We have them in our rooms, they are two sides of A4 and are mostly multiple choice questions witha space for comments.
I'd say around 60% of people fill them in. Be warned though, they can be very demoralising and yes, some people think they are Alex Polizzi (The Hotel Inspector).
The most irritating groups are B&B owners who will go into every detail of every change they think you should make, and teachers who will go through your form and correct any spelling or gramma.
But I do think people will be a lot more honest about things they would like or like changed than they will be to your face. Any changes we make over the winter months are mostly driven by guest feedback from our forms. And sometimes people ask for simple things that we can't beleive we hadn't thought of, like:-
- someone said Glass Tumblers would be nice, went out and spent a few ££s on glasses for the rooms.
- someone pointed out that in one of our rooms there was no socket to plug a hair-dryer in next to the mirror, so we got the electrician to put one in
It can also be re-assuring, for example we serve breakfast between 08:30 and 09:30. One of our questions is is this too late. too early or just right. 95% tick just right. SOmeone once said ours was the only B&B they'd stayed in that had a guest questionaire and ours was the only one they didn't have any comments to write down.
Of course you get the stupid and irritating comments and I usually go off my dome when I read them, and my partner says "WHy do you put them in the rooms if they get you so angry". Examples:
Q. Are there any improvements you will like to see in your bedroom.
A. A little less pine perhaps.
Oh I'm sorry, did the fact that the furniture was made of pine spoil your stay with us!!!!
Q. Is there anything else you would have liked at breakfast
A. Omlette arnold bennett
I didn't even know what that was, I had to Google it. They don't want much for £34 a night do they.
And most importantly .............ahem...................... there's no point emailing guests and asking them to post a review on the Internet if you think it wont be a good review..