Travel

Dharmendra Rama on How Hotels Can Build a Great Reputation

The hotel industry is incredibly competitive and beyond the fact that there are so many hotels around the world, the industry is now facing more competition than ever before from private rentals. Few people know this better than Dharmendra Rama, a successful hotelier who has learned the importance of having an outstanding hotel reputation. Creating a reputation for your hotel is the best way to secure loyal and new customers in equal measure. A reputation is hard to build, but it can be done and here is how Dharmendra went about it with his own hotels. 

What Clients Want 

So many hotel owners try to give the customer something that they just don’t want or need and this can often damage the hotel’s chance of creating a great reputation. Many studies indicate exactly what a customer is looking for when they visit a hotel, they expect the utmost cleanliness, outstanding service and they expect that the description of the hotel is accurate. Some hotel owners try to deliver a hotel which fits in with all types of customers, but this rarely works, others look to add extra amenities which cost money and time, that many customers just don’t want. In order to build a great reputation deliver a hotel which is clean, where the staff are great and which does what it says on the tin. 

Reviews

Reviews are how hotels are rated and in order for this to remain positive the hotel must be on the front foot with this. Whilst good reviews are excellent, bad reviews are actually an opportunity to identify issues and to boost the hotel’s reputation. Let’s say that you have some building work going on that the customer didn’t know about and when they get home they decide to leave a review about this. Instead of allowing this negative review to sit there and be seen by everyone, the hotel should be publicly apologizing and offering something by way of reimbursement or compensation, a free 2 night stay for example. In doing this you show the world that the hotel may have had some issues, but it is prepared to make up for it, increasing the positive reputation. 

Ensuring Repeat Business

It is the loyal customers to a hotel which help to create a positive reputation which then brings in more first time customers. This is why it is vital that a first stay should be treated in a way which leads to a second and third stay. When a first time customer is leaving you should be looking to offer a heavily discounted stay if they return, and the second time you could be looking to offer a free meal with their stay. Every trip is vital and if a customer comes back a third time, it is likely that they’ll continue to come back. A loyalty scheme is also a brilliant idea to reward your loyal customers, create a card system where they can gain points each time they stay that they can use on future stays or on in-house services. 

Focus heavily on building a great reputation and you can ensure that your business prospers for years to come.