Hotelatelier, a leading hospitality group with 38 hotels across Spain and Portugal, has mastered the art of delivering unforgettable guest experiences. Since 2014, they’ve embraced a bold, customer-centric approach that sets them apart in a competitive industry—driven by exceptional service, engaged staff, and smart use of technology. In this interview, Susana Romero Expósito, Quality and Reputation Specialist at Hotelatelier by Petit Palace Hoteles, pulls back the curtain on how Hotelatelier continues to elevate guest satisfaction and reputation.
Key takeaways
Hotelatelier established a customer-centric culture in 2014, boosting reputation and guest satisfaction.
Training, communication, and staff involvement ensure the reputation culture reaches all levels.
Real-time guest feedback helps address issues quickly, preventing post-stay complaints and increasing satisfaction.
Strategic reputation management software and data-driven decision-making have significantly improved GRI and guest feedback engagement.
Hotelatelier’s motto, “People taking care of people,” reflects their commitment to guest and employee well-being.
Establishing a customer-centric approach
Please outline the origins of Hotelatelier’s focus on reputation and the initial steps taken in 2014 to design the customer-centricity area.
In 2014, we created the Customer Centricity area to address the need to put the customer at the centre of all actions. Hotelatelier implemented a reputation-focused culture, placing the customer at the heart of our strategy and as the primary reference for decision-making.
We started a “Guest Experience” project where we defined customer service standards and began collaborating with a reputation provider. We established service KPIs that yielded significant results and laid a solid foundation for our reputation culture. From 2014 to 2018, we increased our response rate to 95% and raised our overall rating to 84%, which led to increased revenues.
In 2018, we decided to change our reputation provider due to the need for a technology partner that would allow us to export and consolidate data in our Business Intelligence system. The goal was to turn data into knowledge about our customers and business. Thus, we began working with reputation management software. Since the beginning of this partnership, we have increased our GRI (Global Review Index) to 88% and responded to comments and surveys in less than 1.8 days, with an overall response rate of nearly 100%. We have achieved a 19% conversion rate by sending surveys via email. Our surveys have become the most important source of feedback from our customers.
“The information provided by our reputation management system is used both tactically and strategically. It is relevant in decision-making across all areas of the hotel chain. The data allows us to validate all the initiatives implemented, as we can instantly measure the effects on customer satisfaction. Gathering the voice of the customer serves as a validation filter for new improvements or the launch of new services, as well as to deepen our understanding of our customers and the business.”
Edurne Vázquez, COO of Hotelatelier
Ensuring reputation culture across all levels
What methods do you use to maintain a strong reputation culture across every level of your organisation?
We have ensured that the reputation culture reaches all our teams by involving every company member. Our allies are communication and training. Everything that happens is shared and communicated. Every new member receives onboarding that includes training in reputation, among other areas, and we provide periodic training as needed. Additionally, we have an average of two Guest Service Reputation Evangelists per hotel. They are the voice of reputation at the hotel, supporting the Host and Experience Manager by responding to comments and sharing results and milestones with the rest of the team.
Daily practices for prioritising guest experience
Can you explain how Hotelatelier prioritises the guest experience in your daily operations?
We track KPIs based on survey questions weekly, giving value to the customer’s voice. The Hosts coordinate their work and their teams’ work based on the customer’s priorities. We audit the lowest-rated rooms and resolve work orders generated by the customer in less than 24 hours.
We can’t overstate the importance of centralised customer information for our business decisions. At Hotelatelier, we strive to use all the information our reputation management software provides. We always seek to maximise the tool’s potential, as our decision-making model is based on integrated and reliable information sources.
Strategies for creating memorable guest stays
Please describe strategies you’ve implemented to ensure every guest has a memorable stay.
Our IN-STAY survey allows us to anticipate customer needs, addressing their requests in less than 24 hours. We prevent post-stay complaints, resulting in higher satisfaction and improved NPS (Net Promoter Score).
