Most of my career centered in retail sector, then after a decade i decided to switch the career. I applied in a five star hotel,which had a massively huge casino as a front office supervisor.Since,the hotel was not opened yet and we were the opening team we had much time in our hand for the training. Most of the people who joined had Bachelors in Hotel Management and had some sort of experience in the hotel industry.Unfortunately, my time in the hotel was cut short and i had to leave. It was not my cup of tea.
I am a fond traveler and very much stayed in different star rated hotels to horrifying guest house filled with filth.After gathering much thoughts, i have compiled some of the list below that are missing gap in the hospitality industry in Nepal. It is on the based of being an employee and a guest.
1-Most of the hotels are focused in the cash. Customer satisfaction is a second thing.Very much of the training i was given in the hotel before the opening was for the cash point.We had intensive 2 weeks training regarding the software and handling cash.I hardly remember any training was given for the customer satisfaction.
2-There are no certain benchmark in the hotel industry. Anyone with a house and hanging board can open a hotel.Most of the local guesthouse do not follow proper house keeping standards.I even got some bacterial infection on my back when i stayed in one of the so called good hotel in chitwan. Later the doctor said maybe the bed sheet haven’t been changed and i got the disease.
3-Some standard hotel have service charge included in their bill, not i do not see any service given.Some are very rude towards the guests.I remember one time in pokhara lake side where the manager came to me while i was dining and told me to leave before the check out time. In response he gave me the reason that his hotel was full board the next day.
4-I had hard time finding a pet friendly hotel on my trip to Annapurna circuit. Even upon convincing the front office that my dog doesn’t bite or bark and he does he toilet outside they refused to have me.Though my options were limited, i narrowed it down to what i have in hand. They should have more pet friendly hotel, where there are even dog hotels outside Nepal.
5-The safety feature in most of the hotels are crap.The door lock is old fashioned, and there are many cases of theft inside the hotel premises. Once stolen, the hotel instead of helping to find it does not want to take any responsibility towards it.
6-I am a Nepali, so for me the rice and lentil food does not matter.Where most of the hotels apart from star rated have Nepali food in the menu for the dinner and lunch.This will be hard on tourists, as if it feels like the food has been prepared for the staff and then sold it to the guests.Also, some have pages and pages of menu where 90% of the food is not available.What, also amazes me is they tend to promote having Italian, continental, Chinese and so on dishes where the hotel have little or no idea about the authenticity of the dish. Rather than that they should have a specialty and focus on some dishes, be it local or foreign.
7-Alcoholic beverages are a big cash cow for the hotels and huge expenditures for the guests. The hotels in Nepal do not have a standard price range for these drinks,and they charge the guest accordingly.This practice should be discouraged and the government should have a standard price for these beverages in all the hotels
8-Many staffs working the hotel are friendly and do not hesitate to help.But also they at times do not have sufficient information regarding the locality and answer wrongly. I have seen they put themselves down in this google age,most just ask to double check or confirm it. They should be trained for such events.
9-Most of the hotels in Thamel and tourist area do not wish to engage with the locals,that being Nepalis. They do not give rooms to them.Certainly this trend have changed a bit when hoteliers realized that the most of the spenders are not foreigners but locals.Hotel staff have been trained or given a mind set that tourists are easy to deal and are safe to target for the money.Nepali guest might be hard on giving tips but in the other parts they are much easy to deal with than others.
10-People think most of the hotels are center for prostitution. Definitely, i don’t urge in this topic as it is much safer in the hotels than the bush or forest.Still, this might offence other guests who do not wish to be entertained in such. Hotels regardless of their status should have a check in policy.Prostitution is illegal in Nepal but certainly it won’t stop. Hotels should have a private policy for these activities.
Comment below,for any missing information that i did not grab it above.
Thank you in advance.
