The Silk Road Lodge – our hotel in Bishkek

Technically, a tourist is someone who spends at least one night away from home.

That’s the lower limit.  There is an upper limit as well, but that tends to depends on who’s definition is being used.  One definition talks of someone travelling for up to a year, but more generally it seems to be up to six months.

It always used to amuse me that the definition used in Kyrgyzstan used the six month limit, but the Tourist Visa is only valid for a month … and although it was possible to extend this, there was a limit on that as well – twice.  So one legal document said a tourist should be understood as a person travelling away from home for up to six months, but another said not more than three!

Incidentally, there’s another aspect about a tourist that can lead to contradictions … the purpose why they are away from home.  Whereas one of the conditions of a tourist visa is that the traveler does not undertake any form of employment, there is no such distinction in the definition … Indeed Business Tourism, (when the traveler is still working and being paid, but they are doing so away from both their workplace and home), is one of the leading and most dynamically developing sectors of the industry … and it is often quoted as one of the priority areas that Kyrgyzstan wants to develop.

One of the most important decisions is where to spend that night, or those nights.

Sometimes that’s an easy decision … especially when returning somewhere.   It may mean returning to a hotel where one has stayed before, so there’s a sense of familiarity and comfort.

When visiting somewhere new, however, the decision is more difficult.  Fortunately we have a host of help and support available to aid us in making that decision.  Almost as good as personal experience is to learn from the experience of others … to seek out and receive recommendations and reviews from others and there is now a whole industry based on just this.

A recent survey suggested that over three quarters of the respondents usually, or always, consulted the reviews on an internet site before selecting a hotel – reading between half a dozen and a dozen individual comments, and looked at photographs posed by these “citizen reviewers”.

There are, however, several problems associated with these reviews which need to be borne in mind. 

At least with a personal recommendation from a relative, friend, colleague or acquaintance, the source of the information is known and it should be possible to put it into context.       With reviews, it is always important to remember that they are just one more source of information, but they shouldn’t be taken as “gospel”.

One of the more publicized problems is the question of authenticity (and hence reliability) of the reviews.  There have been stories of hotels “faking” the comments posted on the sites … either by writing posting the reviews themselves or by “soliciting” them by offering incentives like discounts for positive comments.

Let me be clear … I don’t think there is anything wrong with “soliciting” a positive review from a satisfied client – after all, as the old adage has it, “If satisfied – tell others … if not – tell us“, so asking clients to consider posting a positive review seems a valid thing to request … but “buying” a positive review with a discount or free meal seems a little more questionable … especially when it is part of a campaign and not simply a case of “I saw what you posted and wanted to say Thank You.”.

There have also been press reports of people posting unfair negative reviews … and even sometimes threatening to post one – as a ploy to gain an advantage – perhaps a discount.

Let me be clear: … perhaps the critical point here is “unfair negative reviews” … there’s nothing wrong with negative reviews, in themselves.  Indeed they can be helpful in pointing out deficiencies and giving the establishment the opportunity to respond, make amends and to learn in order to prevent a similar situation reoccurring … it would be helpful, however, if the complaint is referred to the management first … as the old adage has it: “If satisfied – tell others … if not – tell us“.

They are a “snapshot” in time and does not necessarily tell the full story … and should be seen as such.  Although it is said that every picture tells a story … the problem with a snapshot is that captures a a moment in time.  As a result we know only what is in the review – and any response the management offers, if there is one.

Not every comment gets a response … the management may have responded directly to the poster … or made a positive decision not to respond.  They may not even be aware of the comment – although I do check the main review sites to see what’s new, there are a whole host of others and in the past there have been several occasions when I have been surprised when someone has referred to a review somewhere that I didn’t know existed.  

Then there are advertisements … websites, dedicated pages on on-line travel agencies and hotel booking sites, … and so forth.   Although they are useful as “visiting cards”, platforms for telling potential guests that the hotel exists and what they have to offer … but, as advertisements, they are designed to attract attention and persuade the potential guest to choose this particular establishment emphasizing the advantages and merits which the management think will achieve that.

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Now, every guest is different … the things they look for in a hotel will also vary.

In some cases they look for status – for some people a five star rating is important; a recognizable name, being a part of an international chain … and so forth …;

In other cases, the location is important … city center, for example; proximity to a particular locale such as a railway station or an exhibition center; or in the country;

The facilities or services on offer … breakfast included in the cost of the accommodation; free airport transfers; free wifi internet access are often cited, but there is also availability of a fitness center; a business center; … perhaps non-smoking rooms; childcare facilities;  and so on … 

Then, of course, there’s the price.

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Sometimes, the attraction of a particular hotel might be some unique feature, for example it might model itself on a theme or – carved into a Swiss mountainside; or into ice in the Arctic; tree top cabins on the Savannah; straw huts on a sub-tropical beach; a salt mine; a former prison; a castle; … and so on.

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When it came to our hotel here in Bishkek, the Silk Road Lodge, we sat down and brainstormed what people wanted in a hotel … with two of our investors were international lawyers who did a lot of travelling as part of their work, (one spending more time on the road than at home), and several visitors, (both short term and long term), to Bishkek.

Several ideas came up … in addition to things like internet and phone access to the outside world; a good breakfast with plenty of choice; variety of cuisines (including healthy options) on the menu in the restaurant; reasonable sized rooms; coffee/tea making facilities; a usable fridge that is not packed full with minibar items for sale; an iron; a hairdryer; no “fees” or surcharges … and so on.

The most important thing, however, was “I want to be comfortable – to feel at home”.

That’s part of the reason why, for several years we used the slogans “Your Home Away From Home in Bishkek” … and “Your Home on the Great Silk Road“.

They didn’t want to feel that were staying in “Just another hotel“.

The Silk Road Lodge – Our hotel in Bishkek

A short while ago we did a short presentation of the hotel for a group of students following a Hotel Management course at one of Bishkek’s universities.

As I understood the request, the idea may simply to get them out of the classroom and into a real hotel … it wasn’t clear how many of them had been into a hotel before … so that they could have some framework which could help to put some of what they were learning in an academic situation into a practical context.

After the normal introductions and apologies for my Russian, there was a brief outline of the history of the hotel and how we worked.  We’ve been in business for over thirteen years and Bishkek is quite different now compared to the city in which the hotel opened back in August 2000.  Now, for example, there is a lot of competition and that means choice for our guests.  Those who want 5-star luxury – at 5-star prices – have hotels to meet their requirements whilst the tourist and budget traveler  also have a wide selection of accommodation to choose between.

