I’m a hotel manager in London – here’s how I moved the property up the Tripadvisor ranking from 272nd to FIFTH

Unreliable lifts, noisy and failing air conditioning, insufficient seating for breakfast and queues at check-in.

Those were the sort of complaints levelled by guests at Royal Lancaster London hotel when it was ranked 272nd on Tripadvisor in 2013.

But then, in that year, Sally Beck took over as manager and everything changed. It’s now ranked fifth in the UK capital, with almost universally glowing reviews – of the 2,226 posted on Tripadvisor, 90 per cent (2,015) are five-star, 160 are four-star and just 16 (0.72 per cent) rate the hotel as a one-star experience.

So, we asked Sally, what changed? A lot, it turns out.

Here, Sally reveals some of the secrets behind the Hyde Park hotel’s meteoric rise up the Tripadvisor rankings, from its ‘no blame’ staff culture to an unwavering commitment to listening to, and reading, complaints.

But undoubtedly, Sally herself is one of the main reasons for the change in Royal Lancaster London‘s Tripadvisor fortunes.

The 58-year-old explains that she’s been in hospitality all her life, born in Wells in Somerset where her parents ran the Red Lion Pub.

She continues: ‘I am a publican’s daughter and come from a long line of publicans and hoteliers. I didn’t live in a house until I was about 15 years old.

‘When I was 18 months old, we moved to Caenby Corner in Lincolnshire, where we ran the Moncks Arms before moving when I was seven to The Berkeley Hotel in Scunthorpe. We then stayed around Scunthorpe running various pubs, hotels and restaurants until I went to college in nearby Grimsby – Grimsby Tech College, studying hotel, catering and institutional management. I then started my first job as a trainee manager at The Dormy in Ferndown, Dorset.’

Forward wind to 2013 and Sally found herself in charge of the 411-room Royal Lancaster London and its reputation as being merely a not-bad five-star property.

The main problem? The product.

Sally explains: ‘When we were 272nd we were happy that we weren’t over 300. We were about to start a long-awaited renovation – new lifts, air conditioning, plumbing and so on, and the hotel was very tired. Yet our staff feedback was still always good. Our product let us down.’

Was a strategy put in place specifically to improve the hotel’s Tripadvisor ranking?

‘Yes,’ says Sally. ‘We firmly believe that guest feedback is the lifeblood of our business.’

Sally reveals that the renovations finished in 2018, with the hotel having risen to about 60 in the rankings at that time thanks to ‘guest service efforts’ and a new working culture.

First of all, ‘surprise and delight opportunities’ were introduced – extra touches to the guest experience added to special occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries and graduations.

A ‘guest of the day’ concept saw team members picking a guest and ‘spoiling them beyond expectations’, and public mentions of endearing staff behaviour began to be ‘publicly shared and celebrated’.

Sally explains: ‘Staff do get reward points for any mentions, but the biggest impact is an in-person well done and congratulations from us.’

The ‘glitch culture’ was also reinforced – so any guest ‘glitches’ with their experience, where expectations had not been met, began to be ‘recorded and discussed’.

Sally reveals: ‘Any constructive feedback is dealt with in a serious matter, learning or training opportunities are highlighted, discussed and followed up on in a non-threatening manner. Our only focus is to get better, never to chastise anyone.’

This ban on ‘blame culture’ has paid dividends. 

Sally explains: ‘We prefer confident team members who can look the guests in the eye and fix [issues] for them. By not having a blame culture, they are confident that they will be supported in their decision to make happy guests.

‘Our team is trained and encouraged to spot the difference between an OK stay and a wonderful stay, and know to ask open-ended questions with genuine care and attention to proactively dig deeper where things have not lived entirely up to guest expectations. And they’re empowered to make it right: small issue, generous recovery.’

Other initiatives included little giveaways on departure, at the team’s discretion, and a ‘general culture to treat each other and our guests as we would wish to be treated ourselves’.

Did the customers notice the changes over the years?

Sally says: ‘Definitely. Our repeat business has risen exponentially and we have succeeded in winning more and more corporate business, as well as leisure guests.

‘Our suite business has increased and our whole team is invested in our results and feel proud and involved when they have turned around a guest issue into a great review.

‘It is a big part of our everyday business to see our reviews and where we sit and how well we are doing at making our guests happy.’

Sally surmises that not paying attention to reviews is a common mistake among less successful hotels. 

She believes that these properties ‘underestimate how many people look at reviews prior to making their hotel decision’, adding that another error is ‘not replying to reviews – good or bad’.

‘The public can see clearly which hotels truly care about their stay and experience against those that clearly don’t,’ Sally remarks.

The hotelier stresses, though, just how crucial her employees are.

She says: ‘The dedication and passion of our team members are at the heart of everything we do. At Royal Lancaster London, we value every interaction with our guests, from the pre-stay phase to during the stay and even after guests have checked out. We treat our guests like family, from the bottom of our hearts, ensuring that our hotel becomes a true home away from home.

‘One of my key missions is to make our hotel the happiest in London, and I believe we’ve made significant strides in achieving this goal. A testament to our success is our outstanding retention rate of 23 per cent in the last financial year – a true reflection of the happiness and loyalty we cultivate among our team and our guests.

‘Our team turnover is so low – and I know our whole team is invested in our commitment to make happy guests.

‘I think guests are surprised by the personal attention that they receive, when our team greets them and endeavours to surprise them and delight them at every interaction during their stay.’

Was Sally surprised by the hotel’s ranking joy?

She says: ‘We really didn’t think we would keep going beyond top 50, then we went to top 30, then top 20, then top 10 and we traded all last year in the top five.’

Tripadvisor has noticed the hotel’s success, too, telling MailOnline: ‘Tripadvisor’s popularity index is based on real traveller feedback and takes into account factors like recency, quantity and quality of reviews, as well as the consistency of ratings over time. The Royal Lancaster London’s ranking increase is testament to the excellent customer experience they have delivered over the years.

‘This year the hotel was named one of the top hotels in the world, according to Tripadvisor reviewers, as part of our Travellers’ Choice Best of the Best Hotel Awards, putting it among the top one per cent of properties listed on the site globally. Guests were particularly taken with the lovely staff, great location and views of Hyde Park – and the property was named 17th in our 2024 list of Best of the Best Pet Friendly Hotels.’