The Mystery Guest Programme (Standards Assessment Programme) assesses an actual guest experience for a specific service, an individual property or a group of properties. To do this, an experienced, anonymous assessor visits each property, and/or uses each service, and then details the experience in a comprehensive report.

The assessment is created using company standards or general industry quality standards.

The Standards Assessment Programme is designed for any hotel from an independent, moderate boutique hotel to a large international deluxe hotel group. L&A’s programme provides an accurate, unbiased view of guests’ experience of all services and facilities.

The duration of a Standards Assessment Programme depends on the scope of the assessment.

A comprehensive overall assessment of a property is usually conducted over a 24 hour (1 night) or 48 hour (2 night) period.

A visible inspection of a property will identify its conformance to the desired branding and image standards.

Comparisons with competitors will help establish your guests’ perceptions and the business’s position and in the market.

Analysing the results of a mystery guest audit, hotels are able to consolidate their business’s strengths and recognise areas for development. Overall, this helps distinguish how best to allocate precious funds, and budget for future development in ways to best satisfy guest needs and increase business.

ASSESSOR

Assessments are conducted by an experienced assessor who has a profile similar to the hotels typical guest.

PRE-ASSESSMENT

In preparation for an assessment, a checklist is created in conjunction with the Hotel company. This lists each facility and service to be assessed and the required standards.

ASSESSMENT

After the audit checklist has been approved the service is used and/or the property is visited and assessed by an anonymous, unbiased, experienced assessor.

The assessor utilises services and facilities as an actual guest in a regular situation. Using the checklist, services and facilities are assessed in a Yes/No manner to ensure objective reporting.

REPORTING

On completion of the assessment, information is analysed and formatted by the assessor, providing meaningful, easy-to-read statistical and observation reports. Non-conforming items are supported by photographic evidence.

Reports are completed and forwarded by email within the agreed period.

ACTIVITIES

Pre-assessment review focusing on general guest experience and specific objectives

Assessments are conducted with objective checklist detailing the compliance of each service and facility which is agreed upon prior to the audit taking place.

Photographic documentation is provided supporting assessed non-compliance items

Statistical reports provide percentile results of each department and service area

Assessor’s report analyses results of the assessment from a guest’s perspective