What was it that guests looked for in a hotels?  and What helps them to decide which of the many hotels to patronize?  There are several factors which affect the answer which may alter form person to person, including: The price, The facilities, Advertising, Recommendations, Location … and sometimes something as basic as Availability, (no matter how attractive the hotel, if there are no rooms available on the requisite dates … then, sorry, it will be necessary to chose another hotel).

The conversation turned to the name – why did we choose the name “Silk Road Lodge“?   Although people may have seen photographs and read the text of descriptions, a list of facilities, and compared the prices – both with their budget and with other hotels – and the name should try and encapsulate the basic essence of the hotel.  So, what did we hope to convey with the name “Silk Road Lodge“?

The first part of the name, “Silk Road” is fairly obvious – I hope.  Bishkek lies on one of the branches of the ancient trading route.  Over the centuries this land has seen many, many travelers – and although the name Silk Road is usually associated with traders and merchants, those travelers also included Soldiers and Emissaries, Missionaries and scholars, Craftsmen and Artists, Explorers and Tourists … all sorts of people.

It took considerable time in order to travel the vast distances and involved much hardship and discomfiture and so the journey necessitate a different sort of patience and temperament than is required today.  These days, although the distances may be the same, the time taken is considerably less and in many places along the route facilities offer comfort and luxury that early travelers could only dream about.

As for the second part of the name, “Lodge“, as is often the case in English, the word has several meanings and can be either a noun or a verb.

Two of those meanings coincided in our planning for the hotel – one associated with providing accommodation or shelter, (such as a lodger staying with a family and renting rooms), and building providing that accommodation, (whether it be a small house at the entrance of a country mansion, a hut or tent as used by certain tribes of American Indians, or a house or cabin used occasionally – often providing accommodation for people involved in seasonal activities such as hunting or skiing).

In days gone by, for example, a King may have lived in a Palace, but when it came to going on a hunting party then he may have used a small hut or house in the woods as a base.  It may not have been a “palace fit for a king“, but it provided all that they needed for their temporary stay. Indeed, although some were very modest, others were much more elaborate.

I reminded them of the local tradition of having a Dacha in the country.  Here in Bishkek, on the outskirts of the city, there are several Dacha grounds where there are rows and rows of summer houses surrounded by gardens and orchards where the townspeople grow fruit and vegetables. In addition, there are a number of other Dachas around the country built as temporary residences for VIP visitors … akin to the hunting lodges used by Royalty and landed gentry.

In particular I reminded them of the two dachas that had been built for Leonid Brezhnev’s visits to Kyrgyzstan back in the 1960′s when he was General Secretary of the USSR.  The one, for example, up on Lake Issyk Kul is, unfortunately, a little run down – it’s basically just a shell.  There was a plan to renovate it but, as far as I am aware, nothing ever came of it.  It’s a small house by most standards … about six rooms for accommodation and official use, plus space for the security and services, set in a field just a short stroll from the beach.  Not exactly “a palace fit for a king”, (or perhaps that should have been “fit for a Tsar”), but “all the comforts of home” that a world leader might need for a few relaxing days by the lake.

That’s the sort of thing that we had in mind for the “Lodge” – not necessarily 5-star luxury but a comfortable “home away from home“, situated on the Great Silk Road, that the modern traveler might need for a few a days in Bishkek whether on holiday or for work.

The rooms are  spacious and airy, equipped with comfortable wooden beds, (either a single or King Size), built in wardrobes, split system air conditioners,  telephone with IDD and television with satellite channels, an armchair or couch, a desk as a workspace, a choice between wifi and cable internet access, a fridge and coffee/tea making facilities, an en-suite bathroom with a toilet, washbasin, bath/shower and hairdryer.

Included in the cost of the accommodation, we’ll arrange transport from the airport on arrival … and back on departure … breakfast and the use of saunas, indoor pool and exercise equipment and where necessary parking.

The only additional costs are for personal expenses such as telephone calls, laundry, other food and drink ordered from the restaurant or additional services ordered through the Business Center.

So, "What's your best price?"

We had an inquiry the other day from a client who wanted a single room in one of the hotels.  They had stayed with us before pm a previous visit to Kyrgyzstan and were about to pay a return visit and wrote to ask about availability and if we could give him our “best price”.

Now, I know that a lot of people use this phrase – especially in the modern world where “everything is considered to be negotiable” … but, personally, I hate it … for several reasons … but more about that later.

As it happens, on this occasion we don’t have a single room available for the duration of his visit, so the receptionist wrote back offering one of the rooms that was available – however, a it was a more expensive option … and more than he had paid on his previous visits.  It’s understandable that his response was: “I don’t need a more expensive room – I need a standard single.”

It’s also understandable, I hope, that we didn’t have one and, (short of actually building a new one just for him), were unlikely to have one unless there was a cancellation of one the existing bookings.  As he had stayed with us before and was, presumably a satisfied client – after all, he was thinking of returning to us, when I heard about the situation I said to the receptionist to explain that, unfortunately, we didn’t have a single room available – but could offer him an upgrade to the more expensive at the same cost – with a discount which would mean that the price would be the equivalent of what he had paid on his previous visits.

It seems that didn’t satisfy him … and he came back asking us to improve on the offer.

Fair enough – after all, “everything is considered to be negotiable” and although I am, personally, not very keen on bargaining and bartering, it is a way of life in many parts of the world.  I have a friend who says that he never pays the “asking price” for hotel accommodation … and considers this as just the opening shot in a bargaining process.

Hotels don’t help themselves in this respect … many have complex price structures with different rates which apply to different types of clients, the occupancy level at the time, the method of booking – a “walk in”, telephone enquiry, on line using a booking agent and so on), and the prices can change from one moment to the next.

On one occasion I walked into a hotel in Britain and asked for a room and was told: “I can offer you a room – the normal rate is X pounds, but today I can offer it to you at Y pounds.”  In a way it’s a “sure winner” of an approach.  The guest is impressed at the “saving” they are making, (although they aren’t actually saving anything), whilst the hotel gets another guest and is still making a profit.  I can’t help thinking, however, that this makes the published rate a “lie”.   If everyone gets a discount then what is the point of publishing “rack rates”  (the official published rates).

It also devalues the principle of a discount – offered as a reward, a “thank you” for choosing us, to frequent guests, “long stay” guests, booking agents who place their clients with us, … and so forth, or as a marketing ploy or special promotion.

It also means that two people may be paying pay different prices, (sometimes substantially different prices), for the same thing.  That seems to me fundamentally wrong, unless there is a valid reason – like a discount.

