QHA Review August 2017
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FOCUS<br />
How important is inviting and responding<br />
to online guest feedback to the operation of<br />
a hotel?<br />
Feedback and reviews are imperative. They can drive<br />
your position on third party websites and this directly<br />
impacts sales. Guests want to see that you take their<br />
feedback seriously and have a genuine care for their<br />
comments. I respond to all reviews and feedback<br />
as quickly as possible. Most travellers research their<br />
destination using Tripadvisor, so being present and<br />
addressing all feedback given shows that you take<br />
guest comments seriously and want to engage<br />
with travellers.<br />
What effect has the end of the independent Star<br />
Rating scheme had on the industry?<br />
Star Ratings are a thing of the past. I personally didn’t<br />
agree with some of the grading for Star Rating as it<br />
didn’t really give you an honest review of the hotel and<br />
its facilities. However in <strong>2017</strong>, with social media and<br />
online sites such as Tripadvisor so popular, it’s the best<br />
tool for travellers to research the hotels where they’re<br />
thinking of staying. Star Rating 20 years ago assisted<br />
travellers in picking the best hotels, however these<br />
days everything and anything they want to know about<br />
hotels can be found online.<br />
What advice would you give to someone just<br />
starting out as a Hotel Manager?<br />
You need to have a thick skin these days and passion.<br />
Without both of these, it’s a tough industry. There’s<br />
no down time in hotels. It’s 365 days a year, 24 hours<br />
a day. With reviews and social media everything is<br />
transparent for the world to see, so being the best you<br />
can be all of the time is paramount.<br />
Marsha Franklin<br />
<strong>QHA</strong> REVIEW | 49
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