Whether for business or pleasure, traveling is a part of almost everybody’s life. Whoever shows up at your hotel, they need to feel welcome. A good atmosphere in your hotel is as important as anything else you do. Nobody wants to feel unwelcome or unsafe whether they are staying with you for one night or one month. This is why you must do your best to make your guests feel at home, even while they are far away from it.
You can start by making the check-in process as smooth as possible. People have enough on their mind while they travel, they don’t need any more problems to deal with. A happy face and a welcoming attitude can make a world of difference when someone walks into your hotel for the first time. Occasionally check-ins will take longer than the guest would like, but that welcoming attitude can keep the guest calm during these unfortunate cases.
After check-in, guests are unlikely to interact too much with staff, but this doesn’t mean they won’t be affected by them. Your staff as a whole need to maintain the same warm and welcoming attitude that greeted your guests at check-in. Aside from hiring good staff with people skills, the best way to ensure this is by having that same attitude with your staff. If they feel welcomed at work, they will be more likely to welcome others while at work. It can be tough to do this, because you need to maintain order and don’t want your staff slacking on their duties. Do your best to strike a good balance between pushing your staff to work hard and making them feel comfortable at work.
Maintaining a welcoming environment is always a work in progress. Some days will be better than others but keep working and never become complacent. Listen to the feedback you receive. It will be much easier to improve if you listen to the very people you are trying to make feel at home. So long as your hotel is constantly doing its best, it will show. People can tell when you are sincerely trying to get better, and they will thank you for it.
