Parting email at 25Hours Hotel
Bikini Berlin
A SMART SENDOFF
HOW 25HOURS AIDS GUESTS AND CONTROLS MESSAGE .
By CHLOE RILEY , ASSOCIATE EDITOR
For about three years now , all of the properties within Accor ’ s 25Hours Hotels have been sending a very interesting parting email . In addition to wishing the guest well , the email also has two large buttons : one for “ The Good ,” with a link to provide a positive review on TripAdvisor , and the other “ The Bad and The Ugly ,” in which the sender is encouraged to send an email directly to the property ’ s general manager .
HOTELS spoke with Dirk Dreyer , GM at 25Hours Hotel Bikini Berlin , about how such a direct feedback system came about and whether it works . HOTELS : What inspired this protocol ? Dirk Dreyer : It is a company standard , so all the guests that have booked directly with us , or at least from whom we have an email , receive this post-stay email , and the sender is always the GM . And I think this is what makes the difference because the idea of the post-stay email is certainly not new . This opens a channel to our guests and it is an easy way to interact with the guests and to learn about their experience and also to avoid online damage . We ’ ve had very good experiences with this . We are in the boutique hotel segment ( we have 149 rooms ) and so there ’ s a good chance we get to know our returning guests , but we do anything we can to build a relationship with our guest .
Lounge area at the 25Hours Hotel Bikini Berlin
“ THIS OPENS A CHANNEL TO OUR GUESTS AND IT IS AN EASY WAY TO INTERACT WITH THE GUESTS AND TO LEARN ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCE AND ALSO TO AVOID ONLINE DAMAGE .”
DIRK DREYER
H : What types of feedback do you get ? DD : Of course , we try to fulfill all of a guest ’ s wishes during the stay , but the last memory is always the strongest and if you receive a thank you directly from your host , from the GM , this is something that encourages a guest to book again or make a recommendation . And I must say , the number of replies I get compared to the number of guests we have ( is small ). We have about 3,000 guests per month and receiving maybe 30 , 40 , 50 emails is not too much . But every email is a possibility , and I always reply in a direct way . It is a way of personal connection . H : Do you find guests respond positively to that kind of access ? DD : In general , we enjoy a very good reputation and very good scores in guest satisfaction . The hotel is in a niche where people usually choose the property on their own – they ’ re not here as part of a group or for an event . So they know what to expect , and usually we are able to match or to exceed those expectations . I ’ d say one out of 20 emails is negative – maybe somebody had an issue during their stay or had a noise problem , etc … So there ’ s a very low percentage of negative replies , but it ’ s still the perfect thing to be able to react and offer an apology and offer compensation . And usually I get a reply : “ Hey , thank you , I did not expect a real person to answer and take care of my comments .” It is a personal thing and I also reply to them on my own and I always try to reply immediately as soon as I have the email in my inbox .
50 hotelsmag . com May 2019