Hotel audits and hotel mystery shopping
Guests don't remember your standards. They remember whether the front desk greeted them, whether the bathroom was clean and whether anyone suggested where to eat. We check it in two different ways.
A hotel audit is carried out by an experienced auditor who stays overnight, reveals themselves at the end and goes through hygiene, food and beverage, the room and every shortcoming with management on the spot. Hotel mystery shopping is an anonymous assessment of service and selling at the front desk, in reservations and in the restaurant.
Audit or mystery shopping?
They are two different services. An audit tells you what condition your hotel is in. Mystery shopping tells you how staff treat guests when they don't know they're being assessed.
Hotel audit
An overnight inspection by an experienced auditor.
- Who
- An experienced hotel auditor
- How
- Stays overnight as an ordinary guest and reveals themselves at the end of the stay
- What is checked
- Hygiene standards, room and bathroom, food and beverage, equipment, brand standards
- Output
- Every shortcoming reviewed with management on site, then a written report with photos
Hotel mystery shopping
An anonymous assessment of service and selling.
- Who
- A trained mystery shopper
- How
- Stays anonymous; staff never learn who they were. Can be a stay, a restaurant visit or just a call and e-mail
- What is assessed
- Front desk, reservations, restaurant and bar, upselling, handling requests and complaints
- Output
- Evaluations in the online system with recordings, hotel comparison and trends over time
We go through your hotel like a guest does
Each step of the guest journey gets its own score, so you see exactly where the experience breaks.
Enquiry
Phone, e-mail, chat. Response time, room offer, upsell.
Arrival
Parking, first impression, greeting, waiting time.
Check-in
Booking check, hotel information, upgrade offer.
Room
Cleanliness, amenities, everything working, bathroom hygiene.
Food and drink
Breakfast, restaurant, bar. Service, recommendations, cleanliness.
Wellness and services
Concierge, room service, wellness, handling requests.
Check-out
Speed, correct bill, feedback, invitation to return.
How many bookings slip away at your front desk?
An unanswered phone or e-mail is a guest who books somewhere else.
What you get
- A questionnaire built on your standards or your chain's
- Experienced auditors and shoppers with hotel backgrounds, including English and German speakers
- Photos of the room and bathroom, recordings of reservation calls
- Results in the online system, hotel comparison and trends over time
- Front desk and reservations training based on the findings
Questions we answer
- Does the front desk offer a room upgrade, breakfast or late check-out?
- Do reservations reply to an e-mail quickly, with a concrete offer?
- Is the room as clean as your website promises?
- How do staff handle a complaint when nobody is watching?
- Is service the same on Monday morning as on Saturday night?
Hotels we have worked with
Accor Hotels, OREA Hotels & Resorts, Art Nouveau Palace Hotel Prague, CPI Hotels, Hotel Hills Stará Lesná and Hotel Horizont Stará Lesná.
Hotel FAQ
What is the difference between a hotel audit and hotel mystery shopping?
A hotel audit is carried out by an experienced auditor who stays overnight, reveals themselves at the end of the stay and goes through hygiene standards, food and beverage, the room and every shortcoming with management on the spot. Mystery shopping is anonymous: a trained shopper behaves like an ordinary guest, assesses service and selling at the front desk, in reservations and in the restaurant, and staff never learn who they were.
What does a hotel audit check?
Room and bathroom hygiene standards, condition and functioning of equipment, breakfast and restaurant including cleanliness and service, front desk, wellness and brand standards. The auditor shows the shortcomings to management on site, so you can act straight away.
Can you audit against a hotel chain's brand standards?
Yes. We build the questionnaire from your brand standards or the hotel's own manual. We have worked for Accor Hotels, OREA Hotels & Resorts, CPI Hotels, Art Nouveau Palace Hotel Prague and the Hills and Horizont hotels in Stará Lesná.
Do you test phone and e-mail bookings?
Yes, and it is often the quickest way to increase direct bookings. We test whether reservations reply on time, offer a suitable room and an upsell, and turn the enquiry into a booking instead of sending the guest to a booking portal.
How much does a hotel audit cost?
It depends on the length of stay, hotel category and questionnaire scope. The hotel covers the auditor's room and spending, plus the audit fee. Anonymous mystery calls and e-mails to reservations cost much less and make a good first step.
For new clients
Try mystery shopping at one location before you decide
You don't have to commit to a programme for your whole network. A pilot shows you what really happens, and shows you how we work.
Pilot mystery
- 1 location, hotel or call centre
- 2 in-person visits or 3 mystery calls, following your scenario
- Results in our online system, with photos and recordings
- 30-minute debrief with what to fix first
- If you continue, we deduct the pilot from your first month
Free tip: a 5-minute test you can run today
Before you contact us, run a small mystery yourself. Ask a friend to call your business or front desk as an ordinary customer, and check:
- Did someone answer within three rings?
- Did they introduce themselves and ask how they can help?
- Did they ask at least one question to understand what the customer needs?
- Did they offer a concrete solution, date or price, not just information?
- Did they offer something extra, or take contact details for a next step?
- Did they say goodbye, wish a nice day and invite the customer back?
Two or fewer “yes” answers usually mean customers leave empty-handed. Send us your result and we will tell you, free of charge, where to start.