Whenever someone, (for example, a supermarket or cafe) offers me a discount card I usually reply that I don’t want a discount, I want good quality at reasonable prices.  If they give everyone a discount, (well, maybe not everyone, but to lots of people), then that implies that the published price is too high and as a result I am always tempted to take my business elsewhere.

Many hotels work on the basis of a considerable mark-up … three or four times the cost-price of providing the room for the night.  One reason for this is quite simple – as well as having to cover the variable costs, (the cost of laundry, cleaning and consumables provided for the guest’s use), there are also fixed costs that have to be met … even when the hotel is empty – and although we can make assumptions about the level of occupancy, (and hence calculate how much to include in the price to cover them), they are just that – assumptions – and if the hotel overestimates the level of occupancy they still have to raise the funds to pay these expenses.

This has an advantage in that it gives the hotel greater scope to offer discounts – and some can be quite deep discounts.  One of the first enquiries that we had when we opened the hotel was a journalist who said she was looking for a “Press discount” of 50%.  In reply I said that I was sorry but I couldn’t match that because our mark up wasn’t so great and it meant that we would be letting the room at a loss – (which, incidentally, is not allowed under the tax code).  In retrospect, perhaps I should have ignored the tax code … maybe we’d have got a good write up, although she didn’t give us a bad review – in fact, she didn’t actually mention us in her articles – but I am not sure that is ethical.

Another person, who runs a large booking agency, looked astonished when I told him the same thing.  ”You don’t compete on rack rates,” he told me … “but on discounts.”  That may be true generally, I said, but we weren’t intending to compete on price … we are too small and, as a result, don’t benefit from the economies of scale that are available to larger hotels … so we intended (and still intend) to compete on providing a level of service as a small and friendly hotel providing a homely atmosphere, responsiveness, good internet speeds and so on.

I have written another postcard about our pricing policy with respect to tour activities, so let me explain our approach in respect to the hotels.

When we opened, we set our prices by calculating what we thought it would cost us to provide the services to the guest, which, perhaps, was higher than might be possible in other establishments, factored in a profit margin which allowed us to grant discounts … and then calculated the taxes that would be be due.

Now, nobody likes paying taxes, but I was taken aback on one occasion when a guest asked me, “Cant we do something about these taxes?” … to which I replied, “Do you want me to break the law?”   Actually I think taxes are a necessary fact of life and not just a legal obligation.  When I am asked for my opinion I point out that they are part of the social contract … if I want roads to be built, schools and hospitals to be provided, the borders to be guarded and emergency services to be available to assist when necessary – for example, when my office is broken into – then I have to pay for those services and taxes are one way of doing so.

We then asked ourselves “if the market would bear that?”, that is, would potential guests be prepared to pay that price? – and we thought so, yes … as indeed proved to  be the case.

We do the same each year – taking into account rising prices due to inflation, changes in tax rates, new services and so forth … always asking ourselves what “the reaction of the market” is likely to be.  sometimes we have increased prices – sometimes we have left them alone for another year … and on some occasions we have actually reduced them.

I come back to the question, what does “your best price” mean?  Presumably it means “the cheapest price” that we are prepared to offer although some High Street stores seem to seem to use it to suggest the lowest price available anywhere: “If you can find cheaper then we’ll refund the difference.”

If that is their marketing strategy, and they honour it, then that’s their choice and I respect them for it – but it requires generating a large volume of business in order to do so … and that’s something that’s just not available to us.  We have a limited number of rooms and high overheads that we have to cover in order to deliver the service.  We set a price that we think is fair and reasonable and let’s us meet those expenses.

In the end, however, it’s a “buyer’s market” and if their chief criteria is finding the cheapest option available then that’s their choice – and I’ll respect that too.

As a hotel, the main rationale of the guesthouse is Naryn is to provide accommodation for guests. As a result our rooms are our greatest asset.

There is, actually, quite a story behind the rooms.  It’s a little complicated so I hope you’ll bear with me as I go through it.  IO think it will prove interesting.

As I said last week, the building was not “purpose built”.  It was a block of four apartments – two were what is called four roomed apartments and the other two were three roomed apartments – which we bought and renovated.

Here in Kyrgyzstan, the apartments are designated in a different way than back they would be back in Britain where we would count the number of bedrooms, “reception” rooms, kitchen and bathroom separately, whereas here they simply count the number of rooms, (apart, that is,  from the kitchen and bathroom).  So, the four roomed apartments could have been three bedrooms and a living room, or two bedrooms, a living room and, say, a study – or a nursery … or, (what do the Americans call it?) … a “den”.

So, we the four apartments and a total of fourteen rooms.  We designated one of them as a office and another as a Television Lounge.  That left twelve rooms which were designated as guest bedrooms.

If we had been designing a purpose built hotel, then the rooms would all have been of the same size, more or less, and we could have arranged for plumbing and other services for en-suite facilities.  As it was the rooms were all of different sizes and laid out in such a way that it wasn’t possible to incorporate such facilities.

So, instead, we gutted the kitchens, bathrooms and storage cupboards to create showers, toilets and wash basins.   We were able to establish ten of each … five on each of the two floors.

Because the rooms were all different shapes and sizes, we designated some of them as Twin rooms – with two single beds.  In others where there was sufficient space, we put three single beds so that they could be used as Triples.  In two of the smaller rooms we put Double beds …

 A Triple Room

Incidentally: those double beds have caused us all sorts of problems …

Until relatively recently such were not very common in Kyrgyzstan.  It’s hard to imagine this when so many hotels now provide King size, (or Queen size beds), and many of the furniture stores in Bishkek now sell them.

Most of the beds in Kyrgyzstan were, (are), what we in Britain would call “single beds”.  There were, (are), slightly wider beds, (sometimes called “one-and-half” beds)  and also collapsible divans were (are) used in homes in the same way as a Double Bed might be back in Britain.

These Double Rooms are available for “dual occupancy” – that is, they can accommodate two people – but there is only one bed.  It was, (is), not always clear when we receive reservations if the booking is for a Twin Room or a Double Room – just that it is Dual Occupancy.  I have met several occasions when this has presented a real problem.  Couples who have said that they will not, DEFINITELY NOT (!), share a double bed … and, much more embarrassing, the occasion when gave a honeymoon couple a Twin Room.

So, we had ten showers, ten washbasins and ten toilets available … for the guests in our twelve rooms.  On most occasions this proved to be more than adequate … but when the guesthouse was full it cold sometimes lead to a queue developing for the facilities.

