How to change a bad reputation

But Graduate also had a rather tricky situation on its hands. The hotel's more-than 150 rooms were in desperate need of an upgrade, the white tableclothed restaurant needed modernising to suit today's dining styles, and its reputation had taken something of a dive. Locals were often disappointed by dinner or afternoon teas, and visitors from afar reported slow service at breakfast and overpriced, scruffy bedrooms.

There was a lot to contend with when Graduate Hotels signed the deal to become the Randolph's new proprietors, but after almost a year behind closed doors, the hotel has reopened to a much better reception – literally and figuratively – and reviews are now largely positive. But how did they make it happen?

Know your customer

"There are four key topics that need to be taken into consideration when taking over a property or putting it under new management," says Emanuel Schreiner, founder of RVS Hotel Consulting, a company that has helped make major changes to properties for brands like Cheval Blanc Hotels by LVMH and the Nautilus Maldives. "The first is hardware. You need to visually change elements and update it a bit. And that of course needs to be in line with new trends, but also with the heritage of the place.

"You need to know your customers. That's the most important thing: you need to have an ear with the customer to find out what they want for the future. And that brings the second element into play: you need to be aware of what customers want. How do you position yourself? What is on the market already?"

Graduate did exactly that with the Randolph. Working with the heritage officers at the local authority, they sensitively but drastically updated the hotel, refreshing its formerly fusty interiors to a contemporary version of Victorian Gothic. The restaurant was completely refurbished, its original architectural features were highlighted with bold paints, and printed wallpapers and carpets brought life to otherwise drab bedrooms. Knowing its position in the market as the city's largest and most famous five-star hotel, they brought its physical features and facilities in line with what its customers expected. But that was the easy part, says general manager Philip Lewis. "The Randolph has such a strong brand of its own, I think people will always come and use it, so for us, from day one, it was all about getting that consistency right." This, Schreiner says, is the third thing: "Hospitality is the people's business. It's very important that the human interaction is very streamlined, and in line with the positioning and the branding of the hotel."

While the Randolph was closed for almost a year during its renovation, staff received new training to bring the standard of service up to scratch, but it was in the restaurant where the hotel made its biggest changes. "Partnering with someone who specialises in food and beverage was the biggest win," says Lewis, referring to White Rabbit Projects – the company behind Lina Stores and Kricket – who have been working with Graduate to refine its hospitality offering. "It's what they do day-to-day, it's their bread and butter, so from breakfast through to lunch and afternoon tea and dinner, they've really thought about every element that the guest is getting."

This kind of dining experience, Lewis says, is exactly what the local community was crying out for, and really they were the most important people to impress on reopening. "They were quite quick to come back and check it out because they're very proud of the Randolph, and some of the local press early on was a bit of concern around an American company taking it over, and so for me the most rewarding part of the whole process was when those people walked through the door and said ‘ah, fair enough, you've done a good job here', and they started to relax and enjoy the Randolph again."

From now on, for the Randolph team, it's all about reputation management – the final pillar in Schreiner's four-stage plan for turning around a property's fortunes. "It's important to establish a culture where feedback of any kind, if it's verbally during the day, if it's an online review, if it's an email, a letter, or a comment card in the restaurant, every piece of feedback needs to be valued, because it tells you as an operations manager or as an owner or affiliate, how your positioning is actually received and how the service is done. That helps you immensely in fine tuning the areas in your operation."

"We use Medallia to aggregate all of [the Randolph's] reviews from booking.com, Expedia and TripAdvisor," explains Lewis. "It collects all that information, and then its algorithm tells us how we're performing in the marketplace. So, in the morning meeting, we talk about it, go through all the feedback and we make decisions and have discussions to figure out any problems."

Fixing a reputation

Another property that has struggled with reputation is Stapleford Park in Leicestershire. Formerly owned by the royal family of Brunei, it was known among locals as an exclusive, difficult-to-get-into property. Run like less of a business and more of a hobby project and handy holiday home for the royals when they visited Britain, it garnered an unwelcoming reputation for non-guests, says Emma Quainton, the hotel's new director of sales and marketing.

