There is a much greater choice to the consumer in the hotel world today due to the amount of hotels and hotel chains that are available. Due to the increase of choice there is a greater requirement for hotels to offer better quality services. To compete successfully, hotels are constantly improving the services they offer with some hotels even adding to the list of services that they already provide.

Guests prioritise services that hotels offer and below you can find a list of the services in the order that most guests will see them.

1) Guests expect the rooms to be clean and comfortable. A stain on the bedding would be seen as one of the worst possible things in a hotel room. Guests expect for the room to include all the fundamental conveniences that are essential such as full bathroom facilities, complimentary coffee and/or tea, hair dryer, iron, access to movies, internet connection and air conditioning. Guests will want to be able to control the temperature of the room to ensure their maximum comfort. Rooms should not have any strong odours related to cleaning products or air fresheners and be spacious.

2) Local transportation should be easy to access and car rental is an all important must. Many guests will also require that the hotel staff be able to arrange their transportation for them.

3) The hotel staff should have knowledge on all the attractions in the area and be able to arrange for movie tickets, theatre tickets, dinner reservations, hairdresser appointments along with many others. The staff should be able to fulfil all of their guest’s requests at any time.

4) The requirement of having staff assistance 24 hours a day is high. Guests would like to receive assistance and have someone cater to their needs at what ever time that they require it even if it is 3 o’clock on the morning.

5) There should be extra facilities and services available such as laundry services. Extra towels, extra bedding, bathrobes and baby cribs in addition to the numerous other possible needs that a guest could have should also be available.

6) Access in to the hotel should include wheelchair access and the parking for vehicles should be safe and convenient. There ought to be more than one life in the hotel also.

7) There are a lot of people that travel with their pets. Many people will look for a hotel that accepts pets along with their guests and have facilities for them.

8) Guests sometimes require the need to store their valuables and so safety deposit boxes or safes should be available for their use.

9) The food served by the hotel should be of a high standard and be at affordable prices. The dining room should be large enough to accommodate guests without them feeling cramped. The hotel lounge should be comfortable and tastefully decorated to give guests a relaxing environment to have a drink in.

10) There should be recreational facilities available like a gymnasium, swimming pool and sauna as most guests like to take advantage of the hotels recreational services.

11) Rooms with additional privacy should be available for those guests that would like that bit of extra privacy.

12) Hotels that offer special discounts will find that their customers are happier as many people like to save money and find special discounts an added reason to select a hotel.

For a hotel to stay ahead of the rest it is advisable that they listen to their customers and provide the extra services that they demand. Due to customers wanting more and more services it is fundamental that hotels keep up to date with the current trends.