Below incidents are from a LHW (Leading Hotels of the World) property in Malaysia.
At the airport, the guest was asked to verify the booking name from the name list and she informed the employee that her first name was spelt wrongly. (For privacy and security reasons, the list should not have been shown to guests.) (Minus 3)
On arrival at the hotel, the registration card and the key card - the latter presented about two hours later due to the early check-in - both still had the wrong spelling of name. (Minus 1)
The bookings were made separately for consecutive days of different room categories, under the same name. This was not confirmed during check-in and when guest enquired about on two occasions - with receptionist and later the colleague carrying out the rooming, both said they were not aware about it without offering to check or carry out the necessary follow-up. (Minus 3)
Shortly after settling into the suite, the guest tried to take a nap but was woken up by a call from the Concierge, asking about the car transfer to airport for the following day. Once again, this team member was not aware that there was a room change to the villa category the next day. (Minus 3)
After waking up from a brief nap upon arrival, guest received two emails from hotel's Reservations team to "Confirm My Stay". The assistant reservations manager later apologised in her response to guest's query regarding this. It seemed that "the system had automatically sent out the emails as they were updating guest details". However, the guest name was still spelt wrongly in both the emails. (Minus 1)
Pre-arrival, guests are sent a form to indicate one's food allergies or dietary restriction, preferred activities and other special requests. Guest had asked for Coke Zero to be placed in the mini bar. However, this common request was not followed through and no one had acknowledged this throughout the entire stay in both rooms. (Minus 3)
Guest had requested in advance for a buggy at 8.20pm that evening to head for dinner. At 8.25pm, guest called the Operator to remind so. Eventually, it arrived at 8.30pm. (Minus 3)
Late check-out was granted until 6pm on departure day. However, there was a knock on the door at around 11am for servicing by Housekeeping team. At 3pm, Room Service came by to stock up the mini bar. (Minus 1)
Service Bank: Withdrawal of 8 hearts, minimum.
Reflective thoughts: If you were the guest, how would each of the above encounter make you feel? Focus on the emotions and describe accordingly. What are the implications of each? How does this impact on the sense of luxury? Discuss with your team to hear about the different thoughts and perspectives.