LUXURY OF CHOICE

We definitely live in a screen age. Life is speeding up. People live more on virtual world. All of us are wired, we are synced in multiple things. We constantly need to upgrade and update otherwise we will be outdated. Life for sure has started moving at a faster pace. Some of them say they live in suitcases, when u start living in suitcases you start travelling much before you actually start travelling. When you have to hop through airlines, airports , Cabs and restaurants, in-spite of the speed in which you pass through all these. Every traveler is keen to stay in a safe and a good place, I guess that’s why hospitality in India is growing. All of a sudden not just the metros even the tier two cities have started witnessing elegant and cozy hotels. Since I travel a lot like many others, and take interest to stay in good hotels only to enjoy the interiors and always I am keen to learn the culture, the touch points and the customer service of the hotel.

All of us would say Taj, Le Meridian, Hyatt, Oberoi, Marriott, Leela and The Park, Trident are some the world class hotels in India, no doubt they are. I also agree that these are awesome purely of the luxury hotels which offer excellent service to their guest.

I recently happened to be in ITC Maratha in Mumbai, with out much expectations. I was awe struck by the service,the best and undoubtedly they offer a world class service. The hotel which have trained its employees to treat the guests with care and concern. This happens to be a hotel where there was no plastic smile nor memorized greetings and sentences. I felt the genuine concern they have shown to the guests right from the doormen to the bell boy, to the front desk to the room service to the restaurant. Their approach is consistent round the clock and right from the time you enter to exit. The empathy they show to their guests stands out. I had a very interesting experience when I and my friend were walking out of our room towards the corridor. My friend leaned to look at the order the room service was taking to an unknown guest of some other room. We came back after an hour and to our complete surprise with in few seconds of our arrival the room service walked into our room to provide us the eatable and said for you from ITC sir. The care they take to make their guests is unbelievable. When I came back to my room after a tiring day my bed had eye-shade, Stress reducing spray and of course two chocolates, on top of one chocolate it was written Dreams and the other Sleep and promptly I took the chocolate which had dreams. For any hotel to make their customers to come back again, they need to strategies few touch points.

1. The door man should believe the vision of the hotel. He is the first and last person any customer meets when they visit the hotel.

2. The concierge to be smart, energetic with up to date information, the concierge’s job is to make the guest stay happy and pleasant.

3.The front desk needs to be pleasant and fast and have genuine concern towards the guest. The smile, Greeting and Hello makes a great relationship.

4.The room, the space, the aesthetics, the bed , pillow, lighting, bathroom will decide the fate of all the other services.

5. People, food, color, furniture, ambiance, music, taste and smell in the restaurant will make a world of difference.

Most hotels spend lavish money on setting up the hotel but don’t spend quality time and money on training their employees. These touch points can make a world of difference in making the customer happy and make the customer an Evangelist. That’s what Mumbai’s ITC Marata has made me, purely because i am amazed by their service.

Share the touch points you think is mandatory for customer service .