Tourism

Being one of the reputed Hilton Worldwide hotels and having been recognized as the number 1 hotel in the mid-priced category by Business Travel News 2009, the Hampton Inns chain of hotel are assumed to be one of the best. The lawsuits and complaints its branches accumulated across the years however, say otherwise. The researcher used the hotel and travel review site Tripadvisor.com and forums My3cents.com to gather guests opinion about the hotel. An overwhelming majority of the feedbacks are not positive. Complaints include poor customer service, guest mistreatment by employees, bad record keeping, dirty rooms and lack of security measures. Using the information gathered, the researcher applied the Five Whys approach in determining the root causes of the problems. The root causes were identified as budget constraints due to low investment and occupancy rate particularly on franchised branches. Diverse preferences among guests along with guests tendency to abuse the money back guarantee were also identified as reasons why there were complaints about the said policy. Based on these root causes, the researcher came up with strategies to improve the quality of service and reputation of Hampton Inns such as selection process, staff development, policy review and basic facility improvement.

Ranking first on the mid-priced tier category of Business Travel News 2009, you would think that Hampton Inn is the perfect place for people travelling on a budget. The fact that it is among the Hilton Worldwide groups of hotels also strengthen this assumption and makes a traveller who is yet to book a reservation think that their stay would at least be at par with the cost. It was also an added assurance for guests that the hotel is offering money back guarantee for unsatisfied clients. Nonetheless, based on the most respected web-based hotel reviews and consumer forums, this is not the case.

Tripadvisor.com, reputed as one of the more favoured travel review site, has given most Hampton Inns with 2.5 rating, with 5 being the highest. The reviews included comments like the entire stay was a close call between average to poor. Most reviews ended with either the reviewer claiming hes never going to stay there ever again or warning people to beware of those hotels. Feedbacks from My3cents.com, a social network for consumer reviews, are also the same. Majority of the complaints are about poor customer service, guest mistreatment by employees, bad record keeping resulting to inaccurate room assignment, dirty rooms and lack of security measures.

The Crestwood, Illinois branch of Hampton Inn was once heavily penalized with a 4.6 million settlement in 2003 after its hotel maintenance manager, who was given the hotels master key, was convicted for murdering a guest. (Mellen, 2003) Its McHenry County, Illinois branch was also linked in the spread out of Legionnaires disease which sent at least 3 guests in the hospital. (Hampton Inn Lawsuit, 2008) In 2004, its Miami branch was sued by one of its attendant who developed zoonosis after the hotel management allowed room entry to lemurs, spider monkeys, a parrot and a five-foot long alligator. (Elizabeth, 2009) These incidents cost the hotel a lot of patrons.

Being one Hilton Worldwide brands of hotel, Hampton Inn, despite these negative ratings still has a lot of potential. It can still live up to its banner that promises 100 satisfaction or your money back. But for this to happen, change has to be done in order to address the complaints stated above. For this reason, the researcher conducted a study that will determine the root cause of the above-mentioned problem and provide an appropriate solution.

Materials and Methods
When booking a trip, most people rely on respected travel sites to get advice on how they can make the most of their trip, be it for business or pleasure. Booking a hotel for one is the most important thing to consider when planning a trip. Tripadvisor.com, on the other hand, is one of the more favoured travel review site. Therefore, people often refer to the recommendations and feedback of this site when booking a hotel.
The best form of advertisement is through word of mouth, this is the mantra for most marketing strategies. As such, it is always wise to listen to the guests feedback when you think of ways to make your business perform better. For these reasons, the researcher used the feedbacks from Tripadvisor.com and my3cents.com as its main source to know how previous and prospective clients view the hotel.
The researcher then used the Five Whys approach in determining the root causes of these problems. The strategies for improvement are based on the problems encountered by the hotel guests as stated in these websites.

