Travelodge v Premier Inn: Why cheap rates shouldn't mean bad business

When you check-in at a hotel and the guest queuing in front of you tells the receptionist: "There's no remote control for the TV in my room", you know you're not going to be spending the next few hours in the lap of luxury. And when the receptionist replies: "Sorry, we've run out but there are buttons on top of the TV you can use to change the channels", you know you've just arrived in the world of seriously low budget hotels.

The above tale isn’t theory; it's hard, cold fact. And it happened to me at the Farringdon branch of Travelodge in London, where I had the misfortune to stay earlier this week.

When I booked my stay, I wasn't expecting to be treated like a king but I was hoping for some level of comfort and customer service. But not at Travelodge Farringdon.

With the company taking full payment in advance, there was no "Have you stayed with us before?" or "Please take the lift to the second floor" but just a quick hello and '232' scrawled on a piece of paper displaying a photocopy of the Travelodge logo.

It didn't get much better when I got to my room. After walking down a corridor where part of the flooring was stuck down with gaffer tape, I arrived in a location with carpet that wouldn't have looked out of place in an episode of Life On Mars, a bathroom with grouting missing from the tiles and given the lack of air conditioning and the current heatwave, an almost unbearable heat.

After a restless night, made slightly better by the fan I discovered on a shelf at the bottom of my wardrobe thanks to a colleague staying a few rooms away, I wandered down to breakfast. Having paid in advance for the £5.99 'online discount', I headed straight to the restaurant only for a brusque-sounding waiter to direct me back to reception to collect a voucher.

On arrival, I stood behind a group of foreign students queuing to hand over their £7.50 for the on-the-day breakfast charge. I waited. I glanced over and saw two other receptionists having a chat. I waited. No response. After a few minutes, I made eye contact with one. "Can you help me?" I asked. "Yes," she replied sternly. "Apparently I need a breakfast voucher," I said. "Here you go", she responded handing me another photocopied bit of paper.

On returning to the breakfast room, Mr Brusque was nowhere to be seen so I walked straight in and headed for the hot food. It looked OK but unfortunately I can't say the same about the taste. Powdered egg, very salty meat and coffee that didn't taste like coffee. I made do with a bowl of Frosties, a bargain at £5.99.

Rewind two weeks and I arrive at the Premier Inn in Manchester. The reception is bright and welcoming and me and my colleagues are greeted by smiling faces. As we check-in, a receptionist notices the camera equipment we're carrying. We tell her we're in the city doing some filming for a business competition, the north heat of The Pitch in fact. She looks genuinely interested.

Handing over our key cards, she asks whether we've stayed at a Premier Inn before. "No", I reply. She talks us through the features and explains the company's 'Good Night Guarantee". If you don't have a good night's sleep, you get your money back.

Fortunately for Premier Inn, I had no reason to call in the guarantee in the morning as true to the company's word, I had a good night's sleep in a bright and welcoming room. Heading down to breakfast, I again had an enjoyable experience with friendly waiting staff, nice food and a bright and airey atmosphere.

What do these two experiences have in common? The price. Both stays cost around £70. So why the massive difference in quality?

Travelodge has fallen into the trap of thinking just because people choose to stay at a budget hotel, they don't expect good service, comfortable surroundings and nice food. Wrong.

Create a bad atmosphere – the Travelodge Farringdon is in a converted 1970s office block which could do with a serious refurbishment – and it rubs off on the staff. They don't enjoy working in such an environment and they take it out on the customers.

Premier Inn on the other hand has created enjoyable surroundings in which to work and stay. The staff at both establishments probably earn about the same yet their attitudes were miles apart. The furniture in Premier Inn wasn't the best quality in the world but it was new, clean and comfortable. There was some shower gel in the bathroom and an air conditioning unit on the wall – both lacking at the Travelodge.

So what can entrepreneurs learn?

If you're pitching to the budget market, don’t think it means you can scrimp on customer service. It's massively important if you want customers to give you repeat business. Travelodge has somehow managed to survive. Bad small businesses are unlikely to and even if you do, people like me will write blog posts like this.

Oh and before I close; my room at the Travelodge did have a remote control.