Business is good at the four-star Park Inn by Radisson, Al Khobar in Saudi Arabia, but general manager Frank Eikeland fears that an influx of five-star properties slashing their rates could mean trouble ahead
Since joining the three-year-old, four-star Park Inn Al Khobar property in 2010, general manager Frank Eikeland has seen business go from good to great.
Year-to-date (January to August) average occupancy is 70.7%, up 12% on 2011. Furthermore, year-to-date RevPar has increased 20% on last year at SAR 355.36 (US $94.75).
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Eikeland attributes the continued success of the hotel, the only Park Inn-branded property in KSA, to business opportunities and construction projects arising in the Al Khobar and Dammam areas of the Kingdom, bringing lots of long-staying guests from within Saudi Arabia, India, the US and from across Europe.
So far this year, 11% of total stays at the modern, European-style hotel have been for 21 days and up, while the average length of stay year to date is 2.5 days.
Catering to these long-staying guests has presented some operational challenges for the hotel, which Eikeland has addressed – mostly via TripAdvisor.
Looking at the group’s TripAdvisor page, Hotelier is impressed to see that Eikeland has personally replied to all 42 guest reviews, good and bad.
While most are glowing accounts of stays, with the hotel ranked number five out of 41 in Al Khobar, some long-staying guests suggested the themed buffets in the hotel’s one restaurant become repetitive after more than a week’s stay.
One reviewer refers to Park Inn as their “home from home in Al Khobar” but adds: “The food is of good quality but lacks variety if you are a long-stay guest”.
Eikeland replies to the post on TripAdvisor: “You highlight the importance of variety on the buffet, as your expectation as a long-staying guest is different from one staying for only a short time. Please contact me next time you choose to return to Park Inn by Radisson, Al Khobar so we can together — with our chef — find ways to make that stay an even better one.”
He tells Hotelier: “We have themed nights but when you stay three or four weeks and eat in the restaurant everyday you’ll see the same kinds of items. For those people for whom we see this is not working, they’re getting tired of the food so we introduce them to the chef and they can order something special. We’re not a big hotel — we have 148 rooms — and it’s a handful of people that have special requests so we fulfil them.”
Several other reviewers say checking in and out can be a “slow process”, to which Eikeland posts replies promising to follow up with the relevant departments.
“When we receive such comments we have meetings with department heads, find out what the problem is and why it’s like that. We look at the routine for check-in and make sure it’s speeding up, we also now offer drinks while the guests are waiting,” he tells Hotelier.
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