Types of Service Experiences
With a Swiss hospitality approach at its core, HBL Hospitableness has been an expert in the field of qualitative service experience research. We are expert and passionate individuals trained to deliver quality service expertise and actionable insights to enhance the guest service experience. The nature of our service experience experts allows them to provide you with objective and real-life feedback, reaching a high level of critical assessment.
Hotel Experience
The full-service experience
The full-service service experience in the hospitality and tourism industry includes the following touchpoints: (adapted from Smart Hotel Guide, 2018):
The Search
This touchpoint elaborates on the customer experience while searching for the property. The search experience includes access to OTAs, travel guides, and hotel website, and it is most likely a digital experience. This first part of the experience is crucial for securing the reservation, and any challenges are decisive in the booking decision.
Purchase or Booking
This touchpointfocuses on the ease of booking and payment options. In particular, howmany steps a customer needs to follow to finalise the booking?
Pre-Arrival
This touchpoint refers to any communication before arrival to support the customer experience. The pre-arrival service experience includes thehotel’s proactiveness in meeting guest needs, wants and preferences. How is the hotel tailoring the customer experience in advance?
Arrival and Check-in
This touchpoint is the first human contact touchpoint and creates the first impressions. It is a moment toreconfirm or capture guest needs, wants and preferences for a seamless experience.Questions such as how long doesthe check-in process? How was the guest greeted upon arrival?Was there a waiting time for check-in? Was I offered support with the luggage?
Stay Experience (In-Room)
This touchpoint is associated with how hospitable or “at home” the guests feel. It includes the room’s first impressions, in-room technology and ease of use, housekeeping, turndown, laundry and any guest request deliveries. The main query for this touchpoint is: Was the room ready for my arrival?
Stay Experience (In-Hotel)
The In-Hotel stay experience is associated with the overall hotel experience. This includes using common areas such as a pool, spa, gym, and restaurants. This part of the experiencefocuses on how recognised the guests are throughout the hotel, is the hotel providing a luxury ambience and atmosphere?
Stay Experience (In-Restaurant)
The In-Restaurant stay experience will focus on the welcoming, waiting times for ordering and waiting times for meals. In addition, how personalised the service was, the quality of food and drinks and the attentive service are keys to assessing an HBL experience.
Stay Experience (In-Spa)
As the name proposes, the in-spa service experience will assess how the service level was in a spa experience. Key features are atmosphere, welcoming, cleanliness, attention to detail, and quality of toiletries and linen.
Departure and Check-out
Departure and check-out processes involve asking for experience details and feedback in terms of non-conformities,completion and verification of the bill and payment. Key features are speed and ease of check-out procedures and, the accuracy of bill details.
Post-Stay
Post-Stay service experiences include but are not limited toreview and feedback of the stay, bill queries, request for invoices and lost and found standard procedures.
