Make guests feel welcome this Christmas

We’ve gathered a few ideas for you to make sure your guests feel welcome at your destination this Christmas:

 
• Serve them welcome drinks like these Christmas Cranberry Mojitos 
• Take a photo of your guests on arrival and use it to make them a personalized Christmas card which you can leave in their room on Christmas eve.
• Serve Christmas themed biscuits with your coffee this Festive Season.

Christmas themed biscuits

• Wrap a few children’s books and put them under the Christmas tree. Invite your guests’ kids to choose a book to open on Christmas eve, which they can take to their rooms and read it to their family.
• Use this recipe to make your kitchen smell like Christmas and have your guests experience a merry Christmas at a home away from home: Cinnamon Spice Simmer
• Give each guest a jar of your homemade Christmas Jam. Click through on this example of a recipe to use: Christmas Jam.

Bless your guests this Christmas

As you will know, small acts of kindness often go a long way. You’ve also probably seen in our December newsletter (feel free to subscribe here), it is to my meaning that we need to focus on “humanizing” our customer service again. Here are a few ideas on how I think you could do exactly that this Festive Season:

Bless your guests

• Give guests’ children the opportunity to help you make breakfast for their parents on Christmas morning. This will not only help you create bonds with customers, but you will also help them build on their family bonds.
• Serve cool drinks on the veranda on Christmas eve and invite guests to join you for sun-downers before they head out.
• Prepare a few individual picnic spots around your venue for guests to enjoy a family picnic for Christmas.
• Bless your guests with a small Christmas gift on their bed. I say small, because it’s really the idea that counts. Something like a packet of Christmas cookies, a sock filled with some midnight snacks, bake a few Christmas themed cupcakes and put it in their rooms upon turndown.

Gingerbread Cupcakes for Christmas

(Image from: http://tidymom.net/2011/gingerbread-cupcakes/)

• Buy a few vouchers from businesses around the area, i.e. a puppet show at the Saturday market around the corner, an ice-cream shop, a coffee shop, the aquarium, a book store, the hop-on-hop-off bus, etc. and leave this in your guests’ room for when they arrive. Put a note with it that says something like: “Merry Christmas from us all! We’d like to bless you with a few tastes from our town. Enjoy!”

 
The above ideas are only but a few examples of what you can do. Be creative and see how your guests come back for more human-to-human customer service next year.