Hotel chains are using customer feedback to ensure that the changes they make to their food offerings are what their clients want.

8th November 2012

An increasing number of hotel chains are improving their food offerings based on the customer feedback they receive. This may sound like common sense, but those who run hotels can become stuck in their ways and believe that their experience means that they know what works.

Customer feedback can provide a rich source of ideas and validation for your strategy. Make it easy for customers to communicate with you and make sure you interpret their suggestions in the context of your business and brand strategy.

This is exactly what the likes of Jurys Inn and Park Plaza have been doing as they overhauled their menus in response to comments from customers. The latest version of the Jurys Inn menu is due to be debuted this month and includes a grill section which is the direct result of customer insight data.

Suzanne Cannon, group marketing manager for Jurys Inn, said: "We always listen to feedback from our customers when creating our new menus and know that chargrilled steak-based dining is enjoying a resurgence which is reflected in our latest menu."

Meanwhile Park Plaza County Hall has been listening to the demands of younger guests and has created a special new children's menu for its new look Italian restaurant, L'Italiano. It is hoping to attract more families to the establishment so has made sure that changes are conducive to what they want.And this is a key consideration when revamping or reinventing an aspect of the experience a hotel is aiming to provide. If redoing a particular part to appeal to a specific audience then it makes sense to ask that demographic of clientele what they would like to see.

It makes sense to do the research in advance, otherwise the hotel is simply making a stab in the dark to try and cater to certain people without knowing whether it will work. Money is often spent on changing things, whether it is reprinting menus or refurbishing rooms, and this can all go to waste if it does not produce the desired effect. Using customer feedback to influence such changes is just common sense in the long run.