HOTEL MYSTERY

SHOPPING

by Jennifer Hayes

An excerpt from the book

How to Become a Mystery Shopper

by Elaine Moran and Jennifer Hayes

Published by Smarty Pants Finance

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Hotel Mystery Shopping  With some mystery shopping experience under your belt, you may want to try hotel mystery                             shopping. Hotel stays are my favorite type of assignment. They are a lot of work, but the rewards are                                     just too good to pass up. I have completed dozens of hotel assignments over the past 15 years and                                     have visited places I would have never gone otherwise. While people are spending hundreds or                             thousands of dollars on trips, I am saving and making money traveling! Cha-ching!  Hotels and resort mystery shops are the marathon of mystery shopping. All you have learned while                               doing simple mystery shops will come into practice for hotel assignments. The reports are much                             longer, there are more questions to answer, the tasks to complete are numerous and the visits usually                                 take one to three days on-site, plus time after check-out to finish the report.    Proceed with caution! Hotel mystery shopping will change your life forever and your friends will                             marvel at your ability to skip town and stay on a budget.  If you have a desire to travel and be                                         challenged, keep reading.   

What Does A Hotel Mystery Shop Look Like?  Hotel assignments are conducted at many of the finest chain and independent hotels in the world.                               Yes, I said world. There are hotel assignments around the globe. Properties can be very large with                                 hundreds of rooms or smaller boutique hotels. Bed and Breakfasts, resorts, motels, and even cruises                             get shopped. Owners want a detailed look at how their property is experienced by the typical guest.                                 The best way to do that is to send someone like you or me to the property.   Hotel assignments typically consist of a one or two night stay. The job will include evaluating how to                                   make a reservation, valet parking, check-in and check-out processes, dining, housekeeping and more.                         Meals at the property are usually included and involve visiting on-site restaurants and bars and                             getting room service. If the hotel has a spa, it is usually evaluated as well. Once I evaluated a casino                                       resort and you guessed it, I had to gamble as part of the job! Another time, learning to ski was part                                         of the job at a mountain resort!  Depending on the MSC, there may or may not be a fee paid to the evaluator. All of the hotels I have                                           shopped have included a full reimbursement for all costs incurred on-site. Many times a moderate                             fee is paid to do the job. Travel costs to the hotel are sometimes reimbursed. You will be required to                                       charge or pay for the full cost of the stay as a normal guest would do and be reimbursed or have the                                           charges reversed after your report is accepted. Do not take these assignments if you cannot cover                               the cost up front. Most jobs I have completed cost several hundred to a thousand dollars or more.                                   You will be reimbursed within a week or sometimes several weeks after you complete the                             assignment. All itemized receipts must be saved and submitted.   On a related note, be careful about applying for and accepting hotel jobs in locations far from home                                   until you have made sure you can affordably get there. Airfares and car rental rates fluctuate daily, so  

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 prior to putting in your application, check on travel logistics. One summer there was an assignment I                                 wanted in Hawaii but the airfare was too expensive. Never fear, the Hawaii trips still happened, but                                 at a different, and less expensive, time of year. On another occasion, I was going to apply for an                                     assignment in Miami. I could already feel the warm ocean breeze. The airfare was just the right price                                   but the car rental prices were through the roof! Sometimes just looking at other dates, even within                                 the same month, will do wonders for making the trip more affordable. Then, you can offer the MSC                                   alternative dates that you know will work for you. Hotel assignments can be so much fun; you do                                   not want to take an assignment that you later regret having because it’s costlier than expected.   Hotel jobs require many hours on the premises to complete tasks, but also allow for free time. The                                   more organized you are, the more time you will have to go out and about. Reports are due within a                                       day or two of check-out so it is imperative that the report is being written during the stay and not                                       put off until after.   Most hotel stays allow for an adult to accompany you. I have done assignments alone or with a                                   friend or family member. Make sure your guest knows the protocol. He or she must not tell anyone                                   the real reason for your stay. It may seem incidental to mention to another guest at the bar that you                                       are there evaluating the property, but that person could be an off-duty staff member or friend of the                                   manager. Discretion is paramount.  Assignments consist of checklists and narratives. The checklists are straightforward and contain                       hundreds of questions. Narratives can be very long. I have written narratives of upwards of 10,000                               words for a three-night stay. The amount of writing depends on the length of stay and how many                                   tasks the MSC requires you to complete.   Not every MSC offers hotel jobs. The more companies you are signed up with, the more                               opportunities to find these jobs. The assignments are highly sought after and much more involved                             and complicated. Do not expect to get a hotel assignment right off the bat; you will need to work                                     your way up the ladder and prove yourself to the MSC before they trust you with this more difficult                                     task. However, it is well worth the effort!   I began doing hotel assignments early in my mystery shopping career. I signed up with a company                                 that specializes in fine dining, spas, hotels and resorts. I successfully completed several restaurant                           assignments and landed my first hotel job in Santa Barbara, California. To be honest, I had no idea                                   what I was doing! I had only been mystery shopping for six months and still had much to learn.                                     Thankfully, the visit was a success because mystery shopping hotels has changed my life. I have                               completed dozens of hotel evaluations and visited nearly every major city in the United States, the                               top beach and resort destinations, and traveled to Europe, Asia, Africa and Mexico…so far!   

