hotel – The Burble

What can you learn from an Octopus?

I always find taking that first step off the airplane both exciting and distinctly underwhelming. Exciting as all new countries are an experience, and underwhelming because all airports now look-alike; other than Heathrow which looks like no airport on earth and despite the great PR machine actually doesn’t work very well. And Haneda in Tokyo which is the only airport in the world I’ve travelled through where the ground crew bow to the plan when it arrives.

One of the exciting aspects of traveling to a new country is trying to gain insights into the culture that drives how business is done. This is an important aspect of working overseas as a little respect for any local culture goes a long way to making people feel confident with each other. And confidence makes it easier to discuss things.

But trying to understand a culture and how it will impact you is difficult. As a westerner in Asia I had not idea of what is driving the local culture and what allowances are being made to accommodate your attempts to bow in say Japan. If you follow the link you’ll see just how complicated bowing can be. To be fair as a westerner in the USA I had equally no idea what was going on.

After giving it some thought I’ve come up with the 4 basic things that can tell you a lot about a country.

At the Airport

Airports can be a great place to gain some insights on how a country might work. Are the signs clear and easy to follow, in multiple languages and do the staff at immigration actually look like they want to be there. Business is likely to be thorough and organised and guest and visitors are appreciated. If you’ve travelled through Heathrow or into the USA you’ll appreciate that none of this is in place and when you jump in a taxi (particularly in the US) you’ll see exactly how business is going to be done; if the driver knows where you’re going that’s a bonus.

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At the Hotel

If the hotel staff have been trained and are courteous and helpful you know that meetings will be polite and well organised with the topics well though through. If you have to go back to reception multiple times because either the room the hotel gave you is already occupied (which does provide a major surprise for the existing occupant of the room but can be good for making or losing friends) or the room key fails to work then you’ll know that any meeting is likely to be a riot of noise, questions, papers and activity but with very little chance of actually achieving much. Again if you have ever tried checking into a hotel in London you’ll know what I mean.

Public Transport

If your hosts are happy to let you take public transport than you know that they are a proud people who value exposing you to their country and its people’s and activities. if not then I’d heartedly recommend that you do not try public transport yourself. There is a very good reason why the use of public transport has to be by recommendation only. See signs above. I have numerous examples over many years of colleagues who have faithfully boarded trams and ended up doing calls from public gardens 10 miles out-of-town.

So if public transport is recommended go for it and your meetings will be on time and end up in the place you want to get to (even if you go round the houses to get there). If not then you could end up anywhere with an agreement to repeat the whole thing again next time. On another bus and on a road to nowhere

At the Restaurant

Eating overseas is always fun and working out what is on the menu can be a real challenge but one you should always take. Don’t try to find something western as it will invariably not taste like anything you know and you’ll simply upset the hosts who will be keen to show you the best of their food culture. Personally though I always draw the line at eating anything alive – whether octopus or eel I prefer to know that it is dead and well prepared rather than still trying to escape as it travels down your throat.

For the squeamish look away now.

If your food is alive when it arrives you’re going hungry – sandwiches in meetings are a no-no and you have no way of getting to what you want as you will have upset your hosts. Just go get on the plane and leave.

Travellers tales – or nightmares on the road

Hotel California by the Eagles includes amongst its many lines ‘you can check out anytime you like but you may never leave’ which provides the perfect point from which to launch this weeks posting all about hotels and travel. I have been fortunate enough to stay in many hotels, in many countries and for many different reasons.

Some have been dire (you know who you are) and some have been great but what is it that makes the difference? Surely having high quality shower gel makes the difference? Well no. Maybe its the free newspaper that is hung on your door at night? Again no. So it must be the staff? Yes to a point. Good staff will make a poor hotel better and poor staff will ruin a good hotel but that’s only half the story.

And while on the subject of ‘poor staff’ let me digress for a moment. I doubt many hotel owners go out of their way to recruit ‘poor staff.’ I doubt you’ll see a job advert seeking ‘staff with no idea and no desire to help wanted as a hotel receptionist.’ Poor staff are inevitably the result of poor recruitment practices and even more importantly a lack of suitable training. Poor staff is an excuse and any business leader who’s staff are accused of being poor should hang their head in shame. No really, hang your head in shame if your staff have ever been called poor. Or change your HR people. Do both. Now.

So good staff help but at the end of the day I have summed up what makes a good hotel as ‘its one that just works’. Meaning what exactly? After giving it some thought there are three things a great hotel does well

they recognize that people want a simple check in process that moves you from street to room as soon as possible
there is an understanding that all the staff have a role to play in making the guest feel welcome even if only staying overnight. It is the cleaner who welcomes you to the hotel with a smile that makes as big an impact as the receptionist
a great hotel has all its facilities working and when there is a problem (as there inevitably will be) they try and sort the problem out. They let you know what they are going to do and then they do it; no fuss just competent problem solving.

Actually when you think about it these three could apply to any business. And yet so many places I stay can’t make these three simple things work.

I wonder why? What makes a good hotel experience for you? Or for that matter what makes any customer experience good?