The Coyle evaluations for a certain hotel client (2 night stay) that has 3 surveys attached, about 110-160 questions per survey with narrative...

How long do those usually take you to do?

I finish one of their normal dinner/bar evaluations within an hour/hour & half afterwards, I'm a fast typer and very quick to notice details.

8-10 hours if you do it in one sitting. It's more than just typing. It's formatting pictures and referring to them against the narrative that takes time for me.

How can it take this long?

Picture resizing can be automated with a script.
Uploading takes minutes.
Typing takes me 1-2 hours max.

My picture resizing is automated. Uploading is not the issue. Each picture has to be named (around 50 pics) and you need to go through a bulleted list of what the room looked like before/after housekeeping while referencing the pictures. They also have to be uploaded in a particular order so that you can see the before/after with each.

Then there's the receipts and invoice...and probably 2-3 full meals at the hotel which read like a full restaurant report each. Concierge requests, bellman requests, front desk requests, housekeeping, 1 or 2 service recoveries, 1-2 room service meals with pictures, wine receptions, coffee receptions, sometimes turndown service, lobby observations, public inspections, pool visits, bar visits, etc.

If you can finish a report for a 2-night stay under 8 hours, then kudos to you. I've performed hundreds of them and edited even more, and 8 hours is a good time for me.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

My picture resizing is automated. Uploading is not the issue. Each picture has to be named (around 50 pics) and you need to go through a bulleted list of what the room looked like before/after housekeeping while referencing the pictures. They also have to be uploaded in a particular order so that you can see the before/after with each.

Then there's the receipts and invoice...and probably 2-3 full meals at the hotel which read like a full restaurant report each. Concierge requests, bellman requests, front desk requests, housekeeping, 1 or 2 service recoveries, 1-2 room service meals with pictures, wine receptions, coffee receptions, sometimes turndown service, lobby observations, public inspections, pool visits, bar visits, etc.

If you can finish a report for a 2-night stay under 8 hours, then kudos to you. I've performed hundreds of them and edited even more, and 8 hours is a good time for me.

The shop I'm looking at right now is a 2-night stay with 2 breakfasts, no room service, wine & coffee, turndown, lobby, public inspections, concierge, bellman, frontdesk, housekeeping, 2 service recoveries.

I just can't see how it would take 8 hours. That's a little extreme.

@camiflower1 wrote:

@SteveSoCal wrote:

My picture resizing is automated. Uploading is not the issue. Each picture has to be named (around 50 pics) and you need to go through a bulleted list of what the room looked like before/after housekeeping while referencing the pictures. They also have to be uploaded in a particular order so that you can see the before/after with each.

Then there's the receipts and invoice...and probably 2-3 full meals at the hotel which read like a full restaurant report each. Concierge requests, bellman requests, front desk requests, housekeeping, 1 or 2 service recoveries, 1-2 room service meals with pictures, wine receptions, coffee receptions, sometimes turndown service, lobby observations, public inspections, pool visits, bar visits, etc.

If you can finish a report for a 2-night stay under 8 hours, then kudos to you. I've performed hundreds of them and edited even more, and 8 hours is a good time for me.

The shop I'm looking at right now is a 2-night stay with 2 breakfasts, no room service, wine & coffee, turndown, lobby, public inspections, concierge, bellman, frontdesk, housekeeping, 2 service recoveries.

I just can't see how it would take 8 hours. That's a little extreme.

Once you've completed the package of surveys, please let us know how long it took you.

Steve's outline is accurate in it's scope. I've completed the surveys for this boutique hotel client. It took me more than eight hours to do so.

If you can complete it in less than eight hours, really, kudos to you.

Totally agree, it took me close to 8 the last time I did a shop for this client.

@Professional Guest wrote:

@camiflower1 wrote:

@SteveSoCal wrote:

My picture resizing is automated. Uploading is not the issue. Each picture has to be named (around 50 pics) and you need to go through a bulleted list of what the room looked like before/after housekeeping while referencing the pictures. They also have to be uploaded in a particular order so that you can see the before/after with each.

Then there's the receipts and invoice...and probably 2-3 full meals at the hotel which read like a full restaurant report each. Concierge requests, bellman requests, front desk requests, housekeeping, 1 or 2 service recoveries, 1-2 room service meals with pictures, wine receptions, coffee receptions, sometimes turndown service, lobby observations, public inspections, pool visits, bar visits, etc.

If you can finish a report for a 2-night stay under 8 hours, then kudos to you. I've performed hundreds of them and edited even more, and 8 hours is a good time for me.

The shop I'm looking at right now is a 2-night stay with 2 breakfasts, no room service, wine & coffee, turndown, lobby, public inspections, concierge, bellman, frontdesk, housekeeping, 2 service recoveries.

