Assignment:
Overbooked at the Boden Oceanside Resort and Lodge
It was 9:30 P.M. and a couple was at the front desk insisting that they placed a reservation for three nights at the lodge over two months ago. The front desk agent, Rob, was unable to find their reservation anywhere. Rob had been with the hotel for two years and he knew his way around the front office. He had seen this trick before and didn't have much patience for it. As was the routine, however, he checked the reservation system, called the toll-free reservation service and thumbed through the manager's files trying to uncover anything that would suggest that the guests had a reservation for this evening. The guests' names were neither in the history file nor anywhere in the central reservation system.
The hotel was oversold and Rob was in no mood to work with the guests. He had already walked three other parties, two families with reservations and one couple from off the road who didn't have reservations for the evening. He had been taught to walk first-time guests or walk-ins with no reservations. Rob was always advised to hold rooms at whatever cost for those frequent guests who stayed at the resort for at least a week each year. These guests were sacred and never to be sacrificed, even if they didn't show up on the night they were expected. He told the couple politely that there were no rooms available and suggested they try another resort of similar quality down the road. The couple was getting quite belligerent by then and insisted on speaking with a manager.
Matt, the manager on duty, had been running since coming on duty late that afternoon due to a fully booked house. As he approached the desk, he wondered why Rob couldn't deal with the situation. Matt listened to all of the details and noted that the guests claimed to have had a reservation for a couple of months. He checked the time, noting that it was relatively late,and also checked to see how many arrivals were expected. There were reservations that hadn't been claimed yet and they were all held with a credit card. He wondered if any of the late arrivals had phoned the hotel earlier to cancel their reservations and the message hadn't been entered into the system for some reason.
After pondering for a moment he made up his mind to check the couple in to a double double that wasn't in the new section of the resort. He figured that they might complain that it wasn't their first choice, but at least it was a room. The couple was pleased when he told them that they could have a room for the night, but that the hotel was overbooked for the next three nights due to a number of small family reunions and that he couldn't guarantee them a room for the following evening. Rob was puzzled by Matt's quick decision, but graciously and smoothly checked the guests into the room that Matt had assigned them.
The remainder of the evening was quiet, with a couple of late arrivals. Rob had time to think over the events of the evening and wondered if he should stay with the resort or if he should apply at the new Four Winds resort that was advertising for an opening team just down the road.
The next day Rob called his manager and gave his two weeks' notice.
Answer the following questions.
1. Which guests would you walk to another hotel?
2. What would be a guest-friendly way to walk guests?
3. What are the costs of walking a guest?