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Resort Hotels: Magic, Misery or Mayhem?

One thing I was thinking about this morning, which is indirectly linked to customer service but is more about customer experience on resort...

They clearly want to make the theme park offerings across Merlin true multi-day attractions. Alton Towers is the only park to truly achieve this right now thanks to the Waterpark.

However there is one thing stopping Alton being an easily usable resort and that is ticketing. Unless you're a MAP holder, you need to buy specific 1, 2 or 3 day tickets for the theme park or Waterpark. This makes the resorts attractions feel quite closed off at times to hotel guests.

Not many people would want to spend a full day in Cariba Creek, so if they have the afternoon to chill out - what do they do? Unless they've bought an extra day of theme park tickets, they can't visit the park and there isn't that much else to do besides Golf.

I think it would vastly improve guest experience and customer opinion if you were given the option to buy a theme park/water park crossover ticket for the length of your stay (at a similar price to what you currently pay separately) so that guests could be free to enter and leave the parks as they please.
 
Years ago you would see staff in the hotels once a year and they would recognise you instantly - staff stayed there for many years and got to know regulars (even yearly ones) pretty well. These days staff seem to be different on every visit. I know ATH still has a lot of permanent contracts so I don't think there is purposely temp staff each year. It seems to go a bit beyond that.

Even if there are tons of new staff each year (unlikely as the hotels are not ran with seasonal contracts - it's a full/part time job) that's no excuse for bad customer service. Not knowing all the ropes of the job and bad service are two different things. This seems to be a case of outright bad customer service from not just your bar and public area staff, but from supervisors as well (who should be setting an example) - although saying that some of the managers are very good there (when you look past the other countless amount of pointless middle managers).



They really need to open the waterpark in the evenings! Even if it's just during the evenings when the hotels are rammed at Scarefest, Fireworks and some weekends in the summer.

I like Benzin's idea of a covered playground too. Not like they use the room at back of ATH much! Light it up nicely and theme it around Sir Algenon's adventures and you have a nice year-round play ground/area that can be used by kids. Add some decent seating and parents can watch their kids too.
 
I warned you all the direction it was going in. Obviously that was one of the things that inspired my own personal topic haha!!

Seriously though. It is not going to get better so get used to it.

EDIT:
It's going to require a complete culture change, but it's already going through one in the wrong direction instigated by the attitudes of the higher management. It ALWAYS shows itself in the end product, ALWAYS.
 
See if you have zero hour contracts crap pay and know in 6 months you will be out of a job anyway you wont care about customers whats the point you will either be out into a new job as soon as something comes up with no notice given or told the work is no longer there and without advancement what incentive is there to want to do well
 
The worse part of the hotel for me has always been the bars. I really struggle to see how it can take 10 minutes to serve a pint of beer and a coke. Then it takes another 5 minutes for them to put the drinks through the till!

Even on the busiest of days you never see more than 2 or 3 staff behind the bar, all working to the slowest speed possible. Most of them seem fairly friendly and nice, but they just don't seem to work quickly. I was there the other week and there was one member of staff on behind the bar, and a queue going out towards the ship. A number of staff walked pass or even went behind the bar to grab something, yet none of them helped out or even went anywhere to get help? So maybe these staff work in the restaurant or reception, but surely they should tell someone that the bar needs help!

You then seem to have 4 or 5 managers wondering around the hotel not really doing much? Yet I never see these serving in the bar, its no wonder staff leave so often if they are left on their own all night rushed off their feet.

The hotel should be the easiest place on resort to staff, you know well in advance how many rooms are booked and how many guests are staying over, so there is no excuse to be understaffed! You could let the likes of the themepark or waterpark to not be prepared as they don't know how many guests they will get, yet the hotel know how many guests they will be getting!
 
Staff probably do leave because of the crap working conditions. Most people in the role know bar work is stressful (it can be fun too) - maybe they're being stretched to some extremes and cannot justify the pay for it.
 
I agree - every car that exits Alton for example is £6 - thats basically an hours wage for a member of staff. Times that by the number of cars exiting and no doubt the car park alone pays for the majority of the staff costs in Alton.
 
chris556 said:
http://riderater.co.uk/2014/merlin-boss-criticises-universal-minimum-wage/
i think the owner of merlin has made my point for me he seems to be a leech trying to get the most out of staff and give nothing back he even begrudges paying a wage they can just about survive on and wants the minimum wage LOWERED tells me alot about the general treatment of staff
Click to expand...

Off topic slightly, but when I am trusting someone to operate machinery that my life depends on such as rollercoaster safety restraints I want them paid much more than minimum wage!

But there is no excuse for any business not to pay minimum wage now, also if you look at bar staff in the hotel (back on topic) they are usually working unsociable hours finishing shifts at midnight and therefore with travel time as well deserve a decent wage. I can understand a theme park retail cashier being on minimum wage but almost every other Alton Towers staffed position should be on significantly more than that.
 
The idea of a tiered system dependant on living costs is an interesting idea, however, if anything, the minimum wage in London should be the highest due to the ridiculous costs, rather than making the likes of Blackpool lower...

For those who work on a full time basis at the attractions across the country, I would be worried about such words being said by the top boss...

Isn't the point of minimum wage that it needs to rise with the costs of living in general anyway to try and give those unable to get high paying jobs a chance?
 
his attitude is a joke and i think the only way you are going to get any good customer service under these conditions it to make sure you are not just another customer clicking your fingers at them making demands a little empathy goes a long way (see a manager standing there doing nothing shout at him her to pour you a drink the rest of the staff are busy with other people ect).
 
So I assume he thinks £6.31 is perfectly adequate for a London wage then? And I guess he wants Blackpool to be £4.50 or something? No wonder there is such a large North South divide with prats like thisabout.

The NHS has been trying to do the same as well for some time now but so far, thankfully, nothing has come of it.
 
tell me about it i work at queens hospital and they are trying there damest to fire one of us porters on permanent contracts they want all on zero hour contracts soon as i find a mechanics apprenticeship i am out of there
 
chris556 said:
(see a manager standing there doing nothing shout at him her to pour you a drink the rest of the staff are busy with other people ect).
Click to expand...

This is a favorite thing of mine to do in shops/bars etc, if there is a manager stood doing nothing while all their staff are busy, they should be either pitching in and helping their staff to serve customers or going to find another way to help (such as move staff from another dept). If I see a manager stood staring while everything is going wrong I will approach and tell them to help.
 
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