I’m a hotel manager in London – here’s how I moved the property up in the Tripadvisor rankings from 272nd to FIFTH

Unreliable lifts, noisy and inadequate air conditioning, insufficient seating for breakfast and queues at check-in.

These were the kinds of complaints guests were directed against Royal Lancaster London hotel when it was ranked 272nd Tripadvisor in 2013.

But then, in that year, Sally Beck took over as manager and everything changed. Now ranked fifth in the UK capital, it has almost universally glowing reviews – of the 2,226 posted on Tripadvisor, 90 per cent (2,015) are five-star, 160 are four-star and just 16 (0.72 per cent) rate the hotel as a one-star experience.

So, we asked Sally, what has changed? A lot, it seems.

Here, Sally reveals some of the secrets behind the Hyde Park hotel’s meteoric rise in the Tripadvisor rankings, from its ‘no blame’ staff culture to an unwavering commitment to listening and reading complaints.

But undoubtedly Sally herself is one of the main reasons for the change in Royal Lancaster London‘s Tripadvisor fortune.

The 58-year-old explains that she has been in hospitality all her life, born in Wells in Somerset where her parents ran the Red Lion Pub.

She continues: ‘I am a publican’s daughter and come from a long line of publicans and hoteliers. I didn’t live in a house until I was about 15 years old.

‘When I was 18 months old we moved to Caenby Corner in Lincolnshire where we ran the Moncks Arms before moving to The Berkeley Hotel in Scunthorpe when I was seven. We then lived around Scunthorpe and managed various pubs, hotels and restaurants until I went to college in nearby Grimsby – Grimsby Tech College, studying hotel, catering and institutional management. I then started my first job as a trainee manager at The Dormy in Ferndown, Dorset.’

Fast forward to 2013 and Sally was in charge of the 411-room Royal Lancaster London and its reputation as merely a not-bad five-star property.

The main problem? The product.

Sally explains: ‘When we were 272nd we were happy that we were no more than 300. We were about to start a long-awaited renovation – new elevators, air conditioning, plumbing and so on, and the hotel was very tired. However, our staff’s feedback has always been good. Our product has failed us.’

Is there a strategy put in place specifically to improve the hotel’s Tripadvisor ranking?

“Yes,” said Sally. ‘We firmly believe that guest feedback is the lifeblood of our business.’

Sally reveals that the renovations were completed in 2018, with the hotel rising to around 60 in the rankings at the time thanks to ‘guest service efforts’ and a new work culture.

First, ‘surprise and delight events’ were introduced – extra touches to the guest experience added to special occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries and graduations.

A ‘Guest of the Day’ concept saw team members pick a guest and ‘spoil them beyond expectations’, and public mentions of endearing staff behavior began to be ‘publicly shared and celebrated’.

Sally explains: ‘Staff do get reward points for any mention, but the biggest impact is a personal well done and congratulations from us.’

The ‘glitch culture’ was also reinforced – so any guest ‘glitches’ with their experience, where expectations were not met, began to be ‘recorded and discussed’.

Sally reveals: ‘Any constructive feedback is taken seriously, learning or training opportunities are highlighted, discussed and followed up in a non-threatening manner. Our only focus is to get better, never to punish anyone.’

This ban on ‘blame culture’ has paid off.

Sally explains: ‘We prefer confident team members who can look the guests in the eye and fix (issues) for them. By not having a blame culture, they are confident that they will be supported in their decision to make happy guests.

‘Our team is trained and encouraged to spot the difference between a good stay and a great stay, and know how to ask open-ended questions with genuine care and attention to proactively dig deeper where things aren’t quite meeting guests’ expectations didn’t have And they are empowered to fix it: small issue, generous repair.’

Other initiatives included small gifts on departure, at the team’s discretion, and a ‘general culture of treating each other and our guests as we would want to be treated ourselves’.

Have the customers noticed the changes over the years?

Sally says, ‘Definitely. Our repeat business has increased exponentially and we have managed to win more and more corporate business as well as leisure guests.

‘Our suite business has increased and our entire team is invested in our results and feels proud and involved when they turn a guest issue into a good review.

‘It’s a big part of our everyday business to see our reviews and where we sit and how well we’re doing in making our guests happy.’

Sally assumes that not paying attention to reviews is a common mistake among less successful hotels.

She believes that these properties ‘underestimate how many people look at reviews before making their hotel decision’, adding that another mistake is ‘not responding to reviews – good or bad’.

“The public can clearly see which hotels really care about their stay and experience versus those who clearly don’t,” notes Sally.

However, the hotelier emphasizes how important her employees are.

She says: ‘The commitment and passion of our team members is at the heart of everything we do. At Royal Lancaster London, we value every interaction with our guests, from the pre-stay phase to during the stay and even after guests have checked out. We treat our guests like family, from the bottom of our hearts, to ensure that our hotel becomes a true home away from home.

‘One of my key missions is to make our hotel the happiest in London, and I believe we have made significant progress towards this goal. Proof of our success is our outstanding retention rate of 23 per cent in the last financial year – a true reflection of the happiness and loyalty we cultivate among our team and our guests.

‘Our team turnover is so low – and I know our entire team is invested in our commitment to making guests happy.

‘I think guests are surprised by the personal attention they receive when our team greets them and aim to surprise and delight them with every interaction during their stay.’

Was Sally surprised by the hotel’s ranking joy?

She says: ‘We really didn’t think we would go beyond the top 50, then we went to the top 30, then the top 20, then the top 10 and we traded in the top five last year.’

Tripadvisor has also noted the hotel’s success, telling MailOnline: ‘Tripadvisor’s popularity index is based on real traveler feedback and takes into account factors such as recency, quantity and quality of reviews, as well as the consistency of ratings over time. The Royal Lancaster London’s rise in the rankings is testament to the excellent customer experience they have delivered over the years.

‘This year the hotel was named one of the top hotels in the world, according to Tripadvisor reviewers, as part of our Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best Hotel Awards, placing it in the top one per cent of properties listed on the site worldwide . . Guests were particularly taken by the lovely staff, great location and views over Hyde Park – and the property was named 17th in our 2024 list of Best of the best pet friendly hotels.’