Making memories
Hotel Royal Chiaohsi was established 15 years ago as the first five-star hotel in Yilan County, and throughout, its staff have employed this Taiwanese-style approach to service, creating loyal customers who come back again and again.
If you stay there, you’ll almost certainly see Shen at the counter chatting with guests or setting tables and serving diners in the restaurant in the morning. He may be CEO, but he still likes to get in amongst the frontline staff and interact with the guests personally. Understanding what guests want and putting that into practice is at the core of the Hotel Royal approach to hospitality. Hotel Royal Chiaohsi’s motto is “Keen awareness, proactive response, constant learning, and eager engagement.”
“The best service is service that’s there right when you need it,” says Shen. In the hotel, the service staff encounter guests countless times each day, but finding opportunities to serve takes keen perception and observation, followed by a proactive response from the staff. For example, a staff member happened to overhear a conversation between a husband and wife as he passed by, with the wife saying she was feeling a little cold, so he doubled back and fetched a blanket to help her keep warm. And in our smartphone age, all the hotel’s counters lend out power banks and cables so that guests needn’t worry about staying charged up. Such are the ways the observations of service staff become a part of the hotel’s services.
A lot of guests come to the hotel for their birthday, to propose to their significant other, or to celebrate important anniversaries, and these are great chances for “eager engagement.” Shen wants to avoid hotel celebrations becoming rote, so he encourages the staff to inject a little of themselves into them. For example, he will personally write cards for guests to thank them for choosing Hotel Royal Chiaohsi for their big day and for making the hotel a part of their memories.
Details like this are what makes a hotel’s service culture. One guest, a housewife, once told Shen that it was because she felt taken care of at Hotel Royal Chiaohsi that she wanted to come back again and again. At home, she had to take care of a whole family, old and young alike, but at the hotel, she was the one being so thoughtfully cared for, and that experience left her profoundly moved.
“It’s like being in a little relationship with the guest,” says Shen. “We want every guest to think back positively on their time with us after they leave,” he continues, “and that’s the real value of the services we provide.”
The atmosphere and everyday elements of an old home give Old House Inn a homey feeling.
The atmosphere and everyday elements of an old home give Old House Inn a homey feeling.
In every little item and detail, Old House Inn is a space rich in stories.
Hotel Royal Chiaohsi creates beautiful memories for guests through downhome Taiwanese service.
Winston Shen, CEO of Hotel Royal Group, still takes time to get in amongst the frontline service staff and interact with guests to better understand their needs.
Hotel Royal Chiaohsi strives to make guests feel taken care of, inspiring them to come back time and again.
While the hotel industry is a highly standardized one, the personal touch—the hallmark of Taiwanese hospitality—provides a way to differentiate yourself from the crowd.