The Royal St Andrews Hotel & Spa
How Royal St Andrews Used GuestRevu to Deliver Exceptional Guest Experiences from Day One
Royal St Andrews Hotel implemented GuestRevu from day one to gather structured guest feedback, manage online reputation, and enhance their service offerings. By leveraging data-driven insights, the hotel has successfully refined its guest experience, streamlined feedback collection, and strengthened its role in promoting Port Alfred as a destination.
The Company
Located in the coastal town of Port Alfred, South Africa, the Royal St Andrews Hotel is a boutique property that blends historic charm with modern luxury. Originally envisioned as a small boutique hotel with a revitalised pub, the project expanded to include a state-of-the-art conference facility, a luxury wing, a spa, and additional guest amenities. The owners, Mr and Mrs Bekker, were passionate about promoting Port Alfred as a destination rather than a simple stopover.
From the outset, the Bekkers committed to investing in the community, funding local events and contributing to the town’s growth. The hotel has become integral to the local economy, partnering with local activity providers and investing in tourism promotion to highlight Port Alfred’s attractions. Their vision has always been to offer visitors a holistic destination experience rather than just a place to stay.
At a Glance
USP:
A blend of old-world charm and modern elegance in a prime coastal location.
Location:
Port Alfred, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Number of rooms:
59
Star Grading:
4-star
Key Amenities:
- The Thistle Restaurant
- The Highlander Pub
- CSpa Wellness
- Conference facilities
- Outdoor pool
- Free Wi-Fi
- On-site parking
The Challenges
Opening a New Hotel with the Right Tools from Day One
When Royal St Andrews opened, the management team knew that getting guest feedback right from the start was critical. Difford Louw, who was the sales manager at the time, had worked with GuestRevu at his previous hotel and knew it would provide the structured insights they needed to manage guest sentiment and maintain high service standards.
“When I came here, one of the things I asked for first was that we have GuestRevu do the guest feedback for us,” says Difford. “It didn't take a lot for any of the other management or the general manager at the time and the owners to see the benefits in having it. The amount of information that we get via GuestRevu is by far better than a manual process.”
By implementing GuestRevu from the start, the Royal St Andrews avoided the pitfalls of relying on ad-hoc or incomplete guest feedback collected via comment cards or online reviews, and ensured that they could effectively gather sufficient guest feedback and act on insights right away.
Keeping Pace with Evolving Guest Expectations
Hospitality trends and guest needs are constantly shifting, and the Royal St Andrews wanted a solution that would help them stay ahead of changing expectations.
"Hospitality is evolving constantly, people's expectations of what a hotel offers change all the time,” says Difford. “It's not just a place where people come and sleep and have breakfast and then leave – they want an experience, they want to be able to create moments."
The hotel required a tool that would help them track these changing needs and proactively adjust their service, amenities, and overall guest experience to meet evolving demands.
Managing Online Reputation Effectively
With guest reviews appearing across multiple platforms like Google, Tripadvisor, and Booking.com, it was essential for Royal St Andrews to have a system in place to monitor and respond to feedback efficiently.
Difford explains that manual reputation management is “very difficult, labour-intensive and time-consuming” because of the multiple review sites that need to be monitored.
“But with GuestRevu, we get a consolidated report weekly of where our online reputation management has been for the previous week,” says Difford, “so it saves a lot of time and it enhances productivity.”
This ensured that the team could engage with guests quickly, resolve concerns before they escalated, and maintain a positive online reputation.
According to Difford, GuestRevu means that they “can then go and directly respond, instead of not knowing what is out there and just leaving negative feedback out there unattended, which makes people feel ‘well they're not even really interested in what we had to say so why should we bother going back there.’”
The generated responses are spot on. What I like about it most is that it takes details out of the review and it mentions those things in the response to the guest. I really like the way it acknowledges negative reviews and the way it addresses them
Without GuestRevu we would not be able to get all the information from our guests that we need. Some guests are happy, some guests are not happy, that information is crucial to us so that we can know what our guest experience was like, where we need to make changes – if we can make changes – and what we need to focus on to enhance the guest experience.
One of the things I like to do is to send out the reviews to the management with my feedback on it. So, if someone is identified for exemplary service I can commend that person on there, their manager will make a note of it, and that's how we keep track of staff that deliver exemplary service [...] and then every department can see what is being said about the service they deliver, and where there are areas for improvement and where to give praise to their staff.
We can then go and directly respond [to online reviews], instead of not knowing what is out there and just leaving negative feedback out there unattended, which makes people feel ‘well they're not even really interested in what we had to say so why should we bother going back there.