How to Get the Assignment and What to Do Beforehand  First, sign up with the companies that offer hotel assignments and watch their job boards. Next, take                                 easier non-hotel assignments in order to build up your resume with the MSC. Frequently, these                             MSCs have phone and restaurant evaluations that can be your proving ground so you are considered                               for the hotels. The bigger and better your track record for doing great work, the sooner you will get  

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 a shot at a hotel. Companies know that the hotel jobs are difficult and they do not want to assign                                       someone who will struggle to complete it and complete it well. The last thing the MSC wants is to                                     have to reassign the hotel to a different evaluator. As with any mystery shop, avoid canceling at all                                   costs. Most MSCs will only give you one chance to prove yourself.   When you feel ready, start applying for hotel jobs as they show up on the job boards. As with all                                       mystery shops, it may take days or even weeks to get the job. Check the job board frequently (I am                                       guilty of checking every day) because new assignments are added and you want to get your                               applications in right away. If you are selected, you will be notified via email. Make sure you check                                   your email regularly to know if you have been assigned.  Don’t give up! I was fortunate to get my first hotel assignment quickly and easily. I think I was just in the right place at the right time. The more hotels you apply for, the better your chances of getting an assignment. I know of people who have tried for months to get a hotel job. Persistence is key. Sometimes hotels linger on the job board because the destination is not as desirable. I have scooped up a few of those to boost my resume with the MSC. One time I took a hotel job in Tucson in July. The Arizona desert is baking in the summer, but I had an excellent time and it was just one more high mark on my resume. 

  

 Before You Start the Job          Days before I head out for one of these assignments, I have printed and studied (and I do mean                                     studied) all of the paperwork. I make a written schedule for myself of what tasks I will complete                                   each day so that I do not miss anything. Missing something on the job could result in the report                                     being rejected, which means you pick up the tab of the stay. Don’t let this happen! Creating a                                   schedule also helps you plan free time for sightseeing or visiting with friends.   A sample schedule for the Day One may look like this:    

  

            

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 Read through every item on the checklist and highlight unique things you may forget. Memorize                             what to do upon arrival as everything happens quickly. Once you arrive you will interact with a valet,                                   bellman, and desk clerk all within a few minutes, so it is important to know what to look for.                                     Studying the paperwork well in advance is critical because if you have any questions, you want to be                                   able to email the MSC before you start the job for clarification.   The guidelines and checklists go into a manila envelope and bring a small envelope for receipts. This                                 will keep you organized plus it will give you a place to stow everything while out of the room. Make                                       sure all paperwork is hidden away when you are not using it!  I put the envelope in a compartment                                     of my luggage or in the in-room safe when I leave the room. Hotel staff can enter the room                                     unexpectedly and if they see the paperwork you may have to abort the mission.   Photographs are a job requirement. Depending on the MSC you can be required to take upwards of                                 100 photos. I used to use my digital 35mm camera, as the photo quality was excellent. I would                                   transfer the pictures from my camera to my computer and then into the report. However, since                               upgrading to a smartphone with an excellent camera, I have been leaving the 35mm at home.                               Getting the pictures from the phone to the computer is quicker but most of all, not lugging a camera                                     around makes life easier. Of course, whatever you use has to be digital and you must be able to put                                       the pictures into the report. Make sure you know how you will take photographs before you arrive                                 on-site.   

