Most times it is worth making a complaint. However, at a Hotel I stayed at in Dorset the proprietor to this bed and breakfast establishment was clearly not interested in her guests. She made the mistake of placing two couples who did not know each other at a rather small table slightly larger than a whist table.
We arrived at the same time as the other couple and both gasped at this lack of courtesy  but since this was a one nighter and she showed very little interest in us I just wondered whether it was worth the effort and the aggravation of making a comment. I did however vent my fury on a TripAdvisor review.

I have written about this before some time ago but I think now is the time to revisit. This was occasioned by my recent trip to Bosworth Hall in the Midlands for a short holiday.

Not everything works all the time to the satisfaction of everybody. Lets take a hotel like the one I visited with accommodation for 200. We need staff to manage, clean, cook, maintain and supply all subject to vulnerability from illness and time off for many reasons which even the most careful planning cannot fully take care of.

We need suppliers to deliver food and services such as gas and electricity and we probably take these for granted because they are invisible to the casual glance. If one of these fails, this can result in a cascade of unfortunate events for which you cannot blame one person. If the transport of one of the waiters at breakfast breaks down, and if another is of sick, short staffing will occur and people will get less good service in the form of uncleared tables, unrefreshed buffets etc.

I say to any complainant, no one gives bad service deliberately so do not attack the manager or person you complain to as if they were the culprit. They are probably as much of victim as we are. Before going up to the reception desk before jumping in and make a complaint, watch from afar and see what is going on and under what pressure the people are under.

For example if in the previous 10 minutes they have had three requests that take time to process then their mind will be full of those and they will not give attention to you. So, if you see the receptionist typing away or making phone calls she’s probably trying to sort out a problem which could be quite important and you whether you like it or not are distracting them from dealing with the complaint.

Bad times to complain I would have thought are between 8:30 and 10 am when people are coming and going. You might get more consideration if you were to write an email to a hotel simply because they can concentrate on your matter and give it the attention it deserves.

When writing a letter of complaint remember to head your letter – incident – name the hotel – give the dates – give the room number if necessary. If I were you I would just state the basic facts and ask if there was any problem that you should be aware of. If you were subject to inconvenience than I think it is ‘a duty to self’ situation where you should state how you have been inconvenienced  in any consequential way.

Anyway, back to the hotel situation – When you get to speak to someone remember that receptionists learn very quickly to listen to the tone of your voice and if it is aggressive then the shutters will go up and the plastic smile will appear, and you may not get the service that you would like.

My suggestion is that you talk about a situation that has arisen rather than a failure of doing something here in other words talking the third person if you possibly can. Avoid confrontational language at any cost.

Example of how not to do it – someone has not made up my bed and the toilet is blocked.

Example of how to do it – is there any reason why room number xxxx has not been cleaned and by the way if the maintenance man is on duty is there any chance of him looking at our toilet that is blocked.

It doesn’t take much longer to say that and you minimize the risk of alienating the receptionist. If you go bring yourself to do it come on make some complementary comment about the hotel for example ‘I am enjoying my stay here’.

Another way of saying this that I’m not talking at someone I’m discussing with somebody.

Receptionists get blamed for everything that happens in the hotel so if it is a matter of food who would you complain to? I would suggest that the occasional mishap with food is unavoidable but if a comment to the waitress, and then to the supervisor, yields no result then a word with the reception desk who does have direct contact with the management would be a wise thing.

Do remember that hotels contract out some of the services so they cannot just wave a magic wand and make things right. Sometimes the management of the hotel are subservient to the management of the chain of hotels and they may well have complained about something and nothing has happened so in a way you are rubbing salt into the wound.

You could try saying, “I’m sure this has been mentioned before but do you think there’s any chance of having the door fixed as its making a banging noise when anyone opens it”.

from the management point of view I would think it wise to put out a notice of apology for any shortfalls just to preempt people whinging.

Due to a problem with a water pump, the Jacuzzi is not
working and we apologize for any inconvenience.

it is more believable when you say why a service is not being offered because sometimes an apology can sound a little bit lame. You could say, ‘due to lack of supplies the orange juice machine is not working’