KEY INGREDIENT #3 : PROCESSES
The hospitality industry, in pursuit of permanent consistency, relies on quality standards which help ensure guest service processes are carried out in a systematic way. The best example in the luxury industry is a worldwide used set of standards called the “Leading hotels of the World” quality assurance[1]
| Common service standards in luxury hotels |
| Luggage delivered in room in less than 10 minutes after the check in Express check in/out available Turndown service 24 hour efficient room service, with a complete food and beverage offer Call guest by their last name Answer the phone in less than three rings Serve a main dish no more than 15 minutes after it has been ordered |
The goal of these standards is to maximize guest satisfaction, through effortless planning: room reservation processes, check in and check out procedures are made the simplest possible for the guest. The ultimate luxury resource nowadays is time, and luxury travelers agree to pay a premium price to avoid waiting in line or filling paperwork.
Luxury hospitality’s inside story: the birth of a luxury hotel, making of a Maldivian pearl
Ask any hotelier about opening luxury hotels, the answer will probably be that it is one of the most interesting experiences one can have, but also the most challenging. A million things need to be checked, numerous deadlines have to be respected, in order to be able to offer a finished luxury product and a corresponding set of services, on the announced opening date, as the first guests check in.
That is far from easy to achieve, and even more so in a remote location such as the Maldives. Added to the challenges of a “conventional” opening, the fact that a resort in the Maldives will inevitably be built on a small area of sand in the middle of the ocean makes it an even more interesting adventure.
Maldivian resorts are mostly made of wood, and for this reason construction delays are usually much inferior than concrete made structures. The Vilamendhoo island resort, located in the South Ari island atoll, was built in just over a year.
In this part of the world, there are no guests walking in the hotel without a reservation, or “walk ins” as they are called in the industry, so independently owned establishments and chains rely very heavily on travel agencies and tour operators. Their main role is to sell rooms; hence their concerns are not with the day to day construction work.
Contracts are signed between hotel chains and tour operators, and the greatest possible number of hotel rooms are booked months ahead of time. Penalties for canceling or changing guest dates of stay are usually very steep, so most hoteliers will have to honor them, even if the hotel is halfway built. That was the case if the example described in this story.
Vilamendhoo island resort is set on a 3000 by 600 feet strip of sand, and offers 220 rooms, spread out on and around the tiny island. On opening day, only about half the rooms were built, so there was no other choice but to split the island in two: one side for guests, and the other side for construction workers.
As you can imagine, the two sides did not blend very well, and understandably, many guests complained of the noise and the lack of access to half of the island, and rightfully rated the hotel below luxury standards!
The main lesson learned out of this experience, which is easy to write but far harder to actually achieve: when planning a hotel opening, always allow for some consequent buffer time, as trying to fill up a hotel or restaurant when it is only partly built, is, not only an operational nightmare, but can also have a devastating effect on your reputation and image.
It will also bring unnecessary stress on your opening team, having to deal with many -justified- customer complaints.
[1] The Leading Hotels of the World established its product and service standards through Leading Quality Assurance, a company that conducts anonymous property inspections for the world’s most prestigious hospitality organizations. The detailed point system is designed to cover all phases of the guest experience, from making a reservation to checking out, including every aspect of the property itself from reception, to the back of the house. https://www.lhw.com/corporate/standards
Hope you enjoyed the story! don’t forget to stay tuned for more insights on the luxury hotel and restaurant industry
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Biyahi Hospitality Consulting was founded in order to bring years of hotel and restaurant management expertise at the service of hoteliers and restaurateurs.
Streamlining processes, striving to increase quality are my main considerations in order to improve performance and reduce unnecessary operational costs.
Decades of experience in luxury establishments around the world have taught me that there can’t be any compromise when it comes to guest satisfaction.
Take a few moments to review my website, which will give you an insight on what services I can provide to hospitality related companies, at https://biyahi.com/training-consulting-hotels-food-travel/
You may also find valuable management information in the book I published with Business Expert Press in 2021, “Food & Beverage Management in the Luxury Hotel Industry”. The first chapters are free to review here : https://biyahi.com/food-and-beverage-management-in-the-luxury-hotel-industry-2/
Next week, we’ll start exploring the multiple facets of Food & Beverage operations management