Hotelatelier believes in improving service through personalised stays and impeccable customer care. We achieved a staff score of 4.73/5 and pursue customer satisfaction at every touchpoint.
Engaging the team in reputation management
How have you involved the entire organisation in your reputation management efforts?
We created the Customer Centricity area, which was later shared with the company as part of the “Guest Experience” project. Identified a tool to measure results and emphasised managing all customer touchpoints and information.
We share the results, involve teams to achieve customer satisfaction across different areas and work together to design action plans to improve the experience with regular follow-up. We recognise and reward good results, all working towards a common goal: the customer.
The company takes care of our internal customers, organises a summer party for the entire organisation, offers rewards for goal achievement, and maintains an internal communication tool where we post news, celebrations, milestones, and internal recognitions.
Analysis and actions
What is your approach to analyzing and responding to significant drops in GRI each week?
We analyse which categories have most impacted the decline and review the semantic analysis to extract precise information. We also check the volume of comments to see if negative feedback has significantly influenced the drop. If we determine the decline was due to a fixable team error, we request an action plan to improve future results. We check the following week to see if the issue has been resolved.
Achieving high survey conversion rates
Which strategies have contributed to your impressive survey conversion rate through email invitations and thank you messages?
We have an attractive survey and email invitation design that encourages completion. Thanks to recommendations from our account manager, we placed the Overall Score question in the email invitation and added a “go to survey” button. With the Survey Behavior module, we made improvements that have reduced response times, and now our customers take less than four minutes to complete the survey.
Guest feedback driving CapEx investments
Tell us about a CapEx investment or change that came about thanks to guest feedback.
Customer feedback led us to invest in improvements like mattresses, carpets, televisions, and curtains. Recently, we replaced Wi-Fi antennas based on input from a specific survey question introduced for this purpose.
Global reports for market benchmarking
Explain your approach to leveraging global reports when comparing Hotelatelier with the European market.
Whenever there is a new industry report, we compare all the information between the European market and our chain. Benchmarking is essential to understanding where we stand in the market, tracking our progress, and guiding our strategy and future direction.
Our reference point is Europe. We compare our company’s value in the market. The objective is to stay above the market average. If we fall below, we treat it as an alert. For instance, we use the Net Promoter Scores Brand Competition to position our company within the European market ranking.
New initiatives for the future
Are there any new initiatives or projects in the pipeline that you are particularly excited about?
The next step is to build a solid foundation for integrating quality and reputation. We aim to work on continuous improvement by analysing the customer’s voice and incorporating it into our process management tool. We have pioneered the merger of quality and reputation, driving collaboration between our reputation management software provider and EISI.
Employee empowerment
Employees play a crucial role in reputation management and enhancing guest experience—what methods are used to encourage their contribution?
In our internal communication channel, we recognise, reward, and listen to the team’s voice through anonymous surveys. We keep the entire company informed and involved in everything that happens.
Practices in customer-centricity
Describe the innovative practices or programs Hotelatelier has implemented to maintain customer-centric leadership.
One of our strategies is to prioritise responding to negative comments. We ensure that the host at each hotel is the only one responsible for doing so, and responses are given within two days.
Aligning Innovations with Business Goals
How do you ensure these innovations align with your business goals and guest expectations?
A complaint is an opportunity. We achieve the best customer satisfaction by putting the customer at the centre of our actions and giving them the highest priority. Our motto is “People taking care of people.” We believe that we should take care of our team just as we do our customers, creating an environment of belonging and impacting how we care for our customers.
Conclusion
Hotelatelier’s journey toward customer-centricity and reputation management exemplifies its dedication to excellence. Their continued success stems from effective feedback, innovative practices, and a commitment to employee and guest satisfaction. Through strategic initiatives and clear communication, Hotelatelier stays ahead of the curve in the ever-evolving hospitality industry.
