How to improve guest facilities: 7 tips for a better guest experience
Every hotelier knows that happy guests are the secret to success of your business. And, while adding a huge swimming pool or spa might not be possible for every hotel, there are always ways you can improve your guest facilities and customer experience without breaking the bank.
Here, we’ll take you through some luxurious add-ons that will help to improve hotel facilities and ensure your customers feel they’re getting a great service. These tips and tricks are still relatively affordable and easy to implement, meaning they won’t impact your profits too much, and you won’t need to increase room rates dramatically in order to balance the costs. Keep reading to discover our seven top tips for improving your hotel facilities.
1. Personalise your guest facilities
These days, offering a brilliant service is now less about luxury and opulence than about providing a personal, unique experience for every customer. So, it’s a great idea to quiz guests about their reasons for staying with you when they book, and then personalise your service according to their needs and interests. The key is to try and anticipate how your guests will feel and what their requirements are likely to be, and then go out of your way to not just meet but exceed them.
For example, guests celebrating an anniversary or honeymoon will appreciate a bottle of bubbly and some rose petals scattered across the bed, and maybe even matching bathrobes. Or, you could leave a small cake or other sweet treat from your kitchen for guests celebrating a birthday. Travellers on business trips are likely to appreciate a de-stressing pamper pack, and you could even provide a hangover recovery package for stag and hen parties!
2. Offer a business centre and work zone
You might not be able to afford a full gym suite, spa, or pool, but there are still some more affordable facilities that are sure to impress guests. A business hub and work zone is sure to be a popular feature, particularly if your hotel caters to a lot of business guests.
This should be a quiet space with fast internet access, a few desks, a printer and scanner, and plenty of plug sockets, so guests can take care of important tasks or scan receipts and documents on the go. If you really want to push the boat out, a coffee machine won’t go amiss in this area, either!
While we’re on the subject, you should always aim to offer good internet access throughout your hotel. Nowadays, guests expect to be able to browse the net at no extra charge, so be aware that charging a fee for access is unlikely to be popular.
3. Complimentary Mini Bar
People love freebies, and complimentary mini bars are no exception. A free mini bar doesn’t need to cost a great deal of money, but it can often really delight your guests, who may feel that traditional mini bars are overpriced.
Be sure to have at least one sweet and one salty option — like chocolate and some popcorn or crisps — along with a couple of soft drinks, and maybe a mini bottle of wine. Remember to include some glasses, too — it’s always nice to include real glass tumblers, rather than plastic types.
Of course, don’t offer more than you can afford. If you can’t absorb the cost in your standard bedrooms, offering a complimentary minibar only in your higher-class executive rooms and suites can be a surprisingly effective incentive for guests to upgrade. It’s all about making the guest feel that they’re getting great value for money.
4. Provide a hot drinks service in each room – or a station on every floor
It’s a standard procedure to have a hot beverage service in your guest rooms now, so to impress your guests, you’ll need to go above and beyond by offering tea and coffee from premium, recognisable brands along with a few snacks. It’s always a nice touch to include a few drinks or snacks from nearby businesses, too — especially as you may be able to get a lower rate by shopping locally.
If you run a lower-budget hotel, then it may not be cost-effective to offer a full hot beverage service in each room. However, you can still set yourself apart from your competitors by setting up a communal hot drinks station on each floor, where guests can help themselves to tea and coffee. This relatively affordable option is sure to impress while being easier for your team to maintain and re-stock than an in-room service.
If you want to splash out on a coffee maker, self-service bean to cup machines or filter coffee machines are both good options. During the warmer months, you could also offer a water dispenser, or perhaps some jugs of chilled water infused with fresh fruit or citrus.
5. Present your room service to dining room standard
If you offer room service (and given that you can charge more for in-room dining, you should certainly consider doing so!) then be careful to present your food just as beautifully as you would in your dining room. Use the same high-quality crockery, napkins, and cutlery as in your restaurant, and arrange them on the tray with the same care that you would take when setting a table. Wine should be served with an ice bucket, and preferably a stand. Remember to include images of your beautifully presented room service dishes on the in-room menus, as this can help to drive sales.
6. Add small photogenic details – and rack up social shares
Leaving a flower or a chocolate on the bed or on top of guest towels is likely to encourage guests to share their thoughtful complimentary treat on social media, resulting in some free publicity for you. While these simple gestures can cost as little as pence per room, and take housekeeping staff seconds to execute, they can make a very good impression on guests. Remember to print your social media handles prominently on all of your in-room marketing so customers can tag your channel in their posts.
7. Cleanliness is a virtue
Your hotel can never be too clean, as no matter how small or humble your establishment, one thing guests will always pick up on is a dirty room. You can offer all manner of little luxuries and guest add-ons, but if your guests find their rooms aren’t completely clean and tidy on arrival, it’s likely you’ll still be fielding complaints. Plus, pictures of dirty rooms left on review sites can also seriously damage your reputation and put off prospective customers.
A highly trained, well-equipped housekeeping team — overseen by a competent housekeeping manager — is the key to a superb standard of cleanliness. If complaints regarding your rooms are frequent, your housekeeping team may be overstretched, so consider expanding your team or allowing more time per room. To learn more about improving cleanliness, take a look at our hotel housekeeping tips guide.
In addition to excellent housekeeping, you should also make sure that facilities are maintained to an exceptionally high standard. So, whether it’s peeling paint, worn carpets, or a backed-up shower, make sure that any issues are reported by housekeeping and followed up as soon as possible. Repairing problems in a timely fashion will also help to stop them from escalating, which is sure to be more cost-effective in the long term.
It may help to leave some guest feedback cards in your bedrooms, so your guests can report on any problems that would otherwise be overlooked. This way, issues can be resolved before customers leave a negative online review.
A note on pricing and value
Naturally, in the hotel industry, there’s no such thing as a completely ‘free’ luxury extra, as the cost should always be absorbed into the price of the room. To ensure profitability, you’ll need to factor the cost of your complimentary extras into your overall pricing strategy. But, think twice before you simply hike the room rates: remember, as your rates increase, so will your customers’ expectations. Instead, you should aim to offer maximum value for the price you charge.
Adding small, affordable touches to your hotel facilities, like the ones we’ve listed above, is a great way to do this without the need for a huge price increase — resulting in happy guests who feel they’ve gotten the most for their money.
Now you know how to improve your hotel facilities, you can implement some of these tips and watch as your customer satisfaction ratings and online reviews get better and better. Remember, you can find all the amenities and accessories you need to make your guest rooms and bathrooms as luxurious and welcoming as possible in our hotel shop. We also have loads more hospitality and hotel industry tips and tricks in the hotel advice centre on our knowledge hub, so take a look to find more strategies.