However, as most of our guests, (at least during the summer season), were (are) tourists travelling the Great Silk Road between the Mysterious Orient, (for that read China), and the ancient cities of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan even if they weren’t traveling all the way to/from Europe.   As a result they spent one night in the guesthouse before moving on.

In Russian there is a word, (which, incidentally, I hate), pie-dyot, which basically means, “it’ll do”.  Well, although it wasn’t (isn’t) ideal … the arrangement of shared toilets, washbasins and showers “across the corridor” was an example of the pie-dyot.  It was a inconvenient … but sufficient for the purpose.

Not all our guests, however, were tourists, especially out of the summer season.  Some were businessmen or officials who stayed for longer than just one night.  So, we converted two of the larger rooms where there was easy access to plumbing and installed en-suite facilities.  We called them Executive Rooms, and they were (are) always in demand.

 An Executive Room

They are so popular in fact that we have decided that we really need to convert more of the rooms en-suite.  However, it is not going to be a simple task and I don’t think that it will be possible to convert all of the rooms.  Special arrangements will have to be made with regard to the plumbing … and it might take some time to complete.

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Now although twelve rooms makes us one of the largest lodging establishments in Naryn, able to take large tour groups, sometimes during the summer season, they are just not enough.  It’s not every day of the … but during the summer and autumn months, most of the tourists following the Great Silk Road try to cross the Torugart Pass into China on a Friday, (or if they are coming the other way), they try to cross the border on a Monday.  The reason is very simple … the largest city just over the border is Kashgar and there is a very lively very famous bazaar there every Sunday.  There is a problem, however, that the border post is closed on Saturdays and Sundays … so a traveler has to cross the border a weekday … and Friday and Monday are the most convenient on what is in all probability an already fairly lengthy itinerary, given the distances that have to be covered.

So, twice a week, (and sometimes on other days, too), we find that there is a demand for more rooms than we have available … and sometimes greater demand for rooms than can be found in the whole of Naryn.

As a result we decided to erect a number of yurts in the grounds of the guesthouse to act as supplementary, “overflow” accommodation – and also offer a cheaper option for “budget travelers”.

In traditional nomadic yurts, people normally sleep on mattresses laid on the ground, with odiyella, (duvets or eiderdowns), drawn up around them to keep warm in the cold nights.  Now, although we thought about this, knowing that some of our guests would be staying in the yurts not out of choice but simply as “overflow accommodation”, and they might well be of a certain age that “camping” didn’t appeal to them no matter how traditional – so we fitted them out with furniture, (wooden beds and simple chairs), as if they were simple rooms.  We had a concrete floor laid, and covered them with shyrdaks, (traditional felt carpets),  so that people wouldn’t be walking (or sleeping) on grass, together with electricity so that there was light and the possibility of providing heaters if the nights proved to be cold.

 One of the Yurts

Now, although our rooms, (and yurts), are the main aspect of our business … they are not not only aspect of our business.

We obviously have to provide other services, (food – breakfast, lunch and dinner; laundry; information, facilities for meetings and assistance in arranging transport or interpreters … and so forth) … but’s that’s another story for another time.

There is also one more little “quirk” that perhaps I should mention with respect to the rooms … and taxation(!) … but once again, that’s another story for another time.

The "Trust You" website

I subscribe to a number of email newsletters and the start my day always involves perusing them to see what is new.  There are newsletters from a number of news agencies, alerting me to stories of interest about events here in Kyrgyzstan as well as back home, about different aspects of running a business, (such as Personnel Management, Marketing, Health and Safety), about tourism developments in events in Tourism and the Hospitality industry … and various types of Trivia such as “what happened on this day in History”, or the daily Biography published by the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

On Friday, I was surprised that virtually all of the newsletters that cover the Hospitality industry contained references to a particular survey which was very interesting: Hotel Guests list their rants and raves for 2012, a study of over a million randomly selected comments written within the last year on over 200 sites such as review sites such as Tripadvisor, and social media such as Facebook, Google+, Twitter and Yelp.  It was so interesting that I thought I might refer to it in a postcard … I must confess, however, that I am a little confused about what I exactly I can quote from them and what is privileged and protected by copyright.

One of the articles, for example, said “This is an exclusive feature, reprints of this article in any shape or form without prior written approval …  is not permitted.”  It was a very short “Exclusive Feature” article with a few introductory paragraphs, two “Top Ten Lists” and three short paragraphs offering interpretations of the key results.  It did, however, include a link to the website of the organization who carried out the survey, (“TrustYou“), and so I went to have a look – after all they might have included a bit more detail.

Apparently, the company offer services, especially to those of us in the hospitality industry, in “reputation management” … for example, analysing comments on review sites and social media, but also offering on-line customer satisfaction surveys and other marketing tools.  Their team cover over twenty languages and they claim to have over 10,000 clients in more sixty countries – from large chains of outlets to individual hotels and some technology companies and destination marketing organizations.

The funny thing was that the Press Release on their website was marked as Copyright with “All rights reserved“, (which struck me as odd because, usually, large chunks of the text in a Press Release are often quoted verbatim in the media), but the blog post it linked to with slightly more information, (for example: featuring Top Twenty lists not Top Ten), was not.

Anyway, the interesting thing was that amongst the most common Rants, were complaints and comments about:

• unprofessional and incompetent service, (there was another category for “unfriendly service” and another catch all, “Bad service”);
• the rooms:
• the size of rooms (that is: too small – especially a small bathroom);
• noisy rooms;
• cleanliness, (that is, a dirty room … or a dirty bathroom);
• “old” rooms … but, to be honest, I didn’t understand that one
• the price level (i.e. they considered the accommodation to be overpriced – and an expensive breakfast got singled out for special attention);
• the food, (a poor breakfast in particular and later in the list there was “tasteless food”);
•  a “bad bed”, (I’m not sure if that means it was too hard … or too soft … or maybe too small …  or maybe with a lumpy mattress);
• a poor location, and there was a separate category for those that were remote or hard to find;
• no internet access, and
• bad parking.

