As you might gather, I have been back on the road as we look at the entrants for our 2010 Tourism Awards, (More about that in a few days time,) so I have been staying in hotels again.

The current hotel is a fairly old fashioned 3 star hotel, conveniently located right in the centre. You can guess that I chose it because I can easily get to some of the places I want to visit. I certainly didn’t choose it for the food which seems largely to be frozen food oven cooked. The lift is broken and the wifi access ( so I can upload this piece and see where I should be next) is not available today.

So should I be annoyed or at least unsatisfied?

The receptionist had been pleasant as she mentioned the problems. She has apologised profusely and dropped her head and smiled coyly in that way that customer service professionals tell you to do in order to get the customer at ease. The restaurant staff were efficient but limited in what they could offer and the waiter apologised for only having lager and one bitter on tap. Referring to one pudding, he said that it was very popular but didn’t seem to taste of much. How can you criticise that honesty?

Clearly this hotel is helped by its staff. The hotel chain is getting away with things that shouldn’t, and wouldn’t be tolerated, if the staff weren’t playing such a key role.

The question is whether I will stay here again? My thought is that I might because the lift and wifi can be mended but I probably wouldn’t eat here again. But maybe the hotel chain is relying on that staff training and loyalty to keep guests happy. 

No, on second thoughts, I shan’t stay again.