Never a truer word spoken, you can’t hide from the truth.

Who you gonna call…..Trip Advisor?

It needs no other title really does it? It is the BFF of all hotels doing well and the name that instils the fear of god into those where business and comments are bad.
Reputation is important, but so is getting a message across to the public that if even a small part of you still wants to stay at a venue despite a couple of bad reviews, you should stay! Something there is still holding your attention. Good reviews on the other hand are treated like gold dust. If a good review comes in everyone celebrates it almost like guests never leave happy, which is wrong to the other extreme.
Everybody has said that phrase that makes me cringe. “The Trip Advisor reviews were rubbish but I don’t get it, I had a great time”. Of course you did, it’s called opinion.
I am “people” and I am “hotelier”, and even I struggle to break the link between fact and opinion. If I’m about to reject a hotel based on bad reviews (and yes I do use the site because I think guest pictures are truer), it take me a moment to remember that every hotel can have that guest who over complains.
Generally I find Trip Advisor hard to stomach having to use it daily. Don’t get me wrong, some people have every reason to complain but I always think the serious ones want to do it face to face. Online complaints instantly become serious because owners and operators are TERRIFIED of online reputation which is wrong, all of a sudden a complaint about something that could have been rectified, becomes as bad as somebody not having a bed in their room! I say spare a thought for hoteliers, one bad review in the last 2 weeks is nothing when you compare it to the 1000 other satisfied customers to leave the building recently.
So….all those people in aspect of service in favour of a searchable Guest Advisor site?!

Knowing me, knowing you

Hospitality is set to reach a worth of £90 billion over the next 4 years and I am so pleased to be part of that. My first of hopefully many posts, is to assure you that while I am no expert I do have my fair share of experience, whilst still being young enough to embrace the ever changing industry!

I’m currently a Hotel Manager with ambition. I know what I like and why I like it, and while I may not change my opinion I love to hear about peoples experiences and what makes them tick.

I started my career as a chambermaid. At just 16 I had no idea of what life would hold or what it took to work your way up. If I’m honest in the beginning it was a pure pocket money job, nobody wants to get up at 7am on a Saturday and Sunday morning right? Wrong. Apparently there were people who liked this and did this all the time. All of a sudden a world was revealed to me where work did not stop at 9-5 hours. I admired those who wanted to be in this industry and needed to be a part of it.

In awe of the manager I began thinking, yeah, I could work in a hotel. In my first 2 years there I was a chambermaid, linen assistant, waitress and cook. Picking up valuable information on the way I unknowingly began my journey.

Lured away to university by the excitement I left hospitality to study but was asked back at the end to work again which I did, again thinking I was doing it because of the money. I was quickly asked if I would like a full time job on reception which I snapped up. Reception to me said “glamour” I was to be allowed to face the guests at the hub of the hotel! It soon became apparent that I was back doing something loved, the glamour, the service level, the ever changing days.

I progressed to Reception Manager. Me! My own little team! I felt like I was on a runaway train and that my career was forming itself without me knowing it. The runaway train stopping off at Reception Manager, Conference and Events, Groups, Rooms and Revenue Manager and finally Hotel Manager!

I’ve recently taken a look back at the most valuable years of my life and realised I have learnt so much but still have bags left to learn from people who I have had no contact with yet. Not even just hotel hospitality but all things that fascinate me customer service wise like weddings, transport, leisure, shopping etc!

What better way to learn and share than a blog!? I’m so excited to gain some followers and start blogging and sharing some of our experiences together!