 On the Job  What happens on the job really depends on the requirements of the MSC. Usually I am busy for at                                     least the first hour after arrival. I keep very detailed notes on paper or in my phone using a                                     note-taking app. Taking precise notes will be your best friend on these assignments. There are many                               tasks to be completed and numerous people to speak with. The more details you have recorded, the                                 easier it will be to fill out the checklists and accurately write the narrative.   I fill out the checklists as I do each task and write narratives as soon as possible. The more you can                                         keep up with the narrative writing the better. I have gotten to the point where I try to type the                                       narrative as soon as each task is completed.  As said earlier, do not wait until several hours, the next                                     day or, worse yet, after the visit to start working on the report.   I follow the guidelines strictly. If the instructions say to arrive between 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm, I arrive                                     between 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm. If they say do not order dessert, I do not order dessert. If they say go                                           to the pool and it is cloudy and cold, I still go to the pool. It is very important to only do what is                                               required; no more and definitely no less. I want to keep getting assignments with the MSC and not                                   do anything to jeopardize my report from being accepted. Remember, as evaluators, we are hired to                               do a job and the expectation is that we will complete the job exactly as specified.   Follow the schedule closely but be flexible knowing that sometimes things change. Once on an                             assignment, I planned to have dinner at the restaurant the first night and found out that it was   

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 closed for a private event. I made sure I was available the second night instead and emailed the MSC                                     to alert them to the issue. Requirements on the job trump any personal plans.  As with any mystery shop, your report should be accurate and honest. Do not fudge the details.                                 With the wide use of surveillance cameras and electronic room keys, it is possible for a hotel to track                                     and review everything in order to verify that your report is precise. Hotel assignments require a high                                 level of professionalism in order to do the job right.    

Completing A Task  With so many things to do on the job, I try to look at each part as a small, single event in order to                                               avoid being overwhelmed. Room service is often a requirement on the job. I approach the task in                                 the following systematic way:  Before making the call to place an order, I have studied the checklist and accompanying instructions                               so I know what to do. I know the instructions cold! There is no hesitation in my voice or                                     uncertainty. While I am on the phone with the room service operator, I am taking notes. When the                                   call ends, I complete the checklist and then type up the narrative immediately. I have the checklist                                 out so I can look at it while I type and make sure I cover everything the client wants to know.   When the food is delivered, I pay attention to how I am greeted and what the server says about my                                       order. I make sure to get a copy of the receipt.  Usually, photos of the food are required so I do this                                           immediately after the server departs. Then, I return to my notes and checklist and record everything.                               I normally wait until after eating to type up the narrative because aside from disliking cold food, the                                   narrative needs to include information about if the food was hot upon arrival and properly prepared.                               If the food sits for several minutes, it will be hard to accurately report on its quality.  

  

After Check-Out  I always have most of the report completed before checking out. Narratives and checklists need to                               be finalized and inputted into the report online. Receipts and photos need to be uploaded into the                                 report. I usually spend a minimum of one to two hours wrapping up the assignment after check-out.                                 If I have downtime in an airport, I work to get everything done before I get back home. Reports are                                       usually due within 24-48 hours of departing the hotel. I strive to be done within 12 hours of being                                     home. I take a mental break and then start planning my next trip!   Keep an eye on your email over the next several days. Frequently, editors will have questions and                                 request clarification. If you get an email requesting more information, respond as soon as possible.                             Keep all of your notes and paperwork handy. There were times I was tempted to throw away notes                                   because I am averse to clutter, but thankfully I did not, as the information on my notes helped me to                                       respond to an editor accurately. I keep paperwork from my hotel shops for a year or so. Better to be                                       safe than sorry. 

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 Each MSC has its own pay and reimbursement cycle. Be on the lookout to make sure you are                                   reimbursed or have charges reversed for these assignments on time. Mistakes happen and with so                             much money on the line you want to be sure nothing slips through the cracks.   Becoming a hotel mystery shopper takes some time and persistence, is hard work, but can be a game changer for how you travel. It will feel like the world is truly your oyster, but without the large expense. If you have been bitten by the travel bug, or just want a nice getaway close to home, there is no better or economical way to do it. Enjoy the journey!    

 

  

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