Mid-sized hotel enhances earning potential despite bad economic conditions. Success driven by improved customer satisfaction and new clientele looking for cost cutting alternatives.

While the war on Iraq received the majority of media attention during the spring months, the summer months have brought more depressing news of the downtrodden economy. With layoffs becoming more frequent and stock prices continuing to ebb, many companies continue to cut spending until the financial outlook shows more promising trends. Such is the case in the hospitality industry, where forecasts continue to push back a return to more prosperous times. However, not all fortunes remain bleak, especially for the small business owner.

“We’ve always viewed these conditions with cautious optimism in knowing that the customer who preferred more higher priced hotels in the past might take a look at lower priced alternatives in the future.” said Robin Hill, Director of Sales at the Best Western ChateauBleau Hotel in Coral Gables, Florida. “With that in mind, we continually looked for ways to increase the value presented to the guest and focused on providing great customer service”.

Increasing their market share 30% from a year ago, Robin cites these and other reasons for the hotel’s improvement, “Combining the efforts of Best Western’s print and television ads, with direct mail and pay-per-click advertising over the web, has played a major factor in our growth.”

Still, the most important aspect of the hotel’s improvement, as Robin states, lies in the personal treatment of their patrons and employees, “We expect our employees to be attentive, listen and promptly react to the guest’s needs, and to always have smiles on their faces. We also know that creating a positive environment for our employees is absolutely critical to our future success, when the economy does turn around.”