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Nakul Anand Describes Turning Hotel Complaints Into Loyalty
Hotelier Nakul Anand says hotels should be ready for things to go wrong.
When a guest has a bad experience, staff should try to fix it quickly and kindly.
He calls this process service recovery.
At one hotel, a receptionist tried to apologize to an angry guest by offering to send a cake.
Anand also tells how The Maurya created a floor just for women after an embassy official raised safety concerns.
A visiting women’s delegation used the floor, and one guest recommended the hotel to her country’s First Lady.
Later, the hotel found a way to welcome important leaders without disrupting its usual guests as much.
Anand says solving problems can sometimes create new opportunities.
In an excerpt from his memoir, hotelier Nakul Anand explains why hotels should plan for service failures and respond quickly to complaints.
Anand says his “WelcomRecovery” approach trained staff to anticipate problems, act promptly, empower frontline employees and follow up.
He recounts a receptionist offering an angry departing guest an apology cake, illustrating the need for training as well as initiative.
After an embassy official said women guests felt unsafe at The Maurya, the hotel created EVA, an all-women guest floor with added security and amenities.
A women-only delegation’s stay led to a First Lady choosing the hotel; Anand says a second entrance later helped The Maurya host heads of state.
- Who
- Nakul Anand, hotelier and author, and staff at The Maurya hotel.
- What
- Anand describes his approach to resolving service complaints, including creating an all-women guest floor called EVA.
- Where
- The Maurya in Delhi; the account also refers to Anand being in London when the complaint arose.
- When
- The excerpt does not specify dates for the events.
- Why
- To address dissatisfied guests’ concerns, improve service recovery, and respond to women guests’ safety concerns.
Concerns and response
Hotel’s perspective
Safety of women guests
Concerns and response
An embassy counsellor said a woman guest had felt uneasy in the lobby and declared his female guests unsafe at the hotel.
Hotel’s perspective
Anand says the hotel responded by establishing EVA, an optional floor for women with added security features and women staff.
Hosting heads of state
Concerns and response
Anand’s predecessor discouraged heads of state from staying because traffic disruptions could irritate business travellers.
Hotel’s perspective
Anand believed hosting leaders was important to the hotel’s positioning and says a second entrance offered a way to accommodate them.
Key facts
- Book
- The Night Manager: Memoirs of a Hospitality Student
- Author
- Nakul Anand
- Publisher
- HarperCollins India
- Service-recovery strategy
- WelcomRecovery
- Women’s floor
- EVA, an all-women floor at The Maurya
- Hotel location
- Delhi’s diplomatic district
- Key response
- The hotel added security features and women-only staff and made the floor available to a women’s delegation.
Quotes
The embassy counsellor
A counsellor at an embassy whose female guest had felt uneasy in the hotel lobby.
“The First Lady is expected in India very soon. I will strongly recommend this hotel to her.”
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“Look, I’m not going to change my mind. My lady guests are unsafe in your hotel.”
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Sources
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