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The Hotels: A Journey

jon81uk said:
Again, they've been operating hotels for 27 years, they shouldn't have allowed it to get this broken. Pay a decent wage, provide staff transport or even staff accommodation if needed. Don't build more if you can't operate what you have.
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Your are right.

My point is. It may hit be as easy as all that for them in current job climate.
 
The biggest issue facing routine staff performance for towers will be seasonal contracts on the hotels vs premier inn etc with-a full year round work force means training and standards are easier managed rather than training new teams every spring
 
Rob F said:
The biggest issue facing routine staff performance for towers will be seasonal contracts on the hotels vs premier inn etc with-a full year round work force means training and standards are easier managed rather than training new teams every spring
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Was thinking this myself.

The money they must waste training staff, only for them to go. Must be huge
 
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If they treated their staff better, then staff retention would improve.

It’s win-win, but Merlin seem too shortsighted to improve conditions, given the horror stories you hear of how staff are treated.
 
I suspect this is something Bianca is quite driven to amend - she's very active on LinkedIn at engaging with new employees, promoting inter-team social events and attending them. She's clearly got a "seen and heard" director approach with staff compared to previous directors.
 
I’ve removed a considerable number of off topic posts from this topic, some of which were even acknowledging the thread was substantially off topic.

Please can we keep to the actual topic of the hotels rather than go off on these tangents. And finally if you know what you’re responding to is off topic, then don’t reply. Hit the report button for the team to deal with it. Thanks!
 
Danny said:
I suspect this is something Bianca is quite driven to amend - she's very active on LinkedIn at engaging with new employees, promoting inter-team social events and attending them. She's clearly got a "seen and heard" director approach with staff compared to previous directors.
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Ralph Armond was a waste of space.
 
DistortAMG said:
How so? Not disagreeing. Genuinely curious. He was at the helm of Towers in the glory days
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He was at the helm until Tussauds decided to split his job into two & remove him from having responsibility for Hotels, Conferencing & Waterpark - leaving him with just the Theme Park. (They appointed a new Divisional Director for Hotels, Conferencing & Waterpark). He "left the business" pretty fast after the announcement.

His "back to the floor" days (one or two a year) on the Theme Park were a farce too - totally stage-managed. I would imagine the same was true if he did "back to the floor" in the hotels - pair him up with someone mega experienced like the late Roy Colclough (see BBC Magic Factory - an employee with many years experience).

Bianca does need to give the managers at the hotel a good verbal kicking up the backside. That Tweet at AT86 posted on Sunday evening showing the state of Ma Garritas bar is pretty shocking. Whilst I know Wetherspoons is not known for it's high standards, even the ones round where I live are way better than Ma Garritas. As AT86 says, this is a hotel that is charging circa £300 a night (& high food & drink prices). If it was a £60 or £70 a night Premier Inn / Travelodge, you'd cut them some slack.
 
It appears the offer for a second day free has been extended until end of October for all hotel stays.

This seems to be the first sign that hotel occupancy is down and more perks are needed to encourage bookings. Not really a surprise given the situation with the economy at the moment.

Got me wondering if other perks could return for 2024 to increase the perceived value of staying onsite, namely ERT? Would anyone like to see this return?

With Nemesis being right by the hotel entrance and the big investment for the season it would make sense to offer say Forbidden Valley and Curse for ERT.
 
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AT86 said:
It appears the offer for a second day free has been extended until end of October for all hotel stays.

This seems to be the first sign that hotel occupancy is down and more perks are needed to encourage bookings. Not really a surprise given the situation with the economy at the moment.

Got me wondering if other perks could return for 2024 to increase the perceived value of staying onsite, namely ERT? Would anyone like to see this return?

With Nemesis being right by the hotel entrance and the big investment for the season it would make sense to offer say Forbidden Valley and Curse for ERT.
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To be honest, since covid and their decision to let people in the park from 9am I prefer that. It benefits everyone. Plus, offering ERT on certain rides, you are never going to please everyone and then you'll get guests complaining that that perk is of no benefit for them because they don't like the ride ERT is on and ask for something else.

Should they offer anything more, I think it should be park tickets included in the price or at the very least heavily discounted. But then there's the passholders to think about - what could they get instead that wouldn't be seen as better or less than free park tickets?

Maybe they should offer food passes on park to get lunch/snacks free or heavily discounted? Passholders would benefit from that too (if the discount was more than 20%).

Or maybe £20 per person, per day Merlin Magic Money - if that's still a thing?

Discounted stays for return visits within 12 months too perhaps?
 
ERT was typically seen as a big perk prior to covid, I feel it would be worth seeing that return as a perk. Having Forbidden Valley/Gloomy Wood for ERT is a good idea, you can have hotel guests enter through the Galactica gate for this and keep day guests etc going through the main entrance.

Perks booklet would also be good to see.

Do kids get anything these days? Bring back goodie bags (the Sir Algenon hidden treasure chest was a highlight of my childhood), free gifts, maybe some chocolates for the adults. What once made the hotels great was you got all these little 'freebies'/perks and it felt like something special.
 
Kids still get an activity book and crayons etc as far as I know, and the Enchanted Village book if you stay in the lodges.

The discount books of old for money off merch, games etc was a nice touch - but more of a surprise bonus than something that would encourage you to book a stay in the first place.

I feel ERT would be more of an incentive.
 
BarryZola said:
A Problem with ERT is that it would need techs and ride staff to REGULARLY be working earlier and it doesn't seem like they've been set up for that in recent times.
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The thing with ERT is it going to affect attendance based on the cost of running it. The chances are that attendance alone wouldn't increase with ERT alone, yes maybe more hotel occupancy but nothing else
 
It would take time to adjust and implement, but it's not like ERT is a new concept, and I doubt costs are that much of a concern. It's 30 minutes extra operating 2 or 3 rides.
 
Just thinking of perks from days gone by…

ERT
Exclusive access via woodland walk
Exclusive use of the pool/waterpark
Perks booklet
Drawstring bag in the room


And on top of that you had great food and entertainment which was even more of an encouragement to make you stay at the hotels. (And better room cleaning)
 
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