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Old 01-29-2013, 05:08 AM
 
Location: Tricity, PL
61,308 posts, read 86,209,732 times
Reputation: 131057

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Hotels profile/pry into guests' behavior - they're listening as you speak - logging every word, tracing every step. Staff members are trained to eavesdrop on conversations between guests to get to know them better.
They might look up incoming guests on Twitter, work-related sites and blogs, on Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, and other channels then draw up detailed profiles (photos included) to distribute to top-level managers. Some Google every guest two weeks prior to arrival. They want to know as much as possible about you: what you like and dislike, what you might buy or order, what to advertise to you. They want to know your tastes and desires, including unspoken ones.
Creepy, stalking or wonderful? Your opinion?

What your hotel knows about you - Travel Kit on NBCNews.com
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Old 01-29-2013, 09:09 AM
 
3,483 posts, read 9,389,064 times
Reputation: 2737
HA! I seriously doubt the Hampton Inns that my work puts me up at are that into customer service. I *wish* I were booked for business travel at prestigious hotels who would do such things.
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Old 01-29-2013, 09:13 AM
 
Location: apparently NeverLand
218 posts, read 481,892 times
Reputation: 319
I work at a nice hotel whose target market is traveling professionals, meeting coordinators, and meeting attendees. From what I know, we do not go to that much trouble to learn about our guests using social networks. However, you are right in that we are trained to "anticipate" our guests wants/needs.

Personally, I don't see a problem with it because when I'm staying a hotel I want to be taken care of and my needs met.
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Old 01-29-2013, 09:56 AM
 
Location: North Idaho
32,527 posts, read 47,585,883 times
Reputation: 77901
I've never stayed at any hotel that kept enough staff to assign someone to follow me around and eavesdrop on my conversations.

I have seen a little post card to fill out to let them know whether or not I was happy about the service.

OP must be staying in those $5,000 a night resorts.
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Old 01-29-2013, 11:52 AM
 
26,585 posts, read 61,874,587 times
Reputation: 13161
One of the hotels my husband and I have stayed at many times always remembers things like birthdays and anniversaries. They always leave a small gift with a handwritten note welcoming us back, mentioning that it's been "X" long since we were last there. When we call for a reservation, they always ask if we'd like a bottle of a Champagne we've ordered before placed in the room prior to our arrival.

There are always already extra pillows on the bed when we arrive to the room.

Their spa keeps records of the treatments I've had and suggests new services they are offering based on what I've had done in the past.

The concierge always contacts us a few weeks before we arrive to see if my husband would like a tee time or if we need dining reservations, and always mentions if there's been an ownership or chef change at the local restaurants we've dined at in the past. She also mentions various events happening in the area around the time we'll be visiting that are similar to things we've done in the past.

So they are definitely paying attention and keeping notes, but they don't seem to know anything we haven't told them in words or actions in the past.
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Old 01-30-2013, 05:11 AM
 
Location: Tucson/Nogales
23,113 posts, read 28,848,059 times
Reputation: 32450
Ah! That's what I like about traveling to Central America, or Mexico, staying in those cash-only 1 and 2-star motels!

You just sign a register, no ID asked for! And, to take a nice little vacation from thinking you're being spied upon while staying there, I give a false name!

But one of these days...............it's going to happen......................I'll write down the name of someone wanted by the FBI!

I just hope it doesn't happen in Tijuana, at my favorite motel, where they don't know my true identity after all these years!

A lot of foolish criminals head to Las Vegas hoping to they won't be found, but they find them all the time, as they make photo copies of their driver's licenses, which are picked up by the police during the night, and ran through the NCIC system! And on top of that, they have the car license tabs! Caught!
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Old 01-31-2013, 12:54 PM
 
Location: CHicago, United States
6,933 posts, read 8,466,386 times
Reputation: 3510
Quote:
Originally Posted by elnina View Post
Hotels profile/pry into guests' behavior - they're listening as you speak - logging every word, tracing every step. Staff members are trained to eavesdrop on conversations between guests to get to know them better.
Okay, if nobody else will make the offer ... send me your hat size and I'll forward a special-edition 'tin foil hat' for you to wear.
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Old 02-01-2013, 07:59 AM
 
Location: Colorado
4,306 posts, read 13,436,801 times
Reputation: 4476
I SO don't care about this
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Old 02-01-2013, 04:37 PM
 
Location: California Mountains
1,448 posts, read 3,040,921 times
Reputation: 2356
Quote:
Originally Posted by annerk View Post
One of the hotels my husband and I have stayed at many times always remembers things like birthdays and anniversaries. They always leave a small gift with a handwritten note welcoming us back, mentioning that it's been "X" long since we were last there. When we call for a reservation, they always ask if we'd like a bottle of a Champagne we've ordered before placed in the room prior to our arrival.

There are always already extra pillows on the bed when we arrive to the room.

Their spa keeps records of the treatments I've had and suggests new services they are offering based on what I've had done in the past.

The concierge always contacts us a few weeks before we arrive to see if my husband would like a tee time or if we need dining reservations, and always mentions if there's been an ownership or chef change at the local restaurants we've dined at in the past. She also mentions various events happening in the area around the time we'll be visiting that are similar to things we've done in the past.

So they are definitely paying attention and keeping notes, but they don't seem to know anything we haven't told them in words or actions in the past.
We have the same experience with a hotel in SF during the years when our discretionary income was abundant. It's a hotel in an international luxury boutique hotel chain, and the customer service was phenomenon.

A few examples of the service: They knew the suite we always booked and made every effort to have it available for our reservations even when we called up at the last minute. We could check in as early as 8:30 AM and checked out as late as 5:00 PM without extra charge. They always offered the hotel's Town Car to take us to the restaurant and airport without our asking.

When we had our wedding there, they did not charge us for the conference room in which the ceremony was held or the library in which the dinner was served, only the food for the wedding dinner and the tips for waitstaff. When the centerpiece arrived late, they did not charge for the flowers and instead, sent up a bottle of champagne -- the same very expensive champagne we brought (we did not order from them) for the wedding to apologize. They even drove our children and guests back to another hotel (the children and guests did not stay in the same hotel with us) after the ceremony was over. All as courtesy to us.

Eleven years after our last stay, I called up the hotel for information for an article I was writing. As soon as I gave out my husband's name, they immediately asked whether we were planning to visit them again, and informed me that the cost of "our" suite had changed tremendously, but they would be happy to extend a courtesy discount if we only gave them some advance notice. (We could not. Even with the discount, it's way over our budget now.)

Yes, they did keep information on us, and kept it for a long time after we ceased to frequent their hotel, but it's only to show us that they appreciated our patronage. Yes, they knew our anniversary only because we held our wedding there, but they didn't know anything else about us. I refuse to believe that hotel staffs are straining their ears to listen to the things I said to my husband. If they did, they should be paid a whole lot more than what they were making, for our conversations are often convoluted at best and inane at worst.

I also do not believe Martians are little green people either. Orange, maybe, but not green.

Last edited by Ol' Wanderer; 02-01-2013 at 04:52 PM..
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Old 02-01-2013, 07:29 PM
NCN
 
Location: NC/SC Border Patrol
21,663 posts, read 25,532,735 times
Reputation: 24367
We stay mostly in timeshares and I have noticed they always assign us a very new looking neat room. One time the person at the desk even mentioned that we are not messy people and always leave the timeshare in good condition so I gathered from that we have a record of some sort. I would really like to see the entire profile they have on us.
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