Issues with Hotels and Need for Standards

Many of you know we discussed hotel issues and need for standards in the circle in the past. We are pleased to share with you that Sharing Economy standards are being made by BIS and hotel aggregator services are part of it.

Kindly share all issues you have faced with brands like Oyo, Airbnb, other chains like Hilton, Mariott, Lemontree, Taj (anyone that has multiple properties). Below are the deliberations from 2019 and 2020 for your easy reference:

Hotels in India - Solutions Proposed
1.A regulatory authority should be set up to regulate the tariff and operations of the hotels in India
2.Government should come up with a structured plan to bridge the demand-supply gap
3.Government should set a high season charge for the hotels area wise
4.Hotels should be strictly instructed not to charge beyond the high season surcharge on top of their regular fares
5.Hotel should be liable to pay a financial penalty to the customer if they do not deliver the facilities promised at the time of booking
6.The government should prescribe some basic standards of hygiene which the hotels should be strictly asked to follow
7.A phone/email helpline or a circle type concept should be created to make it easy for tourists to report issues against hotels
8.Customer reviews on social media sites should be considered while renewing the licenses of the hotels
9.If an instance of a hidden camera in a hotel is found, the license of that hotel should be immediately suspended and criminal enquiry should be initiated against them
10.A major drive should be started to catch hotels running without proper licenses
11.Hotel staff should mandatorily give customer service lessons to their staff once every year
12.Government officials should be penalized for giving approval and certification to establishments that do not meet the necessary requirements
13.Government should make a policy on star ratings specifying minimum requirement for each category and then have an independent authority certifying it.

State of Hotels in India - Root Causes

1.There is a lack of an authority to regulate the operations/working of the hotels in India
2.Hotel rates are not determined by the kind of services they provide
3.There is no reference available through which the hotels are supposed to decide their room rates
4.They intentionally keep their rack rates very high
5.Most hotels play hand in glove with the local authorities and grease their palms to ride over the rules and regulations
6.Most of the times hotels caught even in serious customer complaints, easily get away with them
7.Hotels try to make the most from the helpless tourists
8.Hotel rates are high because demand outstrips supply
9.Political patronage is a big root cause of irresponsibility and mismanagement of most of the hotels in our country
10.Many hotels are set up to convert the black money to white
11.Most hotels in India dont believe in creating hospitality experiences.

Hotels in India - Key Issues

1. Hotels charge whatever rates which are very high
2. They fleece customers in need
3. Rack rates are always abnormally high
4. Many hotels do not maintain even the basic standard of hygiene
5. Reports of hidden cameras in hotels is quite common
6. Many online hotels bookings have hidden charges
7. Hotels display pictures on their websites which mislead the customers
8. Many small hotels do not imply with the health and safety policy
9. Many hotels run without complete licenses
10. Hotels increase their room rates multi folds during the peak season
11. The general hotel refund policy on cancellations is very strict
12. Hotel staff is rude with the customers
13. Some hotels display a fake star rating.
14. Safety and customer service is a big concern in homestays/hotels provided by e-marketplaces more