Why You Should Never Invite Some Guests To Return!
Most people don’t set out to end up on a hotel’s blacklist. And, you can bet the majority of accommodation properties don’t want to put people there either.
Yet, unfortunately, sometimes this happens out of necessity.
If you’ve been wondering if you should, and can, ban guests from your hotel, this article is for you. Let’s discuss why you should never invite some guests to return!
The Bad Guest
Not all hotel guests are created equal, and while you want to do your best to provide excellent customer service, there are times when you need to get tough. (tweet this)
As a hotelier, it’s up to you to decide when enough is enough. Yet, I think most hotel owners can agree the following make-up the “bad guest” and are grounds for blacklisting.
- The guest who trashes your room or destroys your property. For example, the guest breaks the TV, ruins the bedding or burns holes in the carpet shouldn’t be welcome back at your property. This could extend to your public areas as well.
- The guest is abusive, either verbally or physically to members of your staff or other hotel guests. Even if you don’t find yourself calling the police, you never want to invite these guests to return to your hotel. They ruin the whole experience for everyone.
- Drunk and disorderly guests, or those breaking the law, may also be blacklisted. In fact, you can even evict these people during their stay.
The Difficult Guest
You know the one we’re talking about – the difficult guest is the one who has too many requests. This could be from extensive trouble making a reservation to how he wants his bed turned down.
Customer service is important, but after the tenth request, you may find you just can’t meet anymore of the difficult guest’s demands.
The challenging guest simply takes up too much of your time and your staff’s time. You probably can’t make this person happy, so it’s often better to never let him come back.
Put Rules into Place
It’s a good idea to put some rules into effect at your property. Spell out all the reasons that might deny a customer.
This way, when someone balks at having been blacklisted, you have it all in writing.
Another tip is to document everything about your guest’s stay if he is/she causing problems. Again, having things in writing is important for several reasons.
By documenting the blacklisted guest’s stay, you have a record that can be passed on through staff members. You also have a written log in case you are presented with legal action.
Dealing with Uninvited Guests
Blacklisting guests sounds easy enough, but it isn’t quite that straightforward.
While you can have a “full” hotel, you can’t prevent them from contacting your hotel or booking online. This means that your staff must be well-versed in how to handle these customers, and you have systems in place to prevent the booking.
Train your staff extensively in how to deal with these guests.
Let’s look at these tips if the blacklisted guest calls your front desk to make a reservation:
- Have your staff treat them with the same respect and kindness as they would anyone else calling in to book a stay.
- Listen to what they want.
- Then, explain (again with kindness) that you can’t accept their reservation due to the previous incident they had at your hotel. This might be a destroyed room, verbal assault, etc.
- At this point, expect the guest to get angry and demand more information. Train your staff to tell the guest the decision was made by hotel management and end it there. You don’t want your staff repeating the litany of issues.
- If the customer continues to demand a reservation, teach your staff to kindly tell them they are unable to do so. Suggest they seek another property in town.
- When the blacklisted guest keeps pushing, you can tell them you’ll pass on their request to the hotel manager.
Finally, if they start yelling at your staff, train your front desk team to tell them politely that they cannot continue in a verbally abusive conversation. They may then hang up the phone.
But, what happens when a blacklisted guest tries to re-book online? This is where your online booking system comes into play.
Make sure yours has a blacklist functionality or some way you can deny reservations to bad guests.
Case Studies on Famous Blacklisted Guests
Let’s look at some examples of blacklisted guests and what they did to get on the “list.”
Back in 1967, Keith Moon, the drummer for the rock band, The Who, trashed a Holiday Inn in the most flamboyant of ways.
In celebration of his 21st birthday, a wild party ensued at the hotel. Not only did his crew destroy furniture, but a food fight occurred when a girl jumped out of a cake.
Hotel staff called the police, but this didn’t stop Moon. He decided to then run naked through the lobby and drive his Lincoln Continental into the hotel pool.
Moon was blacklisted from all Holiday Inn properties and ending up spending the night in jail and paying $24,000 to the hotel for damages.
Our next example involves actor, Charlie Sheen.
According to Business Insider, Sheen was staying at New York City’s Plaza Hotel. He went into a medically-induced rage and smashed mirrors and destroyed the television and furniture.
He supposedly did all of this while in his underwear and with a porn actress fearfully hiding in the bathroom.
After $20,000 in damages, it’s reported that The Plaza banished Sheen for life.
Some sources also report that the Waldorf-Astoria and Trump SoHo won’t book Sheen either.
Final Thoughts
Now that you know why you should never invite some guests to return, you can avoid the repeated horrors that befall many hotels, bed and breakfasts and inns.
Remind yourself that from a business perspective, it can be better to let some clients go and put them on your blacklist then it is to let them damage your property, your brand and your bottom line.
When dealing with these guests, make sure you have a written plan in place and ensure your staff is well-trained and comfortable handling the awkward situation of refusing entry to your hotel.
Let us know what you think. Have you ever had to blacklist a guest or never invite them to return? We’d love to hear about it and share it with our website visitors.
Image: Toa Heftiba and Maria Sophie Tekian
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