Shinta Mani students are fed and housed gratis before they graduate into the local hospitality and business communities .
Shinta Mani Siem Reap , a 39-room , Khmer-inspired boutique hotel created by architect Bill Bensley , has a higher cause . The hotel , which recently expanded from 20 rooms , is actually a school for local students who are fed and housed gratis before they graduate into the local hospitality and business communities .
Bensley says 100 % of Shinta Mani ’ s students now have jobs and much better lives . “ Cambodia is not a wealthy country like Thailand , and small stuff like this is appreciated here ,” Bensley says .
The Development Center educates students for 10 months and provides a small stipend of rice and money to help support their families . Students specialize in one of the departments of the hotel , including culinary , finance , front office , housekeeping , maintenance , restaurant and spa therapy . In addition , they spend time after classroom and practicum learning in the students ’ library and computer lab .
The first enrollment of students , generally from disadvantaged backgrounds and selected based on their desire to learn and improve their skills , graduated in November 2012 .
WHY ONLINE REPUTATION MATTERS
A new study from the Cornell School of Hotel Administration shows reviews and social media posts really matter by finding a solid link between online guest satisfaction and the financial performance of hotels .
Combining data from ReviewPro ’ s Global Review Index , STR , Travelocity , comScore and TripAdvisor , the study examined midscale , upscale and luxury hotels in Berlin , Chicago , London , Los Angeles , Madrid , Miami , Milan , New York City , Prague , Rome and San Francisco .
On average , the study showed a one-point increase in a hotel ’ s 100-point ReviewPro Global Review Index can yield up to a
0.8 % increase in ADR , a 0.2 % increase in occupancy and a 0.96 % increase in RevPAR . The increase varied by segment . Hotels in the luxury segment saw the smallest uptick , with only a 0.49 % gain in RevPAR , while midscale hotels saw the largest with 1.42 %.
To boost a hotel ’ s score on the index , ReviewPro recommends conducting semantic analyses of online feedback to reveal opportunities for improvements with the most impact on guest satisfaction as well as creating online reputation goals for staff . “ This is a smart way to align objectives with daily actions ,” says R . J . Friedlander , CEO , ReviewPro , Barcelona , Spain .
Cornell is planning to work with ReviewPro on further studies . Cornell Associate Professor Chris Anderson , who conducted this study , says further research could shed light on which operational practices are the most effective for boosting online reputation .
A ONE-POINT INCREASE in a hotel ’ s 100-point ReviewPro Global Review Index can yield up to a 0.8 % increase in ADR , a 0.2 % increase in occupancy and a 0.96 % increase in RevPAR .
www . hotelsmag . com January / February 2013 HOTELS 11