Business Q & A: Welcome mat is always out

Pete and Tristen Williams with Mikayla. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Attention to caring for guests helped Sport of Kings Motel win the Customer Service Award at the Westpac Rotorua Business Excellence Awards. Tristen Williams tells us more.

In a nutshell, what does your business do?
Look after guests better than they have ever been looked after in a motel! We accommodate thousands of people a year and every one of these people is in our amazing city for a different reason. We ensure they have the knowledge to be able to explore and experience the best of our amazing city and beautiful country, and comfort to ensure they have the best motel experience ever. We treat every guest as they are a friend, as the old cliche says, "arrive as a stranger, leave as a friend!"

What inspired you to get involved in the hospitality business?
The opportunity to work together as a family, run a business where you meet wonderful interesting people from all over the world and to have the opportunity to share our knowledge of our amazing city and surrounds with every person who walks through our door.

What was the best business decision you have made?
To enable our team to provide true honest Kiwi hospitality and ensure all of our guests are treated as we would like to be treated if we were their guest.

What (if any) is the worst business decision you have made?
There is never a bad business decision, all decisions are learning curves and if one acts as a speed bump, ride over it gently and carry on stronger and faster.

What are some of the best parts of working in the hospitality industry?
Dealing with people on a daily basis is fantastic - you learn so much about people, cultures, and you meet the most wonderful people. Everybody that walks through our door is here for their own reason and finding out what that is, helping them enhance their stay and seeing them walk away with a smile on their face, then reading the review that says "Sport of Kings Motel makes me proud to be a Kiwi" is why we are here.

With so many accommodation providers in Rotorua, how do you make your business stand out?
Our genuine care for our guests, our fantastic team, our comfortable, quiet, newly refurbished motel, our location on Peace St. We make sure every guest feels welcome, at home and give the best customer service they have ever experienced. As one of our guests said to us today when they phoned to book, "you have so many reviews and every one of them is fantastic - and I could not find anything negative".

If you could make one change to benefit the accommodation industry in Rotorua, what would it be and why?
Set a "standard" that must be met to operate as an accommodation provider to ensure that the guest receives an acceptable level of accommodation, cleanliness and service. We want to ensure that every guest to our city walks away after having a positive experience and leave with great happy memories.

What do you see as the biggest opportunity for your business in the year ahead?
Crankworx coming to Rotorua is promoting our world class mountain biking trails nationally and internationally which will have huge spin offs for the tourism and accommodation industry now and in the future. Rotorua will be known as the international destination for fantastic mountain biking. Having secure bike storage, drying facilities and wash down area, we already cater for many bikers but Crankworx will increase this greatly.

How do you maintain a healthy work/life balance?
By looking after ourselves as well as our guests. In a 24/7 business it is important not to suffer from burnout and being aware of the demands of the business and ensuring you have the tools in place to allow time to look after yourself and your family.