I just can't see how it would take 8 hours. That's a little extreme.

Once you've completed the package of surveys, please let us know how long it took you.

Steve's outline is accurate in it's scope. I've completed the surveys for this boutique hotel client. It took me more than eight hours to do so.

If you can complete it in less than eight hours, really, kudos to you.

How many surveys did you guys normally do in a single package because this package has 3 but parts of it are N/A to this specific location.

And I plan to do the surveys progressively - as in day by day. Not at all at once at the very end.

If you meant 8 hours total for evaluation and writing throughout the 3 days, I understand. However, 8 hours in one long stretch after the hotel stay seems still exaggerated to me.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/2017 07:47PM by camiflower1.

8 hrs total across the package.

@foodluvr wrote:

8 hrs total across the package.

Did you work on the package piece by piece or all at once after the stay concluded?

I don't work at all when I'm at the location, since I know the checklists from memory. I sit at my desk and do the whole thing in one shot when I return home. 8-10 hours. Entire report from the time I start downloading the photos from my phone. If you can do it faster than that as a newbie then you are in the top percentage of evaluators as far as speed goes. Most take much more than 8 hours....

Most of those properties have a room service component attached as well. Some might not.

@camiflower1 wrote:

The shop I'm looking at right now is a 2-night stay with 2 breakfasts, no room service, wine & coffee, turndown, lobby, public inspections, concierge, bellman, frontdesk, housekeeping, 2 service recoveries.

I just can't see how it would take 8 hours. That's a little extreme.

Here's SOME of what you should expect for a Coyle hotel survey "package":

Reservations Call - Time and Date of call, formatted to their specifications. How many rings? Correct scripted greeting? Type of rooms available and their features? Did they ask for the sale? Closing quote? Narrative. (This alone took 10 paragraphs.)

Bell Arrival/Acclimation/Departure - Time and Date? Greeting? Assistance with car/luggage? Opening quote? Closing quote? 3 separate narratives.

Front Desk - Time and Date? Greeting? Opening quote? Room and rate? Closing quote? Narrative.

Housekeeping - Initial Impression/Stay Over/Turn down/Request - Capture images of where luggage placed. Images of room from different angles. Images of defects. 4 separate narratives. Numerous images - initial/before/after.

Service Recovery - Time and Date? Greeting? Opening quote? Sense of urgency? Issue resolved? Closing quote? Narrative.

Room Service - Time and Date of call, formatted to their specifications. How many rings? Correct scripted greeting? Knowledge of menu? Upsell? Did they ask for the sale? Expected delivery time? Closing quote? Arrival time? Temperature of food? Expectations met? Table set up correctly? Order correct and complete? Opening quote? Closing quote? Tray pick up time. Images of covered plates. Images of uncovered plates. Narrative.

Facility - Similar to room, but instead for the property.

Maintenance - Similar to Service Recovery.

Pool - Specific to the pool.

Gym - Specific to the gym.

Bar - Well if you're up to a hotel shop, then you know what to expect.

Lounge - See above.

Dinner - See above, in addition to separate narratives for reservations process/call, management, food/facility.

Breakfast - See above.

Engineering - Unscrew a lightbulb/remove batteries from the television remote/etc.,. Call engineering. Write about call experience. Write about engieneering service experience. Time of arrival. Time elapsed after telephone request. Remember to capture the opening and closing quotes. Sense of urgency? Was issue resolved?

Spa - reservations, facility, treatment, service recovery, cashier - times required.

Wake up call - Time and Date? How many rings? Greeting? Opening quote? Closing quote? Time of wake up call. Narrative.

PBX - Time and Date? How many rings? Greeting? Opening quote? Closing quote? Narrative.

Front Desk Interaction - Yep, by now you know what they're looking for. Narrative.

Concierge - See above.

Bell Interaction - See above.

Front Desk Observation - Observe for 30 minutes. You know the drill.

Bell Observation - See above.

Check Out - I think you know what they're looking for.

Subjective/Overall Impression - Let loose with your subjective opinions. "Tell the client what they might not know."

YMMV, as there usually isn't a spa/pool/ gym/bar and/or dinner outlet(s) for this client.

One of my recent hotel evaluations had 37 pages of single spaced, 10 pt. font text - just for the narratives. Expect to capture approximately 50 images that need to be uploaded, and formatted and labeled to their specifications.

I wrote 30 pages, with the same standards as above, for the client you are assigned, although there was a Room Service component included.

You may also find this thread helpful: www.mysteryshopforum.com/read/6/447295/447633#msg-447633

@SteveSoCal wrote:

I don't work at all when I'm at the location, since I know the checklists from memory. I sit at my desk and do the whole thing in one shot when I return home. 8-10 hours. Entire report from the time I start downloading the photos from my phone. If you can do it faster than that as a newbie then you are in the top percentage of evaluators as far as speed goes. Most take much more than 8 hours....

