Customers’ Experiences of Five-Star Hotels in Johannesburg

Abstract

This study evaluates the experiences of customers at five-star hotels in Johannesburg. The objectives were to analyse: (a) customers’ experiences posted online, (b) the problems reported by customers during their visits (c) the positive feedback posted on online platforms, and (d) the online responses from the five-star hotels. The empirical research was conducted using secondary data from three online websites, namely TripAdvisor, Trivago, and HelloPeter. The study followed a qualitative design and inductive thematic analysis were done. The online reviews and hotel responses of 186 five-star hotel customers and managers were downloaded and analysed. The results show that horrible experiences, poor service delivery, poor hotel management, hotel location, and its environment were identified as major problems, causing customer dissatisfaction and negative experiences. The results of the study could help hoteliers identify areas in need of improvement to increase customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry. Based on the findings from the study, it was recommended that more training and development should be available to employees in the industry to improve customer service delivery. Employees should be empowered with knowledge and skills to do their jobs efficiently.

Keywords

• customer experiences
• customer satisfaction
• five-star hotels
• online reviews
• service quality