Hotel mystery shopping: Factors included and how it works

Many people think that the evaluation of a restaurant or a hotel is based on the standards of food or rooms. It is just the tip of the iceberg and there are so many things we need to consider. Let us consider an instance. What if you keep on waiting for a table to be reserved even if you see people walking out of the restaurant? It means the service is slow. Even if the food is great, the service will become a deal-breaker.

This is why even restaurant owners keep evaluating their services from time to time and make sure every factor is touching the predetermined benchmark. The same goes for hotels. Hotel managements keep scrutinizing the services on a regular basis. These business entities of the hospitality industry hire mystery shopping services from the top service providers to do so.

What is hotel mystery shopping?

Hotels provide accommodation and dining services to customers. The domain is much broader than restaurants. In this context, a hotelier can hire a mystery shopper who will pretend like a customer and visit the hotel to analyze the services.

This shopper will go on an end-to-end journey of a customer. He wields a questionnaire or a form where certain questions are added based on the parameters a hotelier wants to check regarding the services. Based on his answers, the service quality is judged and worked on. This entire process is called hotel mystery shopping.

On a bigger scale, service providers are hired for a broader operation. This operation is integrated with digital analytics tools that enable the service provider to generate data-driven reports based on predetermined factors.

How does mystery shopping work for hotels?

Now that we are aware of how does mystery shopping works, let us find out how this market research can aid a hotel brand. Imagine there are multiple locations or branches of a hotel brand. The service needs to be even and up to the mark so that consumers drawn by its brand image should experience the same hotel services.

The factors that are generally included in a hotel mystery shopping operation are:

1. Check-in and arrival

The service phase begins with the greeting of customers on the premises of a hotel. The speed of checking-in service and arrival assistance is noted.

2. General area

Hygiene, safety protocols, signs, decoration, cleanliness, noise, etc are considered.

3. Guest rooms

The factors in a guest room such as electrical connections, appliances, bed, cupboard, drainage, plumbing, toiletries, towels, carpet, etc are considered.

4. Food and beverages

Food quality, taste, presentation, beverage types and preparations, etc are included.

5. Checkout

The service ends with the checkout of a customer. Assistance provided by the staff during checkout is considered.

Based on the survey requirements, questions are set to develop a questionnaire and given to the designated professional mystery shoppers. The best hotel mystery shopping companies use digital questionnaires for easier comprehension of data and to generate reports faster. Based on the reports, insightful information is delivered to the hotel management to make prominent decisions.