Innkeeper: “How Was Your Stay? Guest: It was FINE”. Uh-oh…

This was a screen capture during a  presentation from a recent hospitality conference.

Until I saw this picture, the word “FINE”, to me, had another meaning. From the movie The Italian Job: freaked out, insecure, neurotic and emotional!

Check out is a great time to make sure your guests enjoyed their stay. You have that wonderful opportunity to recap their stay, validate their experience (and your innkeeping efforts) and ask “did you enjoy your stay with us?” If you hear “it was fine”?  That’s not good!

But it’s a way to be proactive about feedback and the dreaded negative criticism if there is any coming. Looking at the positive, if there was an ‘issue’, it’s your opportunity to try and address it at the time and NOT later on TripAdvisor. Being proactive at this point takes a bit of effort, but it can really preserve your reputation in the end. It may prevent a less than favorable review!