This blog was started originally in a hotel, on that corner seat; speaking there with the bartender about hotels, restaurant and people. And hotels are something I know. Some of the hotels are places I keep coming back; some of those are places I will avoid after one visit. Like/dislike button is very sensitive when it comes to hotels; it happens in minutes, or even in seconds. Sometimes it’s a human being factor, sometimes a food or drink factor. Or lobby. Or bar. Or bed. Or pillow(s). That’s why we need so many different hotel concepts in this world, I guess. The concept I like and love is maybe something you just hate. But you are welcome to do that, my friend. Everybody is having own standards and requirements for everything.

Hotel is a physical form of standards covering the concept, target group, price category, location, form of use, clientele, chains, or those funny stars. Even that I know many industry experts see the star categories disappearing from the hotel world, I need to say I like stars. Stars are delivering you the service promise necessary to build up your own expectations. If you walk into a five star hotel, you expect more than in a two or three star hotel; simple start for your traveling, right? Same concept in the airline business, less expectation in a budget airline flights – although the final result is usually the same in both low cost and high cost ones nowadays… while waiting Concorde kind of approach coming back, I guess.

I spent last week in London, UK. As I have done for years, flying there always after New Years eve for shopping, eating and just walking around the city - really off-line life for a week or so. During the last twenty years London Mayfair/St.James/westend hotels have transformed themselves a lot, at least in terms of staff. The expansion of European Union and increasing immigration from eastern Europe is easy to see in every floor; from bars to house keeping, and nowadays already up to manager-in-charge level. I am a big supporter of immigration since I know those people leaving their motherlands for better future are brave and courageous. They do what so many millions are doing; go after work. Work for better future for themselves, for their family, for their children. That’s the secret of so many countries and companies around the world and that’s something especially the Northern-Europe and US need to survive.

When it comes to hotels, it’s all about those standards and expectations. How to build a recognizable service promise and how to fulfill the expectations your guests are having. And there we have an issue right now. As the hotel business has been going down to drain for the last year, every manager has been forced to save, save and save. Cutting costs have become a form of art, where only the result matters – savings. I noticed the change in fall 2008 when business co-travelers were gone, so few of us joined for one drink at the bar in US, Europe or Asia. It was a new game. But together with guests something else was gone; bathrobes, slippers, mouthwash, free newspaper – all the extras I assumed to be there. Actually, I expected those stuff to be there. And in addition to all those surprises, the Art of Cost Cutting hit the housekeeping, too. The standards I expected to face were not there anymore; the service promise of four or five star became a fake one. My platinum, gold or whatever very loyal client status became a joke.

Dear hotel managers, I really need to warn you. When you keep changing the numbers on your excel worksheets, the final row might look better and better all the time, but simultaneously you are done, my friend. You can save in housekeeping but you need to be careful. If you are happy and privileged to get new and probably cheap labor to work at your hotel, it’s your responsibility to train and manage your staff to keep the standards your guest are expecting. It’s YOU who need to do it!

Unfortunately the service level in London has gone down and on a deep curve. There are some wonderful people working at the hotels but many of them come from a different world. In terms of hotel and restaurant business many of the eastern European countries were destroyed for 40-50 years or so and the current generation is not used to work within the standards people like me might assume to exist automatically. But it’s not their fault; it’s the managers in charge who need to train them! Talked again with one bartender who has worked in the London hotel business for over 20 years. He shared my experience; there used to be time when everything was done exactly the same way, and simultaneously managed professionally. Nowadays the checklists are still there but supervisors are few, in both training and management. It’s obvious that it doesn’t work and quality standards won’t keep.
Middle management is expensive to keep, I guess.

Standards and following the core ones make the hotel what it is expected to be. Standards need to be recognizable and cannot be changed; when changed, it becomes a concept with new standards and expectations. This is a cycle you can do professionally or non-professionally. Bad times in economy means cost cutting in every business but when you destroy your own core product that your customers are willing to pay for, you are screwed - and most probably, by the end of the day without your manager position, too.

Cheers for standards! Cheers for good hotel staff! Cheers for good hotels!