Hotel advisors need a career change
Comment by Jeremy Skidmore (www.jeremyskidmore.com)
There can be few things worse for a hotel than being on a list of the dirtiest places in the UK.
You can say a hotel is cheap, or chintzy, or lacking in facilities. But when you say it’s dirty, it sends a shiver down your spine. Your mind works overtime on thinking of some of the disgusting things that may have been left in those rooms.
You also alienate at least half the population. Men will often get their heads down in some dodgy places, but I’ve yet to meet a woman who will go near a place that has been tagged as dirty.
So TripAdvisor’s roll call of the top ten dirtiest hotels, based on comments and votes from the people who have stayed in these establishments, would, you would think, have hoteliers living in fear of making the list.
Not so. Incredibly, many on that list are repeat offenders.
Four Britannia properties were there for the second year running and the worst property, the Nanford Guest House, jumped from second to top spot on the roll of shame.
Who on earth is running these places? To ignore the problem sends out a clear message: we don’t give a toss about our customers.
This perception was enhanced by some extraordinary PR (or lack of it) from the hotels involved. The people advising these places need a career change.
Representatives from Nanford and Britannia refused point blank to discuss the matter with journalists.
This falls into the ‘let’s not talk to the press and then they won’t be able to write anything’ school of thinking. That’s a very backward school.
Instead, some damage limitation PR may just convince people that you do give a damn about cleanliness.
They should be telling people that they take the situation very seriously, will thoroughly investigate, and do not under any circumstances condone a dirty room.
They should also put it into some sort of perspective. I’m not for a moment condoning a dirty establishment, but opinions can be very subjective and people often expect the earth when they’ve paid very little for a room.
It was left to Nick Cust, the joint managing director of Superbreak and a respected domestic operator, to say: “We send a lot of people to Britannia hotels and in general they are good value for money.”
Overall satisfaction levels at Britannia may well be very reasonable, but why is it left to Nick to effectively do the company’s PR?
When you repeatedly feature on a list of the top ten dirtiest hotels in the UK and refuse to say anything, it sends out a clear message: you don’t give a damn about customers and their opinions.
Whether it is true or not is irrelevant. That’s the perception and we all know that perception is more important than reality.
Successful businesses do not treat their customers with such contempt.
Jeremy Skidmore
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
France prepares for a massive strike across all transports on September 18
Turkish tourism stalls due to soaring prices for accommodation and food
CCS Insight: eSIMs ready to take the travel world by storm
Germany new European Entry/Exit System limited to a single airport on October 12, 2025
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt