Hotel shopping broke my brain!

For the first time in forever, I checked into a hotel for a personal stay and needed to use both the valet and bell service. I've done dozens of shops since the last time I needed all that stuff at a hotel but this time wasn't a shop and I was there to enjoy it. I didn't have to read name tags. I didn't have to take notes. I didn't have to care about anything!
I felt like I was screwing up the entire time. It was super uncomfortable. I can't enjoy a hotel anymore!
Dammit, mystery shopping!

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More About Hotel Mystery Shopping

I stayed at a hotel on my own recently and woke up in the middle if the night thinking that I had forgotten to write up the interactions!

I just got back from a vacation where I yelled at my GF for using the bathroom before I chance to photograph it, before she reminded me we were not there for work!

That said, we did not set any wake up calls or ever contact the hotel staff after check in. We took the extra points for declining stayover service and dropped the keys in the EZ check-out box on the way out. It was a much better hotel experience than I am used to...and they gave us champagne with breakfast every day as a Platinum perk! I say thank you MSing!

I love when I check in for a MS and the concierge lounge is closed- a whole lot less work for me.
I hate when I check in for a personal stay and the concierge lounge is closed... like today.

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I haven't done any hotel shops yet. Any recommendations on which ones have the best perks and rewards for saving up? My honey worked for a pipeline the year we started dating and we ended up getting 10 nights at a 5 star hotel free with all the accumulated points he had but I haven't had the experience of hotel ratting yet. I've been eye balling them as I have about 80 hours of PTO time saved.

MegglesKat

I was finishing the write up for an airport hotel shop that I checked out of yesterday. Suddenly I realized that it is the only one in this particular client series that did NOT require a report on a round trip ride on the shuttle to the airport. Of course, I did ride the shuttle and had all the necessary notes. Duh!

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

I think Coyle and Regal are my faves, but there is work involved. But, they do pay a fee. I think you could handle it. The chains they do are pretty nice ones. I hear True Guest (Five Diamond) is a bear. ACL has easy hotel shops but they don't pay and they aren't the nicest of places. With Coyle you have to do a bunch of teeth cutting shops such as phone and restaurant (usually) before they let you do the hotels. If you are going to do any, you should do them before you start back to school again.

Edited to add I was addressing clinen.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2017 10:35PM by JASFLALMT.

Start with Regal. You can always find a great big brand tier 2 hotel. They're super simple, and since they're only like $100/night in a lot of places, you're not risking a fortune. Don't try their integrity audits until you're super comfortable with the way they work.

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What drives me crazy is writing in third person. I have to readjust every time. But they are the right place to start. You know what though, I don't really think that the starter Coyle hotel shops are much different in complexity and might be even easier in terms of writing in a more natural manner.

The problem with Coyle, as has been addressed ad nauseam, is the barrier to entry. With Regal, you sign up and go. With Coyle, you have to jump through a ton of hoops, and even then you might not get where you want.
Screw that. (but lets PLEASE not turn this into a Coyle policies thread!!)

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Okay. There is already one of those but maybe someone needs to wake it up to avoid a bunch of questions. Isn't that SteveSoCal's area?

@Hoju wrote:

I love when I check in for a MS and the concierge lounge is closed- a whole lot less work for me.
I hate when I check in for a personal stay and the concierge lounge is closed... like today.

If it's the platinum rewards program we have, they always comp our breakfast when the concierge lounge is closed.

Doing what I can to enhance the life of my family! I LOVE what I do

They gave me $10... I should have pushed back more. I'm not used to caring about what i spend.

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My husband probably pushes for it. He handles check in when it's not a shop. When it's a shop, I do it and am lucky to get a tiny little view or balcony upgrade. When he checks in, we get ridiculous suites. I remind him my rooms are free though

Doing what I can to enhance the life of my family! I LOVE what I do

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Okay. There is already one of those but maybe someone needs to wake it up to avoid a bunch of questions. Isn't that SteveSoCal's area?

I'm happy to address questions when the are placed in the appropriate question thread. People stopped posting in that thread so I stopped answering.

@walesmaven wrote:

I was finishing the write up for an airport hotel shop that I checked out of yesterday. Suddenly I realized that it is the only one in this particular client series that did NOT require a report on a round trip ride on the shuttle to the airport. Of course, I did ride the shuttle and had all the necessary notes. Duh!

Vegas doesn't require that either, good news!!

Live consciously....

[www.mysteryshopforum.com]

That's the link to the (unofficial) Coyle thread.

I did a shuttle on a shop but luckily it didn't require round trip. I was able to walk back to the hotel which was just 1/2 mile from the terminal. I'd imagine the return trip to be awkward and was relieved all of the other shops I did for the brand did not require a shuttle experience to be reported on.

Doing what I can to enhance the life of my family! I LOVE what I do

I hate a personal hotel visit where something is broken. I feel it such a wasted hotel shop opportunity.

Liz

But I love when something presents itself on a hotel shop. I hate unscrewing a lightbulb only for them to come up and screw it back in. I feel like they think I am too quick to call and complain rather than attempting to troubleshoot the problem myself. Once the remote really didn't work, and I was so excited since the maintenance call is always the interaction I dread most.

Doing what I can to enhance the life of my family! I LOVE what I do

Hoju
OMG as they say. Well next time take notes, and read the name tags, and evaluate each and every action you observe, and once you are alone in the privacy of your room, fire up your laptop, write a report and send it to yourself. And then put on a happy face and enjoy the rest of your day. Oh and in about 30 days transfer a measly 15 dollars from one account into another, and feel good about a job well done. Now if you are truly a masochist, you can write yourself a thousand edits to that email you sent to yourself, and ask esoteric questions, about the true color of the bellman's name tag. Was it lavender or purple, and if you say purple was it grape purple or raisin purple.

Do you feel better now ;-)

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/2017 04:47AM by Wassim.

Ahh.. now that's the way to relax during a personal stay!

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@ShopSouthTexas wrote:

But I love when something presents itself on a hotel shop. I hate unscrewing a lightbulb only for them to come up and screw it back in. I feel like they think I am too quick to call and complain rather than attempting to troubleshoot the problem myself. Once the remote really didn't work, and I was so excited since the maintenance call is always the interaction I dread most.

I've had three instances where the room so badly needed an engineering visit that they ended up changing my room!
Once the tub drain was so clogged that other people's drains were backing up into my tub. Another time the sink drain was completely destroyed and water was pouring all over the floor even before I got there (still not sure how water was flowing from the drain when nobody was using it).
The third time I can't remember but I remember it was equally as messed up.

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Okay, maybe not gross draining issues. Just the little things to complain about. That's awful!!!

Doing what I can to enhance the life of my family! I LOVE what I do

I really like working with Regal. I got the hang of writing in the third person after about three reports. Liza, who is a scheduler there, is awesome! I am so appreciative she responds to emails promptly.

Not my circus - Not my monkeys @(*.*)@

~Polish Proverb~

I'm wondering if there is ever a Regal travel reimbursement to get to the hotel location.

For international locations, there is.

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Hotel shopping broke my brain!

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