When a guest stays at an accommodation away from home, they expect certain comforts and conveniences to be made available to them. If these items or features are lacking, it leaves guests frustrated and less likely to stay in your establishment in the future. Beyond clean linens and plush towels, below are some of the most important yet also most frequently forgotten items which guests have come to expect.
Several Electrical Outlets around the Bed
Tablets, laptops and smartphones are travelling with all of us these days, and these devices need to be recharged on a regular basis. Guests who stay in hotels where they have to travel across the room or even to the bathroom to charge up their device often don’t return simply because it is that inconvenient for them.
Hotels today should have more than one or two outlets by the bed. There should be outlets on both sides of the bed and, ideally, by any desks, drawers or shelving units in the room. Guests should not need to move or shimmy furniture out of the way to access an outlet. The outlets should be easy to see, easy to reach and easy to use.
Free In-Room Wi-Fi
Hotels have to do more than offer Wi-Fi in common areas or offer LAN internet connections in the room. Guests now expect Wi-Fi to be available for free and to be available in their room. They do not want to make a special trip down to the hotel lobby simply to check their email.
Informative Guest Information Folders
After a guest of a hotel has settled in, he or she will begin looking for the guest information folder (and no, a phone book is not an appropriate substitute). Guest information folders in Shrewsbury and beyond should be chock-full of important information, including:
- The amenities offered in the hotel as well as a hotel map
- A restaurant menu (unless provided separately)
- Information about attractions in the area as well as the attraction’s contact information
- Contact phone numbers for important parties in the hotel, taxis, etc.
Apart from the information within the folder, the folder itself should reflect the atmosphere of the hotel. Flimsy plastic covers are a poor reflection of your hotel, and they may not even last a week. Invest in quality guest information folders and they will continue to work as a fantastic promotional tool for your hotel for the next several years.
Fresh Bottled Water
Bottled water should certainly be provided in rooms where the water out of the tap is unsafe to drink. But guests also often complain about the taste of hotel water, or they prefer to drink bottled water when they travel.
At the very least, hotels should be able to provide a couple of free bottles of water. Any additional bottles should come at a fair price as well and guests should not be charged an exorbitant fee for them (i.e. charging £3 for a bottle of water which cost the hotel 50p will not leave your guests happy).
