Hospitality is an extremely competitive industry, and the atmosphere and guest experiences offered by your hotel will be determinative to its success. Location and marketing efforts are important to maintaining high occupancy rates, but your hotel’s appearance, service, and amenities are vital to continued success. Here are some things that you can do to establish your hotel as a local leader.

Make Cleanliness a Priority

The most expensive décor and finishings will fail to impress if a facility just isn’t clean. Guests need to perceive a hotel as being immaculate; it shouldn’t appear remotely dirty or uncared for. You need to create a cleaning schedule that thoroughly addresses intensive procedures for not only individual rooms but also common areas. Hallways, elevators, and restrooms need to be cleaned more than once per day, and you should give staff a checklist for individual tasks. In addition to looking clean, a hotel has to smell noticeably fresh. You can create a good impression right when people walk in with a machine for odor control. It will emit a pleasant scent that you can change up week to week or month to month that will be distinctly but not overpowering.

Hire Outstanding Staff

You play a huge role in people’s perception of your hotel’s management. You should train your staff extensively on your systems and policies to reduce the chances that they’ll be confronted with questions that they can’t field confidently and competently. You should also emphasize the importance of projecting a positive and engaging personality. When customers feel that staff really cares about meeting their needs, they’ll feel comfortable asking for the things that they really want. Treating guests personably and attentively shows them that you value their business and will increase the probability that people will stay at your hotel again in the future or recommend it to friends and family.

Create a Fantastic Pool Area

An excellent hotel should have an above-average pool; a small single-depth pool simply won’t make much of an impression, and people won’t really be interested in hanging out there. Instead, you should have a large pool with multiple depths and places to get in and out. It should be heated, meticulously landscaped, and visually impressive. Your pool should be a place where people want to hang out and not just stop by to go swimming. During the night time, you can use a lighted fountain for a particularly dazzling effect that guests can see from their rooms or an outdoor dining area. Pool finance options can make your goals financially viable and alleviate some of your concern about the immediate costs of installation or renovation. By financing your pool at a reasonable interest rate, you can afford to pay for it over an extended period of time and not have to make any dramatic adjustments to your overhead budget.

Serve Great Food Onsite

Ideally, you should have room in your hotel for a restaurant that can be your guests’ go-to choice for every meal. The best type of environment for a hotel restaurant is one that is relatively casual, but the food that you serve has to be above-average while not being too costly. Setting your price points too high will deter people from going there. If you don’t have enough room onsite for a full restaurant, you should consider partnering with a great restaurant that’s located very nearby. Create a referral program whereby guests can get a discount on dining.

Generate Positive Reviews

When individual guests have a great stay, they’re going to share their experience online. You should reasonably expect that people will write about almost every aspect of staying at your hotel. They’ll be evaluating the décor, its cleanliness, and especially your staff. Great staff interactions are sure to inspire people to leave positive feedback. People reading good reviews online will feel more confident about booking a stay when they read that other people receiving outstanding customer service.

Ultimately, having a clean and well-appointed hotel with excellent staff and amenities will help you set yourself apart from your competitors. Attention to detail, smart budgeting, and a strong emphasis on good customer service will make for happy guests and continually high occupancy.

Author: Paisley Hansen