missing.

Moreover, other problems were also detected.

We spent the next three days in meetings with hotel management and with employees of different services. We found out that in some departments there were unrest and tense relations between managers and employees.

We also learned that the hotel’s customer retention was very poor.

After several discussions with their corresponding analyses, we made the following recommendations:

Room repairs should be carried out where necessary in order to satisfy customers and increase retention. This will save time and energy that otherwise would be spent in relocating customers to other rooms.
As the massage room was not very busy (employees idle), we suggested offering massages while rooms were being repaired so as to reward customers.
On the advice of a specialist, suggestions were made to buffet staff in order to increase the stock management and to offer a greater variety of dishes. Important savings were made in this regard.
As to the bar, we suggested modifying employee and service policies in addition to greater supervision in order for customers to be appropriately served without discrimination.
We convinced hotel management that it was not profitable to charge the customers for missing towels, as most towels were usually found in the laundry at the end of the day. Furthermore, by replacing towels free of charge and avoiding any unnecessary customer inconvenience, customer retention would be improved, which would more than compensate for a few missing towels.
An employee and management rewards program was suggested in order to improve motivation and working environment conditions.
A hotel customer fidelity program was also suggested.
Finally, we offered the services of our specialists to solve more specific problems.

Results :

Increase in customer retention of more than 18% over two years, representing millions of dollars in additional income.
Improved customer satisfaction in general, both with catering services and other hotel services, including the massage room, as its popularity increased because its existence was previously unknown to many customers.
Greater cooperation between hotel management and employees and a healthier working environment.
Improvement in information communication, which translated into greater time and energy savings for the hotel.