Rants

Amongst the Raves, as might be expected,  were many of the opposites:

• Great service (friendly professional, efficient – strange that in the rant’s they were treated separately but in the Raves they were grouped together);
• the location;
• a “good room”, although, once again, I wasn’t sure what that meant, nor the “new room” mentioned further down the list … also listed in separate entries were
• a clean room or
• a large room
• a quiet room
• a good bathroom
• a good bed
• “great food” and in particular a “great breakfast”;
• a “good, affordable” price,
• a nice view
• a good pool
• free internet
• Good sauna and wellness facilities
• easy parking available – especially if was free parking and
• an efficient reception and
• a new hotel

Raves

Although the articles said that over a million comments had been reviewed … according to the figures given, these “top twenty” lists only referred to about six hundred thousand comments – just under a hundred thousand “Rants“ and just under half a million “Raves“.  Assuming that most of the reviews would have made more than one comment – it suggests that there were a lot of other comments about a range of other things …

Interestingly, however, the number of Raves far outnumbered the number of Rants … which seems to go against the old adage that “it is easier to criticize than to praise”.  In general there seemed to be about 4 raves to every rant …

In both cases, rants and raves, about a fifth of the comments referred to each:

• the level and quality of service,
• the rooms themselves and
• the food …

The other facilities didn’t receive that much attention although a good location and nice views were highly appreciated when it came to the raves.  Although the rooms came in for some considerable attention – about one fifth of the comments, the beds themselves only rated something like three percent of the comments.

One thing that surprised me in particular was that the internet didn’t attract as much attention as I would have anticipated given the amount of debate there has been on the question of hotel charges for internet access as opposed to “Free wi-fi” – There were just four percent of the comments on the topic of internet access and although they amounted to three percent of the rants, and just one percent of the raves, there were actually twice as many raves as rants.

Price was also not as contentious an issue as I had anticipated accounting for just four percent of the comments – and although the opinion that the accommodation was overpriced was the third highest ranking rant … these represented only a tenth of the comments considering that it represented a “good, affordable price”.

As is often the case, I am left with a lot of questions arising out of these reports … but the survey does give us considerable room for thought.   In brief:

• Rants outnumber Raves
• Service is as important as the rooms
• Food is important and not just an additional service – especially a good breakfast to start the day
• Other services and facilities may be valuable … but they do not seem to be as important as the “basics”, the accommodation itself, the quality and level of service and the food.

What do you think?

The theme of the article was about the confusing plethora of schemes that exist for the certification of enterprises and activities, which are supposed to give the concerned consumer reassurance and confidence that the service they receive will meet certain criteria.  Each of these competing schemes or programmes have their own criteria and systems and although there might be sense in cooperating and collaborating but, as the author points out, to many people involved in the different systems, this is an anathema.   Those who have invested considerable effort in creating schemes seem to have too much effort and emotion invested in them to consider collaboration.

The result is a confusing mishmash of competing schemes with no-one really sure which one to follow, if any, yet alone the significant differences between them all and what each of them actually certifies

The crucial word in the title, however, was “certification”.  The presence of such a document implies to the consumer that they can be reassured that there has been some form of inspection and some body has recognized and asserted that certain standards have been met, even if the consumer is not certain of the specific details.

This however, raises a whole host of questions … most of which, the average consumer won’t want to be bothered with, such as: who is the certifying body?, what are the criteria they use?, what are the procedures involved?

Even for those in the industry, (yet alone the consumer), choosing between the rival schemes can be difficult – yet alone whether or not to seek certification.  The process of being awarded certification involves effort and expense and, if it is not a compulsory requirement, there needs to be reason for expending the energy and incurring the expense.

Of course, some forms of certification have to be compulsory – especially for reasons of health and safety … we all, (not just the customer), want to be sure that hotels satisfy fire prevention, food preparation and hygiene requirements, for example, but of conformity to other “standards” are not normally subject to compulsory certification.  These help to differentiate companies and, ideally, should give them a commercial advantage … and for that they offer to offer the company a return on their investment whether it be time and effort or financial.

It may well be that the management of the company decides that it is a good thing to seek certification but then they face the task of choosing which system of certification to pursue.  One of the factors that they will take into account will be the public recognition of the competing systems.

Even if there is a growing awareness in the industry and amongst consumers of the issues of standards and the desirability of certification, there is no obvious “market leader” in this field.

Maybe that is fair enough.  After all, different companies in different countries face different circumstances.  Not all can be addressed in one single code.  What works well in England may not be appropriate in Kyrgyzstan.  The principles may well be the same, but the details, (and codes have a habit of very quickly descending into minute details), might well be at variance.

The article was concerned with certification systems for “sustainable tourism”, (whatever that means; it is a pretty nebulous and ill defined term which is not really understood by those in the industry, yet alone by the layman).  In place of the phrase you can put just about whatever you want in its place. The phrase could just as easily have been “hotel classification” or “customer service standards” or … well … you name it.

If you consider the question of hotel classification as an example, there is no universal definition of what makes a 5-star hotel.  Every country adopts its standard and its own method of awarding the classification.  In some countries it is the state that awards the necessary certification, but in Switzerland this task is undertaken by the Swiss Hotels Association.  In the UK there are several schemes, some operated by the tourism Development Boards which are quangos, (Quasi autonomous non-governmental organizations), and others are voluntary organizations such as the Royal Automobile Club and the Automobile Association, (although their schemes have now been merged).  In some countries there are also commercial organizations which undertake the task.  Each have their own criteria and procedures.

Despite that, there is a fairly general idea of what is meant when a hotel is described as a five star hotel.  It exudes a level of luxury, a range of facilities and a level of service.  (Some hotels, wanting to emphasize the level of luxury, facilities and service, have described themselves as six, or even seven, star hotels … but I am not aware of any widely recognized system which includes such categories.)

When we opened our hotels there was, technically, such a body here in Kyrgyzstan, but the system didn’t work well and hotels described themselves as 3-star, 4-star or whatever, as they felt fit.

Since then, Kyrgyzstan has developed a new system of standards for certificating and classifying hotels.  In drawing up the scheme, the previous system that had been used in the former Soviet Union was considered along with experiences of a number of European countries and the changing world – technology, facilities and so forth.  So, Kyrgyzstan has its own system which will differ in some respects from those operated in other countries, although the general level of luxury, facilities and service should be more or less comparable.

When we were discussing the classification standards for Kyrgyzstan, we made a point of making the system a voluntary one.  There were many people who thought that it should be compulsory but I, for one, am uneasy with this.  I think, for example, that it opens the door to corrupt practices and that there needs to be strong reasons for any system to be made compulsory.  Health and Safety provide good reasons for compulsion, whereas the classification of establishments seems, (to me at least), to be a poor reason.

It is important to remember that absence of the certificate or classification does not necessarily mean that the accommodation, firm or enterprise, does not meet the standards underlying the certificate.  Accommodation that doesn’t carry this or that accreditation may still meet, (or even exceed), the relevant criteria, but for one reason or another, the management have not received this particular document.

