Napier motels pass 'Target' test

Three Napier Motel Association motels have scored well in a clandestine visit by a television consumer affairs show.
TV3's Target crew visited Fountain Court Motor Inn, Albatross Motel and Ace High Motor Inn in November, but proprietors learned only by letter up to ten days before their performance aired on Tuesday.
The news, however, was generally good, with the crew's ratings based on service, value for money, cleanliness, security, and other aspects, says NMA president Tim Stephens.
Fountain Court Motor Inn and Ace High Motor Inn received an overall rating of seven out of ten, while Albatross Motel was rated 9.5 out of ten. All three scored top marks for hygiene, based on swabs and laboratory testing.
Albatross owner Helen Pedersen credited teamwork and training and said: "It's not just about us as managers and owners, we have to give credit to our staff that service our rooms and prepare them for each new guest. It's nice to know that our staff follow through on the training and standards we set."
Fountain Court's David Honnor was disappointed but philosophical with the seven out of 10 rating for his premises, saying: "We were training new cleaning staff at the time of the Target visit. This has now given us an insight on to how to implement better training procedures for new staff."
"As new moteliers we are working very hard to improve the high standards of cleanliness at Fountain Court," he said.
Ngaire Milne, of Ace High Motor Inn, is pleased with their rating given the age of her motel. Three of the motels tested are part of the Napier Motel Association (NMA) which has 33 members.
Mr Stephens said NMA members have to maintain high standards, ethics and follow a Code of Practice.
"This provides the traveller with a high level of assurance as to the quality of the accommodation and the standards which can be expected when booking accommodation with a member of the association," he said. "The positive rating is really good for Napier, because it shows to the rest of New Zealand and the world that Napier motels are of a very high standard."
All three motels had achieved better results than many motels featured in previous episodes of the show in other locations around New Zealand, he said. It was thought to have been the first time Target has snooped on the Napier motel scene, but while satisfied with the outcome Mr Stephens said it's disappointing that Target continues to focus on motels as potential "soft targets," rather than presenting a balanced view to TV3's viewers by assessing other accommodation providers like hotels, serviced apartments, backpackers, holiday parks, and other hospitality and tourism businesses.
Often the motels chosen were older establishments, and sometimes it highlighted issues that visitors were not aware of, for example using special lighting to highlight carpet stains which were not usually visable.
The industry also faces the challenge of the internet, where reviews appear online.