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As we have learned previously, guests and staff may have requests that have to be addressed. In some instances, you can do this by yourself while at other times, it has to be done with the help of another hotel staff.
Guests have no concern over who handles their request. As long as their request is given at an appropriate time, they will be satisfied.
In most cases, it will be the responsibility of housekeeping to carry out any guest requests that they receive.
This is generally fairly easy to do because moist requests relate to items that the room attendant has ready access to – guest supplies are on the housekeeping trolley and most other things requested are either in a Floor Housekeeping storeroom or can be borrowed from a vacant room.
In other cases, however, some requests may involve a bit more time and effort.
No staff member should ever use the phrase „It‟s not my job” when responding to a request from a guest.
In a service industry, it is always your job to assist guests.
If the request is outside your normal work responsibility, you should:
Record and confirm the request
Pass the details on to the relevant person for them to action.
Never, ever tell a guest “You‟ll have to ring the Maintenance department – we don‟t handle replacing light globes” or “Sorry, Room Service do that – perhaps if you ring 22 someone there can help you”.
Action is the key to responding to a request
Once a request is received, you must promptly seek out the item or equipment necessary to complete the request within the agreed time frame.
The key to any request from a guest is to take action on their request.
To do this, you will most likely just go to your trolley (or to the nearest housekeeping storeroom), grab what is needed and take it to the guest room.
Passing on requests
In other cases , where the request falls outside you ability to fulfill it, the appropriate person must be notified and the request passed on important points when doing this are:
Pass on all the relevant details including the name and room number of the guest is vital. This information allows the person to get back in contact with the guest to clarify things or amend the promised delivery time
Make sure the person you give the message to understands it. Get them to repeat it back to confirm it. Make special mention of any important bits including the need for urgency.
Stress any agreed time that have been given. If you promised the item in 10 minutes, you must let the other person know when that 10 minutes is up.
Requests for information
It is sometimes more time consuming to provide certain things to guests. Requests for information are among these.
Requests for information can cover:
Information on the products and services offered by the establishment – even though guests have an in-room compendium they can still want more detail than what is there and there is always the possibility that this information is out-of-date.
Use your product knowledge about the property to answer these questions, and where you don‟t know the answer, apologize, tell them you will find out the answer and get back to them, then do so.
Availability of services, hours, location of meals, services and equipment – you might be able to inform a guest that there is an ice machine at the end of the corridor but perhaps you don‟t know when the spa opens or what the treatments are how much they cost.
How various types of equipment works – you are expected to know how to operate all the in-room facilities (this should be one of the first things you are trained in as part of your on-the-job training) but guests may ask you about other items of equipment throughout the property that you know nothing about. This is to be expected if your are the first person they see as they walk back to their from not being able to operate a piece of gym equipment, not being able to get the vending machine to work.
Requests for information about local services, attractions, transport, shopping, entertainment, bars, places to eat. While is probably more a reception or concierge role, once again, guests can ask you because „you are there‟.
In these situations:
Never say “I don‟t know” and leave it at that Never tell them it‟s not your job to provide that sort of information Never tell them to look it up in their in-room information compendium.
Never give them the impression that asking for the information is an imposition or a stupid thing for them to do.
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