However, when it came to developing a set of standards for the Kyrgyz Community Based Tourism Association, (KCBTA), to classify their homestays and yurt accommodation, the traditional systems didn’t apply too well.  The type and scale of the operations in a homestay just aren’t the same as those of a hotel.  In the remote villages of Kyrgyzstan, for example, often there isn’t a centralized sewage system with each house having a “pit toilet” in the grounds of the house – so en-suite facilities are rarely possible and the provision of telephones and television in every guest room are impractical requirements.

The English Tourist Board used to operate a system of awarding crowns as opposed to stars and they overcame this problem by adopting a flexible scheme which took into account the size of an establishment which meant that a small family run guest house could still be awarded the same certificate as a much larger establishment if it met sufficient of the criteria.

KCBTA looked at a number of different schemes around the world, including one from Wales, and developed their own system of classification for awarding a badge of accreditation: the Edelweiss with categories of one, two and three edelweiss.  It takes into account the actual situation in the villages, and lays down specific minimum requirements for hosts offering homestay or yurt accommodation through the Association to meet.  If they don’t meet these criteria then they don’t get certified and cannot work through the Association, although, of course, there is nothing to stop them working independently as many homestays and yurt camps do, especially where there is no local CBT group.

This means that the KCBTA system is a compulsory scheme … in that if the host wishes to work with the Association then they need to meet the criteria laid down in the scheme.  he scheme is not simply a system of guideline or a list of best practices. KCBTA accreditation offers the consumer the reassurance that someone has looked at the establishment and is satisfied that it meets certain criteria to merit a classification and it also protects the interests of the other members by helping to preserve their collective name and reputation.

However, it is an internal membership document and is an internal requirement of the Association; it is not compulsory on others who are not members.  If a host wants the benefit of working within the Association then they have to comply, but there is nothing to stop them offering their services to clients independently of the Association if they so wish.

Although there is a growing awareness amongst tourists of the desirability of standards and certification, it is not universal.  Many people don’t consider the question at all whilst others simply want to be reassured that the service provider is acting in a reasonable and responsible manner.  (That somewhat begs the question: Is the presence of a certificate necessary to demonstrate this?)

One way out of this dilemma might be for every company to issue a statement or policy of its own.  After all, many, (nay, most, if not all), companies have policies and standards.  There are many examples of such declarative standards, for example, an organization’s statement of levels of customer service that it expects of its employees or a code of practice which they try to adhere to in their business dealings.

This solution, of course, has some drawbacks, (it means, for example, there will be even more potential confusion between competing standards; comparison between companies will be more difficult and there will be no independent verification or guarantee to support and back the statement up), but it should have the advantage that companies will be committed to what they themselves have declared as their policy.

A major advantage of this approach, it seems to me, is that the company would have “ownership” of the document which would reflect their particular circumstances and not what some administrator sitting in an office far away thinks is desirable.

During the week, for example, I came across another one with an interesting title that caught my attention: “9 of the most unusual hotels and hostels in the world”.  The list included a hotel comprising circular cone roofed houses in Italy; a cave; tree houses reminiscent of Tarzan films and many American “coming of age” films; a former jailhouse; hotels made from a Jumbo Jet, a railway carriages and another on a floating barge.

Now, it was an advertising piece for a hostel booking site.  As a commercial outfit, the places listed in the post were run by their clients, (or business partners), and it was possible to book a night’s accommodation, (or longer), in each of the featured establishments though the website.  That helped to explain their choice, and perhaps more importantly why some of the potential contenders had been omitted: the Ice hotel in Sweden where rooms are carved out of the ice each winter; the secret police prison in Czechoslovakia; the “cubicle” hotels that seem to be sprouting up in many of the world’s airports … and so on.

You may have noticed that although the piece was headlined “9 of the most unusual hotels and hostels in the world” but I only listed eight of them … the ninth in the list was a “ranch” in Mongolia where the rooms were gers, or yurts.

If the list included Mongolian gers, it occurred to me, then it could just as easily have featured one of the many yurt encampments around Kyrgyzstan.   Unlike the Mongolian “ranch”, in Kyrgyzstan these encampments, (or “yurt inns”), are usually provided by shepherds who have migrated with their flocks to the high mountain meadows, (the jailoo), for the summer pastures.   Although some may have actual beds, most involve sleeping on stuffed “mattresses” laid on the ground.

Although yurt stays are a feature of Kyrgyzstan, sometimes highlighted as one the “highlights” the country has to offer, in fact Kyrgyzstan has a considerable range of styles accommodation available … and the range is constantly growing. It is possible to find something for almost everyone … and for almost every pocket.

There are, however, a few catches (… aren’t there always?).

It has to be said, for example, that the standard and quality of accommodation may vary from place to place throughout the country … and not simply based on the price.  In some of the more remote regions of the country there may be little choice with only homestays available.  In others, there may be a choice between several guesthouses and small hotels.

A lot of the available accommodation in the country is basic.  That is not to say sub-standard … but the international traveler who is used to “home comforts” may find the level of facilities less than they are used to.    At the moment, for example, very few hotels have any official “star” rating.  If a client insists on 4 or 5-star accommodation, then the choices are limited to a few hotels in Bishkek – and perhaps a few places around Lake Issyk Kul.

Things are, however, improving and I have noticed a considerable change in my time here, not only with regard to the facilities available, but also to the levels of service.

As well as new hotels being established in the capital, Bishkek, and the traditional tourist destinations around Lake Issyk Kul, there are appearing in other places around the country such as Djalal Abad, where the newly constructed Rosa Park hotel has just opened.   Considerable renovation work has been undertaken at many of the hotels, resorts, sanatoria, etc. throughout the country – with both large and small developments.  In short, there is considerable investment being made – and planned for the future – in improving the “hotel stock” in the country.

Whereas, when I first came here almost seventeen years ago, levels of service were also basic, with a prevailing attitude of “take it or leave it”, but today a customer orientated approach is much more prevalent.  Of course, there is room for improvement – but that is always the case anywhere in the world – after all, nobody’s perfect.

Although we at Celestial Mountains have our own accommodation in Bishkek and Naryn, we use a number of different options for our clients depending on their interests and budget.  Some, for example, ask us to book rooms for them in the Hyatt whilst others want to stay in a small family run guesthouse.  Some independent “budget travelers” want to stay in one of the private hostels.  When it comes to travelling around the country, depending upon how long a tour is, and the places to be visited on the chosen itinerary, we usually recommend tourists to broaden their experience of the country by staying in a variety of different types of accommodation during their visit …  for example, (and these are only suggestions):

• A hotel in Bishkek;
• A Sanatoria / Resort on the shores of Lake Issyk Kul
• A Guest house in Karakol
• A homestay in Kochkor
• A yurt in Son Kul

They use their search engine to monitor new pages posted on the internet and send an email when they find new results, (such as web pages, newspaper articles, or blog entries), that match the search term.