Most of those properties have a room service component attached as well. Some might not.

I was planning to do it section by section at the location in my room. I type very fast and have a photographic memory. This particular property does not have room service.

@Professional Guest wrote:

@camiflower1 wrote:

The shop I'm looking at right now is a 2-night stay with 2 breakfasts, no room service, wine & coffee, turndown, lobby, public inspections, concierge, bellman, frontdesk, housekeeping, 2 service recoveries.

I just can't see how it would take 8 hours. That's a little extreme.

Here's SOME of what you should expect for a Coyle hotel survey "package":

Reservations Call - Time and Date of call, formatted to their specifications. How many rings? Correct scripted greeting? Type of rooms available and their features? Did they ask for the sale? Closing quote? Narrative. (This alone took 10 paragraphs.)

Bell Arrival/Acclimation/Departure - Time and Date? Greeting? Assistance with car/luggage? Opening quote? Closing quote? 3 separate narratives.

Front Desk - Time and Date? Greeting? Opening quote? Room and rate? Closing quote? Narrative.

Housekeeping - Initial Impression/Stay Over/Turn down/Request - Capture images of where luggage placed. Images of room from different angles. Images of defects. 4 separate narratives. Numerous images - initial/before/after.

Service Recovery - Time and Date? Greeting? Opening quote? Sense of urgency? Issue resolved? Closing quote? Narrative.

Room Service - Time and Date of call, formatted to their specifications. How many rings? Correct scripted greeting? Knowledge of menu? Upsell? Did they ask for the sale? Expected delivery time? Closing quote? Arrival time? Temperature of food? Expectations met? Table set up correctly? Order correct and complete? Opening quote? Closing quote? Tray pick up time. Images of covered plates. Images of uncovered plates. Narrative.

Facility - Similar to room, but instead for the property.

Maintenance - Similar to Service Recovery.

Pool - Specific to the pool.

Gym - Specific to the gym.

Bar - Well if you're up to a hotel shop, then you know what to expect.

Lounge - See above.

Dinner - See above, in addition to separate narratives for reservations process/call, management, food/facility.

Breakfast - See above.

Engineering - Unscrew a lightbulb/remove batteries from the television remote/etc.,. Call engineering. Write about call experience. Write about engieneering service experience. Time of arrival. Time elapsed after telephone request. Remember to capture the opening and closing quotes. Sense of urgency? Was issue resolved?

Spa - reservations, facility, treatment, service recovery, cashier - times required.

Wake up call - Time and Date? How many rings? Greeting? Opening quote? Closing quote? Time of wake up call. Narrative.

PBX - Time and Date? How many rings? Greeting? Opening quote? Closing quote? Narrative.

Front Desk Interaction - Yep, by now you know what they're looking for. Narrative.

Concierge - See above.

Bell Interaction - See above.

Front Desk Observation - Observe for 30 minutes. You know the drill.

Bell Observation - See above.

Check Out - I think you know what they're looking for.

Subjective/Overall Impression - Let loose with your subjective opinions. "Tell the client what they might not know."

YMMV, as there usually isn't a spa/pool/ gym/bar and/or dinner outlet(s) for this client.

One of my recent hotel evaluations had 37 pages of single spaced, 10 pt. font text - just for the narratives. Expect to capture approximately 50 images that need to be uploaded, and formatted and labeled to their specifications.

I wrote 30 pages, with the same standards as above, for the client you are assigned, although there was a Room Service component included.

You may also find this thread helpful: www.mysteryshopforum.com/read/6/447295/447633#msg-447633

Did you do any of this while at the location or saved it for when you are on plane or already at home?

I was at 21 pages for that particular client with a room service component last week....but there were no bellmen at the hotel so that made it slightly shorter.

You can bet I did some/alot of it while on property.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

I was at 21 pages for that particular client with a room service component last week....but there were no bellmen at the hotel so that made it slightly shorter.

I'm not worried about length. I've written very long reports for MS and for academic purposes before.

I'm just trying to gauge how long it will take me to do this if I do it piece by piece at the location as much as possible and then the rest on the plane home.

@Professional Guest wrote:

You can bet I did some/alot of it while on property.

@Professional Guest - How long did it take you on property and then how long did it take you off property (on transit/home)?

@SteveSoCal wrote:

I was at 21 pages for that particular client with a room service component last week....but there were no bellmen at the hotel so that made it slightly shorter.

Encountered an issue with an Associate during the stay, had to write about it. Yeah.

