The hospitality field, specifically the lodging industry, is competitive.
Hotels must balance happy guests, spending budgets wisely and maintaining or increasing their occupancy, year round, regardless of what's going, or what's not.
Part of that puzzle is the amenities package.
Think about what goes into making a hotel, and the guest rooms in that hotel, great.
Everything from the flowers and the décor in the lobby and the towels by the pool to the hangers in the closet, the coffee cups and the alarm clock matters.
Of course, different things matter to different people.
Some people love the view, the lighting and the work space while others love the iron and ironing board because they're useful, the free wi-fi because they are working on their mini-vacation and the massaging shower head after a long day of touring a city, walking or working.
This brings us to the idea that the offered amenities effect whether or not someone will book a room at a particular hotel.
When people look online or in travel books, what are they looking for and how can a hotel affect those things? Things like location, views and things to do are not things that a hotel can affect or change.
On the other hand, how they treat guests, the toiletries they offer, whether or not they offer quality, in room coffee service and how well the rooms are maintained are all things that a hotel can affect that can, in turn, affect occupancy rates.
Today people often take the opportunity to comment on everything from the last CD they heard and the last concert they attended to the car they test drove, the last restaurant they ate at and the hotel they stayed at during their last vacation.
A casual perusing of guest reviews will often yield a wide spectrum of opinions from "no comment" to the flowery and detailed.
Believe it or not, prior guest comments affect a hotel's occupancy rates because there is typically consistency in the comments, whether everybody loves the pool and the staff or hates the hotel pool and thinks the fitness center is sub-par.
Complimentary reviews depend upon many things, great customer service, competitive rates and a variety of amenities among them.
People travel, and stay at hotels, for a variety of reasons from business to pleasure and everything in between.
No matter where they're going, or why, the traveling public has an effect on hotel occupancy rates.
Hotels that provide fresh, clean rooms, great customer services, wonderful food and unexpected extras will be fuller more often than those that don't.
People have far more opportunities to comment than they've ever had before and most people seize upon any opportunity to put their two cents in.
Hotels realize that people comment on their experiences as never before and, more importantly, that people read those comments when they're trying to decide which hotel to book.
More often than not, people will be honest in their assessment and offer suggestions on how to improve as well as what pleased and displeased them.
Hopefully customer reviews will result in win-win situations for hotels and their guests.