SERVICE AT HOTEL ALORE.

Last month, Julian had been asked to attend a three-day conference in a city five four hours from his home. He and his wife had decided to make it a weekend getaway for the family. When making reservations at the Hotel for the family, he informed the reservation agent of all their special requirements: 2 adults, 2 young children, anticipated 11:00pm Thursday night late arrival; non smoking double-double room with a crib, food service available for the family upon arrival; a pool and fitness centre; business services and the discounted corporate group rate for Thursday and Friday nights.

When the family arrived, everyone was more than ready for bed - everyone except their 8 year old, who had found the snacks that her parents had packed inadequate. "I'm still hungry, Daddy!" "Well don't worry honey. I talked to the people at the hotel ahead of time, and they said we could get food delivered to our room, even at 11:00pm at night. The family arrived and wrestled with the two large suitcases, baby's bag and child's day pack. "You'd think a place like this would have a bell person or valet parking."

Once they were inside, they could see the front office agent leaning on the desk and using his mobile phone, he didn't look up. Once at the desk, the family was greeted.

The agent looked up and said, "Welcome to Hotel Alore". They completed the check in process and Marvin asked about the details of the conference happening the next day. The agent was unaware of any details or locations of the group's meetings. Marvin asked if there was a luggage trolley or someone to help with the bags. The agent replied, "There's usually a bell-person to help with luggage, but he was sick and there was no replacement for this shift." He then handed them their guest room key and announced their room number out loud, pointing in a direction down the hall towards the elevator. So, the family gathered up their things and continued to their room. When they got to their room, they found it clean and smelling fresh. It had two double beds, but no crib. Marvin called the front desk right away. "The agent I talked to on the phone when I made the reservation said you'd have a crib for us," he told the front desk agent.

"Oh, I'm very sorry, sir. I will take care of that right away." The agent responded. "And could you bring us your room service menu?" Marvin asked. "You'll find that in the guest information directory in your room, sir. It's in the blue binder on the desk." The agent answered.

The family went through the menu, all they have available were two kinds of salad and some cold deli sandwiches. They were hoping for more options for the children, but the family decided to simply request some french fries. The room service attendant told them that french fries are only available with the purchase of a sandwich. After some discussion, they did make an exception and took the order.

The food order arrived at the same time as the crib. The children were both ready for some rest by now. The crib was delivered by a breathless gentleman who had a ten-minute explanation of why it had taken him so long. The family eventually got to bed in hopes to sleep in a bit later in the morning after such a long night.

The family was awakened at 8:30am by a knock at the door. "Housekeeping" said a voice on the other side. Marvin opened the door and blinked at the housekeeper. The baby started crying.

"Very sorry sir, Ididn'tmean to wake you," said the housekeeper. "Didn'tyou see the -never mind, I'll come back after. Very sorry."Its not my fault theydidn'tuse the Do Not Disturb Signs,thought the housekeeper to herself. They realized they could have put up a Do Not Disturb sign the night before, but he looked around the room and found none.

The family enjoyed a nice breakfast. The family was eager to get into the pool while Marvin attended the conference, but first they needed to ask the front desk where it was. "I'm very sorry ma'am" the agent said, "Didn't anyone tell you? The pool is closed for repairs." "Will it be opened soon? By Sunday?" "I'm afraid not ma'am" answered the agent. "All right, then".

Trying to come up with another option for the children, she asked the agent about a museum she read about in a magazine that's supposed to be close by - the Pinkerton Museum of Natural History? "The front desk agent recognized the name but had no brochures handy. She drew a map on the back of an envelope and gave her directions how to walk to the museum. The agent couldn't remember all the street names, nor did she know the museum hours or admission charges.

She also asked about family restaurants in the area. The agent pulled out a phone book and started scanning the yellow pages. "All I see for family restaurants is places across town." the agent told her. "But there's an upscale place just down the road...."

Marvin finished up with the conference meetings late Friday afternoon and headed to work out in the fitness centre. He used the treadmill for a while, but when he went to use the rowing machine, he noticed that one of its handles was much looser than the other. He reported it to front desk on his way back to the room.

That night they realized that their room was right over the lounge. They could hear the live music until about midnight. They called the front desk and the agent that answered the call was not too concerned and indicated that the music was ending. They apologized for the inconvenience to the family. The next morning Marvin went to the fitness room again and noticed that the equipment was still broken, and no repairs had been made. Saturday night the family was very disturbed by music again, the driving beat seemed to make the whole room vibrate. The family was still trying to get to sleep at 2:00am. The next morning, they decided to leave earlier than they had originally planned.

They learned at check out the next morning that the hotel had incorrectly billed them the full rack rate for all three nights.

As they started to leave, the hotel's General Manager, introduced himself. "I'm just taking an informal guest survey today, how was your stay here?"

Marvin gave him the whole story - good points and bad points, the manager listened carefully, taking notes. He thanked them for their time and feedback and apologized for the difficulties the family had. He offered a free lunch at the hotel's restaurant and told them if the family was ever in the area again, they should call him directly and he would arrange for a free stay.

Three weeks later, they received a very thoughtful follow up letter from the hotel. It explained what the manager and his staff had done to correct the problems the family had experienced. But the final credit card charges for the hotel were $14 higher than their folio had been when they checked out. A call revealed that the mini bar charges were not posted until after the family had left. Yet another oversight at the Hotel Alore...

QUESTION:

1. "As the reservations manager, what could you do to improve the effectiveness of the reservation procedure?"