Thursday, February 18, 2010

Hotel's Reputation Goes Down the Toilet

There are always two paths you can take- the one that wins customers and the one that loses them.

After queuing for 20 minutes to check in at The St Johns Hotel (part of the Principal Hayley group) in Solihull because there was only one receptionist, my wife and I were finally issued with our key cards. When we got to the room, I unlocked the door and my wife went in first to be greeted by a man sitting on the toilet! She screamed, he looked shocked and we beat a hasty retreat. How could we have been given a room that was already occupied? The receptionist was very apologetic but we never got a satisfactory explanation.

I think if I’d been the receptionist I would have told the manager what had happened so s/he didn’t find out first from the guest. As the manager, I would have personally apologised to all concerned and given some compensation for what was a hugely embarrassing experience. That would have turned a memorable story into one that reflected well on the hotel. As a footnote, we were given our own room eventually so we didn’t have to share- and Solihull is very nice.

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