@camiflower1 wrote:

I'm just trying to gauge how long it will take me to do this if I do it piece by piece at the location as much as possible and then the rest on the plane home.

The writing isn't so much of the issue. It's the scoring comments and pasting in each section with photos that take more time. That's difficult to do from a flight with the new software (shopmetrics) since it requires a lot of bandwidth. I used to get the reports completely submitted on flights back from NYC with the the old proprietary software back when you'd email the photos in....

@camiflower1 wrote:

@Professional Guest wrote:

You can bet I did some/alot of it while on property.

@Professional Guest - How long did it take you on property and then how long did it take you off property (on transit/home)?

Not really sure. Definitely more than eight hours in total, but I have a tendency to obsess with crafting the perfect sentence(s), and I also don't go full-on with writing it all in one shot.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

@camiflower1 wrote:

I'm just trying to gauge how long it will take me to do this if I do it piece by piece at the location as much as possible and then the rest on the plane home.

The writing isn't so much of the issue. It's the scoring comments and pasting in each section with photos that take more time. That's difficult to do from a flight with the new software (shopmetrics) since it requires a lot of bandwidth. I used to get the reports completely submitted on flights back from NYC with the the old proprietary software back when you'd email the photos in....

"scoring comments" ? Could you clarify on this?

JetBlue has good bandwidth - I don't foresee an issue.

You have to provide a comment for each 'no' or N/A item

Have you loaded a shopmetrics form on a flight before? I gave up on doing it with Gogo...it takes too long to load

@SteveSoCal wrote:

You have to provide a comment for each 'no' or N/A item

Have you loaded a shopmetrics form on a flight before? I gave up on doing it with Gogo...it takes too long to load

Oh ok I considered that part of the narrative.


I had no problem on JetBlue wifi with shopmetrics

Did a Coyle hotel shop this week...

Finished and submited it in the taxi-ride to the airport (mifi jetpack) . Granted I went alone and spent 2.5 hours each night (for a total of roughly 6 hours) writing it in my room.

Not too bad. Definitely a lot of work though but worth it.

final product = 9000 words total in narratives.

If you did it in 6 hours as your first assignment and didn't receive any questions back from editorial, then you are doing better than most and should feel comfortable taking on larger projects.

My last report for that same client was just under 8,000 words, I've probably done 100 of those and it still took me probably 7 hours total. Your 6 hours includes all of the pictures, invoicing and such as well?

I have done a lot of these as well and I might be at 6 hours (but probably a little longer) if there is nothing significant about the stay or major issues encountered and if I got one of the few that don't have RS. I write as I go - because in the end I think it takes less time (no having to go back to refer to notes or pictures - I write it almost immediately, so yes - I write the before housekeeping section before I even leave the room for stayover). While I think this does save you time in the end, it significantly eats into ones enjoyment of the stay (so I understand why some just save it all for when they get home - even if that takes longer in the end).

Agree with Steve you are way ahead of the curve if you are at 6 hours out of the gate - and you should feel comfortable taking on a longer/more complicated assignments.

What takes time is the subjective/opinion stuff. If we were not required to do that for every section, I could bang one out in no time at all...

@MickeyB wrote:

What takes time is the subjective/opinion stuff. If we were not required to do that for every section, I could bang one out in no time at all...

What I've been doing recently for hotels is narrating the entire experience in 1 or 2 sittings from notes (after getting home) and then adding the subjective after proofing and editing each section of my speech-to-text transcriptions. It reminds me of how I felt after reading through the section and then having the speech-to-text active on my computer makes it easy to add a few sentences of subjective at the end of each section.

I have definitely been trying to move to scoring and typing up the housekeeping stuff while on property, as you suggested. If the past, I would often spend a lot of time dealing with work emails for my main job when on property, so I had little interest in writing up the hotel reports on property as well. Now that I'm on hiatus and not dealing with work stuff at hotels, I may be more proactive in getting the hotel reports closer to complete while I am there. Being alone helps as well. If a can hit the wine reception, order room service and hit the jacuzzi with a travel partner, I'm not gonna be getting much done on property.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

If you did it in 6 hours as your first assignment and didn't receive any questions back from editorial, then you are doing better than most and should feel comfortable taking on larger projects.

My last report for that same client was just under 8,000 words, I've probably done 100 of those and it still took me probably 7 hours total. Your 6 hours includes all of the pictures, invoicing and such as well?

I've done quite a few of their restaurant shops so this hotel was not my first coyle assignment...


I uploaded about 66-70 pictures, 9000 words, and it's been 72 hours without any questions from editorial, but it has not been "OK for Pay" yet.


Six hours only includes the time I took to type everything.

I would say another four hours to actually do the tasks because I can't type a narrative while asking probe questions/eating breakfast