Guest service makes or breaks a hotel,” according to Beth Wuestefeld, GM at the Hampton Inn Cincinnati Riverfront in Covington, Kentucky.
She backs up her statement by pointing out that the vast majority of hotel properties offer the same set of basic amenities, including a comfortable bed, an adequate bathroom, all set in a clean room, and so on.
So to Wuestefeld, service is key. “Service is the deal-breaker that brings back our repeat guests,” she claimed. “While we do have a beautiful product, we host many guests, traveling for both business and leisure, who tell us they stay with us because they feel at home with our staff.”
Another event that brings people to the Hampton Inn Covington location is the Flying Pig Marathon race every May. Past winners have stayed at Wuestefeld’s hotel, and the staff delights in the fun of it all. “We make a big deal out of it, including offering breakfast-on-the-go bags for runners early in the morning. But our favorite is clapping and cheering for every one of our runners as they return to the hotel.”
As to mindset in the guest services area, team members are encouraged and expected to take matters into their own hands when they see an opportunity to “wow” a guest, said Wuestefeld. One example she gave was of a couple celebrating their anniversary while passing through the area. They mentioned this to the agent at check-in, went out to dinner, and on their return, discovered a bottle of champagne chilling in their room. There were no prompts or approvals; just a customer-service-driven employee observing and reacting to the opportunity to do something special for guests.
Another example was an unhappy little boy who really wanted chocolate milk for breakfast. The hotel did not have chocolate milk in the breakfast mix at that time, so after overhearing the little boy with his parents, the attendant ran to the nearby convenience store and bought chocolate milk. Needless to say, the parents were elated with the service, and their little one had chocolate milk each morning of his stay.
Kudos to the entire staff at Hampton Inn Cincinnati Riverfront for an approach to service that has them flying high in guest satisfaction, year after year.