Results
The areas that has to be resolved
Complaints to the hotel staff  most of the reviews complained about the way they have been treated by the hotel staff. Service issues ranging from reservation to unauthorized charging of credit cards, stealing, and catcalling of guests were raised. (Hampton Inn  Suites Consumer Report Overview, 2010)
Implementation of company policy  there were nice feedbacks on the money back guarantee but some complained that it is not being followed. There were also complaints about the no pet policy supposedly imposed among all Hamilton Inns but is not being followed by every branch. (Hampton Inn  Suites Consumer Report Overview, 2010)

Facilities  comments like guests expecting more from a member of Hilton hotels also are also existent. They are referring to the problematic heating services, broken exercise equipments, bed bugs, leaking toilets and cable with very limited channels. (Hampton Inn  Suites Consumer Report Overview, 2010)

Root Cause
Complaints to the hotel staff
Why  They lacked customer service skills.
Why  They were inexperienced, untrained and not happy about the job.
Why  They were immigrants who may not have worked in the hotel industry or whose culture may be different what may seem appropriate for them may not be the same to Americans, no adequate training for continuous improvement and the salary range is lower compared to the standard industry rate and in some complaints, the staffs being complained are both the front desk clerk and shift manager.
Why  Ineffective selection process, no time and money to spare for continuous improvement training, less people being hired, respectively.
Why  Cheap labour, budget constraints, respectively.
Implementation of company policy complaints
Why  Company policies, though supposedly standardized, are not strictly followed.
Why  Though most of the Hampton Inns are company owned, roughly 40 are franchised. Some franchisees do not strictly comply with the companys policies.
Why  In the case of money-back guarantee, it will cost them additional and for the no pet policy, turning down a prospective client would mean lost revenue for the day.
Why  Money back guarantee costs them unnecessary expenses because some guests take advantage on it. For the question why they do not refuse clients even when they have pets, the answer is low occupancy rate.
Why  The money back guarantee, no matter the good intentions, is relative to an individuals perception and since we are living in a diverse world, perceptions differ. Low occupancy rate is the aftermath of all these.
Facilities complaint
Why  The building has aged
Why  Little to none improvement in years.
Why  Improvements are costly.
Why  No fund.
Why  Low investment and occupancy rate.
Strategies to be implemented
The aftermath of bad customer service, low facilities maintenance, and non-adherence to the known company policy is low occupancy rate. Additionally, the root cause of the problems that sprung from budget constraints is the same. This only means that the problems encountered by the Hampton Inn chain of hotels are already revolving problems.

Complaints to the hotel staff
The researcher identified the root cause as cheap labour and budget constraints. While these two are valid considerations in running a business, service oriented business particularly hotels should capitalize on its people  next to the building, they are the hotels main product.

Selection process  There should be a thorough background check most particularly to the people who has the master keys as the safety of every guest lies on whether that person can be trusted or not. Hire people with absolutely zero criminal background. Make sure they pass a reliable psychological exam that will attest to their emotional stability. The same exam should be taken by employees that were already hired. The probationary period should put all employees under strict scrutiny of management.

Driving performance through reward and punishment  Say the area for improvement is attendance, implement a performance drive that will target this area. A hotel owner once raffled a mustang to employees with perfect attendance. Likewise, make it clear to the staff that since they are working in a hospitality industry, customer service in its strictness sense is taken seriously. Thus, complaints will be heard and addressed and that offenders will be punished depending on the gravity.

Training  invest on a team building activity targeting teamwork and customer service. Create a community among the workers of the hotel. Most people regard hotel work as a low level job improve the hotel workers self-worth by improving their knowledge of the job.

Implementation of company policy complaints
Satisfaction is relative to individual preferences and as such, the money back guarantee, no matter the intentions, may not be a good idea especially in a hotel business. Even satisfied customers may claim otherwise if only to get a hotel stay free of charge. This policy therefore, is prone to abuse. As such, the researcher thinks it will be wiser to just scrap this. Instead, create an feedback system and invest on an independent customer hotline. Make it known to the staff that feedback is treated seriously.

For the no pet policy, the hotel will lose more customers if it will be known to them that animals have occupied the very bed they are sleeping. Because of this, the no pet policy should be implemented across the board. There should be appropriate sanctions to franchises who failed to submit to this.
Facilities complaint

As facility improvement is the most costly yet most important along with staff development, Hampton Inn, unless it has funds of its own, need to find a good investor to address this. Start the improvement by eliminating sanitations concern. This can be addressed through effective people management discussed earlier. The beddings should always be in top condition. Another non-costly improvement is getting a good cable company it will only cost an extra couple of hundreds. Necessities like hot shower, tub, air-conditioner or heater, and fridge should be working, as guest would use it every day.