Gold-standard service
A Horsham accommodation provider’s international recognition as a leading hotel service is acknowledgement of the business’s continual propensity to improve, its owner says.
Comfort Inn May Park won a ‘gold’ Choice Hotels award for its ‘customer service and exceptional guest experience’ among Choice Hotels across Australia and the Asia Pacific.
The award will advance the hotel to the parent brand’s Asia-pacific Hotel of the Year Awards in March, in light of its gold-level achievement.
Comfort Inn May Park owner Liz Dahlenburg said her team’s mantra was to provide a service they themselves expected if they were a guest.
“We operate with a continual improvement program here,” she said.
“We aim to provide guests with a service they deserve – and what they expect, too.
“The standard for our work is, ‘what would we want if it was us on the other side of the counter?’.”
Ms Dahlenburg and her team of eight staff manage 23 rooms at the May Park site.
The team also won Choice Hotel’s gold award in 2020.
Ms Dahlenburg said as Australians rediscovered domestic tourism after COVID-19 restriction easements, business at the hotel was ‘booming’, in part, because of Horsham’s central location to tourist ‘gems’ across the Wimmera.
“The Wimmera Machinery Field Days will be very busy for us, but even without the field days in 2022, that was our busiest March ever,” he said.
“There are so many gems in our backyard and people have realised they might not have to head overseas to discover diversity.
“The Silo Art Trail here is a bonus, and small things such as the laneway art in Horsham really does make the town a western Victorian destination.
“We have renovated several suites and installed an 80-panel rooftop solar system in consideration of our energy footprint.
“We have finished double-glazing our windows to reduce noise, energy consumption and to provide a comfortable internal room temperature. We are grateful that we have been recognised for what we love doing.”
Choice Hotels Asia Pacific chief executive Trent Fraser said regional destinations across the country had become a popular stop for travel-starved Australians and New Zealanders, and congratulated Ms Dahlenburg and her team on their award.