When I came here, one of the things I asked for first was that we have GuestRevu do the guest feedback for us. It didn't take a lot for any of the other management or the general manager at the time and the owners to see the benefits in having it. The amount of information that we get via GuestRevu is by far better than a manual process.
With GuestRevu, we get a consolidated report weekly of where our online reputation management has been for the previous week, so it saves a lot of time and it enhances productivity.
It [AI-Powered Management Responses] can save me up to about one and a half to two hours worth of thinking of things to say. Especially when it comes to the not-so-positive reviews, you have to think carefully about how you address the guest, how you approach the issue with them and assure them that it will be looked into and what you're going to do. That takes a lot of of brain power and time, thinking ‘How am I going to approach this review?’ With the positive reviews, it's much easier, but still, it saves all of that time.
The Solution
GustRevu provided Royal St Andrews with an automated, structured approach to guest feedback collection and reputation management. The hotel implemented post-stay surveys tailored to capture detailed insights into guest experiences, ensuring that they could proactively manage guest satisfaction from the start. These included tailored surveys for the hotel’s spa and restaurants, providing deeper insights into each department’s performance.
The platform's consolidated dashboard enabled management to track and respond to online reviews from multiple sites in one place, ensuring timely engagement with guest feedback.
Difford explains that guests are more prone to go onto their own device at a time that suits them and fill in a questionnaire than they are to sit down and write feedback on a card at checkout.
GuestRevu also played a role in refining the hotel’s destination marketing efforts. By analysing guest feedback, the team identified a need to educate visitors about Port Alfred’s attractions, leading to the introduction of in-room information packs and improved guest communication about local experiences.
The Royal St Andrews Tech Stack
The Results
Seamless Guest Feedback from The Start
By implementing GuestRevu from the start, Royal St Andrews avoided delays in understanding guest needs. This proactive approach allowed the team to make operational improvements immediately and ensured that service improvements were based on real guest feedback rather than assumptions.
“One of the things I like to do is to send out the reviews to the management with my feedback on it,” says Difford. “So, if someone is identified for exemplary service I can commend that person on there, their manager will make a note of it, and that's how we keep track of staff that deliver exemplary service [...] and then every department can see what is being said about the service they deliver, and where there are areas for improvement and where to give praise to their staff.”
For example, guest feedback on the breakfast service helped the team improve service speed and better communicate the multiple breakfast offerings to ensure guest experiences aligned with expectations. Survey feedback also revealed that many visitors were unaware of Port Alfred’s offerings. As a result, Royal St Andrews introduced detailed in-room information packs and improved communication with guests about local activities.
Staying Ahead of Guest Expectations
GuestRevu provides the hotel with ongoing insights into shifting guest expectations, allowing them to adapt their services accordingly.
Difford gives the example of feedback on the hotel’s Wi-Fi, which used to be behind a password. “People would get a code when they checked in, but that created quite a lot of confusion with people sometimes reporting the passwords wouldn’t work, or that it only works in the room section and not in the pub section.”
In response, the management team at Royal St Andrews decided to do away with passwords on the wi-fi altogether. “For a four-star hotel, and the offering that we would like our guests to experience, people must just be able to log on and be comfortable and enjoy their stay,” explains Difford.
Further feedback indicated that this open wi-fi policy meant there were times of the year when connection speeds slowed down. To further enhance the guest experience, the Royal St Andrews installed ultra-fast fibre lines throughout the hotel.
“Without GuestRevu we would not be able to get all the information from our guests that we need,” Difford asserts. “Some guests are happy, some guests are not happy, that information is crucial to us so that we can know what our guest experience was like, where we need to make changes – if we can make changes – and what we need to focus on to enhance the guest experience.”
More Efficient Reputation Management
By consolidating reviews from multiple platforms into one system, Royal St Andrews improved its ability to manage and respond to guest feedback promptly. “Because everything comes to us via GuestRevu, it saves a lot of time and it enhances productivity,” says Difford.
Management receives automated notifications of new reviews and sentiment trends, enabling them to act swiftly on both positive and negative feedback. This proactive approach ensures that issues are addressed quickly, while positive reviews are celebrated.
Difford explains the importance of responding to online reviews, stating, “Other people see that we care about what our guests are experiencing, and that makes a huge difference in whether people will come to your property or not.” Responding to reviews is also far less time-consuming for the Royal St Andrews staff thanks to AI-Powered Management Responses.
By leveraging GuestRevu’s comprehensive feedback and reputation management tools, Royal St Andrews Hotel has maintained high service standards, strengthened its marketing efforts, and improved its ability to deliver memorable guest experiences from the very beginning.