Customer Service at Marigold Hotel

CUSTOMER SERVICE AT THE MARIGOLD HOTEL1 One bright summer morning in March 2010, owner and General Manager George Chacko was in his comfortable second-floor office suite at the Marigold Hotel in the Chanakyapuri area of New Delhi. He had been alerted to a brewing customer service problem, and wanted to resolve the issue before it got out of hand. Chacko belonged to a family of real estate developers and entrepreneurs. Over the turn of the century, he had noticed that New Delhi lacked sufficient high-quality hotel space to serve the increased business and tourist traffic that was generated by the rapidly growing and globalizing Indian economy. Prices at existing 5-star hotels in the nation’s capital were sky-high, and service was sometimes indifferent. His entrepreneurial instincts sensed an opportunity – and led him to design and develop Marigold Hotel in response to this situation. A 4-star hotel, the Marigold opened for business in 2007. It rapidly developed a strong reputation for providing excellent customer service, offering a clean and hygienic environment for guests to stay in, and employing well-trained and courteous staff. The Marigold was particularly noted for its restaurants – the “Uttar” which served food in the North Indian tradition, and the “Dakshin” which served food in the South Indian tradition. Beyond the hotel’s guests, these restaurants were frequent destinations for the residents of Delhi as well. Room service at the Marigold was also of high quality – guests often praised the quality and presentation of the food, and the timeliness of service. Room service orders were serviced in a separate food preparation area that could draw on the resources of both restaurant kitchens. Overall, occupancy rates at the Marigold from 2007 through mid 2008 were frequently in the 90100% range. Chacko had an undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering. On the production side, he employed his knowledge about process design and implementation to run things