For general queries like “Kyrgyzstan”, the email is a summary of the new results which have appeared every day.  For specific topics, like “Silk Road Lodge”, there might not be an email every day, but whenever something new and relevant is published.

I have subscribed for a number of alerts to be sent to me.   Some keep me up to date with breaking news stories, (for example: about Kyrgyzstan” or “Kyrgyzstan Tourism”), whilst others are more specific, (for example: about “Celestial Mountains” or “Silk Road Lodge”), which helps alert me to what might be being said about us on the internet.

Most of the entries are pretty predictable but, just occasionally, I get a surprise.  For example, here’s one that I received the other day:

Intrigued, I clicked on the link and found that someone had posted a short clip about the hotel on youtube.   The clip lasts for just over a minute and consists of a slideshow of photos with a soundtrack of jazz music.  The place under the clip where the poster to place some commentary stated: “no description available“.  The clip finishes with the caption “Waiting for you in our comfortable hotel“.

That took me by surprise … as no-one connected with the hotel seemed to know anything about it.  I wondered, Who had posted the clip?  The user name for the person who posted the clip on the site was: nastena65.  I have no idea who nastena65 is … but a little bit of investigation suggests that it was a piece of coursework undertaken by a student on an information technology course.   Nastena65 has posted 3 clips so far, including this one.  One of the other two feature a couple of students speaking to the camera, in Russian, about a course that they are on; expressing their hopes and aspirations for what they hope to gain from the course.  The other shows another young girl speaking to camera, but this time in English.

This looks to me like the result of an exercise where the student would have to prepare a short clip which could advertise a business, (such as a shop, or hotel).   I remember that, as a teacher of Information Technology, we would often set students similar such tasks using such skills and IT tools that we had explored in previous lessons..

Usually, however, they stayed within the classroom.   We would consider the work and then assign a grade which would be duly recorded in the markbook and may well count towards a final course grade.  In this case, however, they have gone one step further and actually posted it onto the internet.

I don’t want to “rain of their parade”, but it might have a good idea if they had consulted us first.  Although I was happy to see this clip, I would have been happy to give a comment – that always went down well when I was marking such exercises.  For example, I might have noted that I am not sure where they got the photos they used and that although some of them are recent, others are clearly a few years old.  I would have been happy to provide some others, and then some comment would be possible about the ones they had chosen to include, and the ones they had chosen to leave out.

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For the record, here is the clip:

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NhVUrLDarg.

When Victor Rehemyae showed us his 3D spherical panoramas, I was impressed as it seemed to me that they helped to give a much impression … including “warts and all”, as Oliver Cromwell is reported to have said to the painter when he sat for his portrait.

So, at the end of last month we decided to take Victor with us on our regular monthly visit to Naryn and he took a number of panoramas … which we have already loaded up to www.see.kg, will load up onto the guesthouse website, (www.cmgh.kg), shortly and which I am happy to present them here.

I hope they give you a good feel for the place.

Here is the outside of the guesthouse:

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… and here is the guesthouse at night:

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… The entrance hall and stairway, (the picture of the woman in the red dress is a depiction of Kanakei, the wife of Manas, the legendary hero of the Kyrgyz – in Chiy) :

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… This is a view of one of the two “Executive” rooms, which have en-suite toilet and shower facilities.  There is also a television with a satellite receiver and video cassette player and two armchairs.  One of the Executive rooms has a double bed, whilst the other has two single beds:

.A “Triple” room, with three single beds:

… The Dining Room where meals are served:

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… inside one of the yuts.  These are usually erected in the grounds of the guesthouse in Spring to provide additional accommodation throughout the summer months.  Unlike  in traditional Kyrgyz yurts, we have provided wooden beds instead of asking guests to sleep on mats, on the floor:

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Now, the next step is to get some panoramas of the Silk Road Lodge in Bishkek..

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The internet has become an important part of our daily lives, checking emails, and social networking sites, checking the news and following stories that are of interest, researching topics for study and work … and, of course, entertainment.  I know that when we loose internet access, for whatever reason, it causes me considerable strain and anxiety.  I can well understand why travelers away from home want and feel that they need access to the world wide web.

Having said that, only something like a third of our guests in Bishkek actually use the internet whislt they are with us, and in Naryn very few people ask to use it.

There are many people who seem to have come to expect that this access should be freely available and, in particular, that hotels should provide wi-fi services for free.  Personally I am not sure that I see the case for this.  Guests don’t expect for telephone calls or drinks in the minibar to be provided for free … or do they?  If not, then why should internet access be provided, (wi-fi or otherwise), for free?

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There are two issues: 1) wi-fi as opposed to landline and 2) the cost of the service.

First of all I suppose that we have to acknowledge that the situation is not the same the world over.  In places like Korea and Hong Kong, wireless access to the internet is found throughout the country.  In America, however, there are many places where even broadband is not available.  Indeed, I was watching an item on CNN about this just last night and I have seen several news reports that Kyrgyzstan, generally, has better speeds than are available in the US. (a lot depends on the tariff one chooses to pay).  Here in Kyrgyzstan, with its mountainous terrain, wi-fi certainly isn’t available everywhere.  Each enterprise which wants wireless access has to provide it itself.  That’s no big deal in itself in that the equipment is not that expensive, but the quality of service is an issue, speed and integrity of signal, still has to be addressed.  We, for example, spent a long time a couple of years ago in trying to establish a wireless network in our hotel in Bishkek, and it took us quite a while to iron out the technical difficulties so that we could feel confident that we could offer guests a quick and reliable service.  We still offer landline connections in rooms which is sometimes more reliable.

Once the wi-fi provision is established, then there is still the question of access to an Internet Provider service.  This is not provided for free.  It costs.  Typically, here in Kyrgyzstan, there are traffic charges and limits on the amount of the amount of traffic which trigger additional payments and fees if they are exceeded.  My friends from the West, and even from Moscow, are astounded when they hear how much we are charged for internet access, just as I am astounded when I hear how cheap it is for them.  Although, to be fair, those prices are coming down.

What’s more, you might be surprised how many people choose, for example, to download films, which quickly leads to the additional charges being levied.

