One of the biggest gripes and challenges tourists and travelers face is commuting to their place of accommodation. That said, one of the best things you can offer to your guests is to pick them up at the nearby bus station, airport, or pier. This improves customer satisfaction, and offering such services gives your hotel an edge over your competition. However, there are things you’d want to consider prior to offering transportation services to your hotel guests.
Complimentary or Charged?
As a rule of thumb, your pick-up and drop-off services should be complementary, as long as it’s in certain locations (the airport, mall, bus station, and pier). But you can also offer transportation services to places in the city that are off the drop-off list (such as tourist sites and attractions) for a reasonable fee. Same fees should apply if the customer requests to be picked up somewhere a little further beyond the listed pick-up points.
Limitations
However, there should be limitations when it comes to where the hotel vehicle can pick-up and drop off its guests. This is to ensure the safety of the vehicle and also to guarantee that the vehicle can be made available as soon as possible for other guests. If you allow your vehicles to pick up or drop off guests somewhere 2-3 hours away, this means that other guests will have to wait or may not even be able to avail of this service which can result in a bad review, especially if you’re offering pickup and dropoff services for free as part of the guest’s package.
Type of Vehicle
You should also be careful about choosing the type of vehicle you’ll be using to transport your hotel’s guests. It should be something big enough to accommodate at least 7-10 guests and have enough room for luggage. As such, a small bus or van would be a perfect choice. But take note that your vehicle should provide a certain level of comfort expected from a hotel of your caliber. Choose one that’s stylish, spacious, and comfortable for guests, so it might be time for you to look for Sprinter crew vans for sale in Utah for your hotel.
Chauffeur
Lastly, you should hire a chauffeur with a good personality, is physically able to carry and stack luggage for your guests, and knows the area like the back of their hand. The last thing you’d want is to have a rude and impatient chauffeur to ruin the mood of your guests (who are probably tired from traveling) and end up posting 1-star reviews on hotel listings and review sites. After all, the chauffeur is actually the first point of contact between your guests and the hotel; so, in a way, your chauffeur is in charge of making a good first impression for the hotel. You may also want to consider hiring a chauffeur who knows how to give a tour and point out certain points of interest while driving to the hotel, or at least train one to do so.
Insurance, Maintenance, and Cleaning
This goes without saying, but your hotel vehicle has to be insured and must undergo regular preventive maintenance and cleaning. This is in order to protect your vehicle from damage, loss, and theft while making sure that it continues to work as intended and won’t break down in the middle of transporting your guests. You should also make sure to have the air conditioning system is always in working order to ensure the comfort of your guests. Lastly, cleaning the vehicle (inside and out) should be done before and after transporting clients.
Conclusion
There’s no question that offering transportation services to your hotel guests can be a huge edge in ensuring competitiveness and improving customer satisfaction. But if you’ve decided to offer transportation services, make sure to take note of these considerations and tips so that everything goes smoothly.