Similar to the Randolph, Stapleford's new owner – Dreamr Hotels – is now focusing its efforts on local engagement. "We're going to start hosting public events," says Quainton, "which has never been done in the history of the hotel before. The idea of that really is to welcome people back from the local community who have unfortunately had very difficult experiences with the hotel." Stapleford will also have a physical renovation, all-new computer systems, a completely new booking engine and website, and a new agency running its online social media profiles to help turn around its formerly stuffy reputation.

Of course, not all hospitality venues will have the backing of the big budgets Dreamr and Graduate Hotels can offer, and it's not always new ownership that prompts a change. Sometimes, existing owners will see a gap in the market or, as with the George at Alstonefield, an opportunity for a different, better business model.

Siobhan and Graham Penrose-Johnson took over the Peak District pub in 2017. At the time, it was something of a hybrid offering – a handy stop for walkers in the national park to have a lunchtime pint with their homemade sandwiches, and a destination dining restaurant serving high-quality food for pre-booked tables. After a while, they realised it just couldn't work any more.

"We were trying to be all things to all people and it ended up disrupting service and causing friction between guests who had booked and those who turned up," says Siobhan. Business was too sporadic, seasonal and weather-dependent, and they were working seven days a week, serving a maximum of 50 covers on a good night with an average spend of around £40 per head. It wasn't sustainable, so they decided to move towards as more structured, fine-dining model.

"We knew the market was there. It's a beautiful place where we're based, and there are lots of second homes here and lovely places to stay nearby like Alstonefield Manor, so we knew it would work." From 2019, they began making changes to the menu, retraining staff, putting junior chefs through apprenticeships to transition their skills for an upscale dining experience, and they put a fresh lick of paint on the outside of the pub and – crucially – removed the picnic benches out front where those summertime walkers would often take their pit stop. Then the pandemic hit, but for them it wasn't a total disaster. "When we eventually got our heads around what was happening, we realised the timing was perfect."

Instead of having to implement such drastic changes overnight while the pub was still operating, they had an opportunity to close down for a sustained period and reopen with their new concept in full swing. Their new opening hours, which changed from daily to Thursday to Sunday only, were met with some consternation from local stalwart drinkers, but now Penrose-Johnson says they're "on the right side of the curve and most people know what we do and understand our position."

The fruits of their labour are now paying off, too. Awards may be on the horizon and their bottom line is healthier – they've nearly doubled their average spend per head. But, perhaps most importantly, they're getting good reviews. "Before we'd see one or two bad reviews now and then, because service wasn't as expected, but now it's hardly ever. It's been five stars consistently since spring 2021."

Tips for dealing with negative reviews

Hayley Coleman, Tripadvisor spokesperson said: "Responding to a negative review is a great way to both give a business owner's side of the story and to help neutralise the impact that the review has in the eyes of potential customers. Research shows that 85% of people agree that a thoughtful response to a bad review improved their impression of the property."

There are three key things to bear in mind when writing a management response:

Share the detail

Giving your side of the story gives a customer the full picture, so it's important to give detail and context on what may have been happening behind the scenes or what was unique about the situation. Be sure to talk about what you've done since you received the review, including any changes you've made or conversations you've had. This shows potential guests that you care about feedback and use it to improve your operations.

Build guest confidence

A review may surface something about your business that didn't quite meet someone's expectations. It's important to acknowledge that you've heard the feedback and, where possible, addressed it. This keeps other potential guests from wondering if the same thing is going to happen.

Write with your potential customers in mind

While you're responding to someone who has already interacted with your business, don't lose track of your real audience – other potential guests on your page. Write your response as though you're providing an introduction to your business. Include more background or context on why something happened in a certain way, and always take a positive and professional approach. Respond as you would when greeting someone who's just walked through your front door.