I have to admit that it is possible to get access with tariffs that offer unlimited traffic, but they tend to be even more expensive, especially for the higher speeds which we would need to offer in the hotel, especially if we have a large number of users logged on at any one time.  We have had times, (during our two revolutions, for example,) when the guests in virtually every room were journalists and in dire need of fast and reliable internet access.

The cost of providing that fast and reliable access is not insignificant, and it has to be met.  As they say, “There’s no such thing as a ‘free lunch’”, and the costs have to be covered somehow.   The only way to do this is to, either hide the charges in the room rate, or for the hotelier to pay it as an administrative expense.  If the cost is within manageable proportions, then the management might well decide to cover the cost themselves and offer the service for free, but if not then they have to charge for it one way or another.  If they do not charge individuals for their actual use, then that means charging everybody whether or not they use service.  I am not sure that this is fair.

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One reason why a hotelier might decide to offer a free service, of course, is to provide an additional service for guests so as to get a competitive advantage over other establishments in the neighbourhood.   That’s why some cafés in Bishkek have chosen to offer free wi-fi access … to draw in the customers.  I am not sure how well it works in practice, however, as I have seen several people sitting, nursing a cup of Cappuccino and occupying a table for an hour or more whilst they surf.  I’m not sure that is good business for the café owner.

Certainly, if it’s at a reasonable cost, then this form of marketing ploy makes sense.

Consider Breakfast, for example.  If there is no such thing as a ‘free lunch’, then, likewise, there is no such thing as a ‘free breakfast’ and the cost is often included in the room rate.  It’s an interesting question, however, whether it is fair for breakfast be included in the price of the accommodation?  Although most of our guests do partake in breakfast, not everyone does and indeed, not everyone eats breakfast as a matter of course … I, for example, tend to have just a cup of coffee and if I eat anything at all it will be just a piece of toast with some Marmite.  Some guests have to leave early in order to catch a flight and so have to depart from the hotel before breakfast is served.  Why should they pay for a breakfast that they don’t eat?  As a result, when we opened the hotel, we originally charged separately for breakfast.  Those that had breakfast paid, those that didn’t avail themselves of the possibility, didn’t.  That seemed fair.  It was the customer’s choice … to have breakfast or not.

We got a lot of comments from people, however, that they didn’t like this arrangement, as they saw Breakfast as part and parcel of a night’s stay.  It was also true that this system caused us additional work and accounting.  So, we listened to what we were being told, and we decided to include the price of breakfast into the room rate.  For those who had to leave early, (for example, to catch an early morning flight, or to start a tour), and wouldn’t be able to eat breakfast in the dining room, we offered the possibility of having Breakfast delivered to their room as room service, (at no cost), or having a “packed breakfast” provided which they could take with them.

In this case, the costs were such that we couldn’t “swallow” them, (no pun intended), and so the cost of breakfast was included in the cost of the accommodation which was duly increased to make sure that we covered our costs.

To take another example, consider the use of the hotel saunas.  We had two of these built into the hotel as a feature, and charged a fee for their use when guests chose to use them.  Despite the fee, they proved to be quite popular.  On the other hand, the authorities decided in a crackdown on “unofficial saunas” in the shadow economy, to change the way that they were taxed.  All owners of saunas which were hired out to members of the public were required to take out special “patents” and pay the appropriate fee.  I have no problem with that, except that we weren’t operating a sauna as our main source of income.  They were part of a complex of services which we offered as part of our main activity … running a hotel.  The income from the saunas was included in our reports and the taxes paid.   The calculations on which the fees were based assumed that the sauna was the sole operation and, even though the saunas were quite popular, the fees were more than we were receiving from guests.  We were given a choice: purchase the patent or close the sauna.  We obviously didn’t want to lose the facility and so we chose a third option, to the chagrin of the tax authorities.  When we looked at the calculations, we decided that the cost of operating the saunas was not excessive and that we could afford to cover it as an administrative expense and so they were offered to guests as a complimentary service.

To be fair, given a choice between complimentary saunas and internet access, personally, I would prefer free internet access.  Remember, I am also a client at times and I do understand the feelings However, it’s not an either/or choice.  We felt that we could offer the use of the saunas as a complimentary service, but have problems when it comes to offering complimentary internet access as one.

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We faced a similar issue when it came to providing transfers to and from Manas airport on arrival and departure.  Of course, we could charge for these but we offer them as a complimentary service to our guests and we were the first hotel in Bishkek to do so.  Many of our guests do arrive and depart through the airport and most, but not all, of the flights are timetabled in the early hours of the morning and having to cope with arranging taxis at these times is not the easiest or most desirable tasks for travelers.  As it happens, we employ a driver for other reasons, and it was the case that they were normally under employed at these times.  When we did the calculations it appeared that although it would cost us something to offer a transfer service, it would not be excessive and we felt that we could afford to meet this as an administrative expense.

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When we consider the cost of providing internet access, however, the costs are not insignificant and, (as a result of the limits on traffic), are open ended.  As a result we felt that we couldn’t meet the costs ourselves and so have to cover the cost by charging clients.

Unlike the situation with Breakfast, where virtually everyone takes breakfast, (apart from when we have a lot of international journalists covering a revolution), only about a third of our guests currently use the internet, so it seems unfair to spread this across all guests by including it in the room rate.  Hence we decided to charge a separate fee.

It is important, of course, that the charges are fair and reasonable.  One of the complaints that I hear over and over again, about hotels all around the world, is about the exorbitant level of those charges.  We take the view that our main business is providing accommodation and the other features of the hotel are services for the guests.  Where we feel that we can meet the cost of those services from our own resources, (such as in the case of the saunas and airport transfers), then we do so, but where we consider that the cost is too great or unpredictable, then we levy a fee.  Although it would be nice for these services to raise a profit, the most important thing to us is that, where we do feel that we have to levy a fee. that any fees should cover the costs incurred in providing the service, (oh, and yes … also the taxes that are payable).

Now, as it happens, because new tariffs are being introduced and the costs of providing internet access are actually falling, we have been able to take a fresh look at the fees we charge and we have decided that, whilst maintaining the existing quality, (signal strength and speed), that we are going to be able to reduce the fees that we charge.

I know that this won’t satisfy everyone who thinks that internet access is a “basic human right” and should be freely available on demand, but I feel that it’s the best that we can offer at the moment.  I agree, of course, that it would be nice to be able to offer “free” internet access and I hope that one day we will be able to do so and, in the meantime, we will keep the situation under review to see if and when it will be possible.