While achieving very high occupancy over the last year, management of the upscale Radisson on Flagstaff Gardens Melbourne has heightened its relationship and communication with guests, and staff.
Radisson on Flagstaff Gardens Melbourne General Manager, Steve Finlayson, said hotels could not afford to rest on the laurels of high occupancy and satisfying customers free internet expectations.
“This is the time to cement relationships with corporate customers and that is best done through direct personal contact,” he said.
“I have been told several times ‘If you are enjoying such high occupancy you don’t need our business’ and I have responded with ‘Because we know you, we need your business’.”
High occupancy also places high demands on staff and service delivery standards, he said. To this end, Finlayson meets with all staff twice per year on a one to one basis to make sure all team members have an opportunity to share their views.
Finlayson said the hotel’s occupancy level was in the top one percent worldwide and guest service performance was attested by excellence awards on Trip Advisor and Booking.com and a STR ranking of number one.
On the eve of the 2015 Australasian Hotel Industry Conference and Exhibition (AHICE) he will be attending in Melbourne this week, Finlayson said that while hotel owners should be enjoying higher returns, they too could not rest on their laurels and ignore the competitive nature of the business by scaling back investment at both macro and micro levels.
“On the macro level we have recently painted the exterior and completed a new round of our Refurbishment by Evolution program that focused on the lobby and bathrooms,” he said.
“And at the micro level we have done things like add a live cooking station at breakfast and applying High Street prices for mini bar items.”
Fitness fanatic Finlayson continues to engage staff with his healthy lifestyle.
“For instance, Mario, our restaurant manager has joined in the health kick and I’ve had to buy him a new uniform to fit his slimmer frame,” he said. “He too has found new workplace energy, he’s sharper and more focussed.”