The devil is in the detail
A year after it first started in 2005, Liz at Lancaster signed up with Nightsbridge, an on-line booking management system. We have seen it grow from a small husband-and-wife business to a large company with a call-centre, consultants, and links to many booking sites. These booking sites range from the massive global conglomerates like Booking.com; Agoda; Expedia; Tripadvisor; Hotelbeds, Hotels.com and of course now AirBnB; to more locally focused sites like Safarinow; SA-Venues; Afristay; SaPlaces; TravelIT (aka Tourvest); TravelGround and Lekkeslaap.
So it was with great excitement that I took Sasha’s call (Sasha is General Manager of Nightsbridge) to tell me that Nightsbridge had found a review on a Facebook “Best Ever” site singing Liz at Lancaster’s praises. (I can’t seem to find the Facebook page but am very happy to believe Sasha!) Sasha said Nightsbridge wanted to include the review in Nightsbridge’s blog on Guesthouse “best practice”.
So it is with great pride that I repeat the Facebook post below. Again – well done team Liz at Lancaster: Mr T, who produces magic in the kitchen, ensures his storeroom and fridge are always stocked, and ferries guests around Joburg; Catherine and Thandie who see that every detail in the rooms is up to speed and have a miraculous turn-around with the on-site laundry; and Elliott, the plant whisperer and occasional handyman. So with Liz handling all the admin and marketing side: including enquiries, correspondence, bookings, bookkeeping, concierge advice, blogging and social media, Liz at Lancaster has a very strong team.
Helen During’s Facebook review
The Best Ever guest house in Craighall [Park] Jhb has to be ‘Liz on Lancaster’ [NB It’s www. lizatlancaster.co.za]
The following is the attention to detail that EVERY guesthouse should take not of:
-
- A dressing gown – essential in winter – they are so bulky to travel with
- Scissors for cable ties (duh)
- A spare down (duvet/blanket)
- And adaptor next to the bed that takes the plug for the electric blanket, the light and a cell phone charger – not either/or
- A hair dryer that is strong and has the right adaptor in a plug NEXT to the mirror (double duh)
- A bank of two pronged adaptors for cell batteries and cells NEXT to the bed (triple duh) otherwise you have to hope you will hear the alarm on the other side of the room and spend the night tossing in case you don’t)
- A switch to put off the outside light so you don’t feel you are sleeping in a light house
- Soap next to the basin and in the shower so that you don’t discover, now dripping wet that you have to do the soap dash
- A bank of teabags – not only two (quadruple duh)
- Fresh milk – how hard is this?
- A bottle opener if there is an honesty bar (quintuplet duh)
- If you are charging R1000 and over for a room the full DSTV service OR decent wifi
It’s not rocket science peeps.
Thank you Helen During. Our guests love the eye for detail; Liz at Lancaster team have internalized the motto: “the small things count”; and people who work with Liz in her many other contexts HATE her for it!
