Frictionless Innkeeper Podcast
Aug 12, 2026 · 29 min · 13 segments
Technology continues to reshape hospitality, but the personal connections that make guests feel genuinely welcomed and cared for remain just as important. In this episode, Lucy Lewand, a hospitality…
Lucy LewandGuest
Steve ShortHostMattHost
I'm sure that you don't want to talk about of guests that you couldn't do anything about, but what are...
I mean, in my mind, the guest loyalty or any loyalty of anybody towards a business, that can actually be stronger when you have a problem, when they have a problem, and you solve that problem.
So it's like, okay, not ideal that I'm dealing with this problem, but it's more about the way the, the company, the host, whatever, deals with that problem and reacts to that problem, because you can understand people make mistakes, companies make mistakes, whatever.
It's more about, okay, now that you know about the issue, what are you doing? And, and when, when they react in a really go out of their way to fix that problem, you remember that.
And so, any, any war stories of anything? Or if not, you know, what do you suggest to your clients? Like, "Here's how I want you to deal with that," right?
I would s- say, so one of the things I learned, and, you know, back to learning the hard way, is a genuine apology is...
I think we so often are like, "Oh, this is going wrong," and, and trying to, like, pretend like it's not happening in some ways.
But when you actually, someone has a complaint or an issue, and you say, "Yeah, I understand, and I'm really sorry this is happening," and you say it, like, they're expecting you to argue or whatever, and if you give that true apology, it disarms.
I mean, I've seen it disarm just that whole anger, like, "I'm gonna get something." And they tell me that a lot of people do stuff to try to get their money back nowadays, but I never found that myself.
Like, and often I remember this taught and saw it in practice where maybe you're thinking of comping the whole stay, which I don't recommend to my clients ever, but asking them what they think is fair is often way less than what you were planning on.
So, but I, like I said, I guess there's a trend where people say, "Yeah, I don't think I should stay, pay for any of this." But anyway, if you're a really generous person, I think like think, "Well, what would I do?" And then half that as your offer instead of p- offering to comp half the stay.
And that's the other thing that I teach a lot is comping isn't the first thing you should do.
It's like, you know, a bottle of wine or a dessert or appetizers at the restaurant or something like a genuine gift, shall we say, or acknowledgement, then like often you don't have to do anything.
I'm sure that you don't want to talk about of guests that you couldn't do anything about, but what are...
I mean, in my mind, the guest loyalty or any loyalty of anybody towards a business, that can actually be stronger when you have a problem, when they have a problem, and you solve that problem.
So it's like, okay, not ideal that I'm dealing with this problem, but it's more about the way the, the company, the host, whatever, deals with that problem and reacts to that problem, because you can understand people make mistakes, companies make mistakes, whatever.
It's more about, okay, now that you know about the issue, what are you doing? And, and when, when they react in a really go out of their way to fix that problem, you remember that.
And so, any, any war stories of anything? Or if not, you know, what do you suggest to your clients? Like, "Here's how I want you to deal with that," right?
I would s- say, so one of the things I learned, and, you know, back to learning the hard way, is a genuine apology is...
I think we so often are like, "Oh, this is going wrong," and, and trying to, like, pretend like it's not happening in some ways.
But when you actually, someone has a complaint or an issue, and you say, "Yeah, I understand, and I'm really sorry this is happening," and you say it, like, they're expecting you to argue or whatever, and if you give that true apology, it disarms.
I mean, I've seen it disarm just that whole anger, like, "I'm gonna get something." And they tell me that a lot of people do stuff to try to get their money back nowadays, but I never found that myself.
Like, and often I remember this taught and saw it in practice where maybe you're thinking of comping the whole stay, which I don't recommend to my clients ever, but asking them what they think is fair is often way less than what you were planning on.
So, but I, like I said, I guess there's a trend where people say, "Yeah, I don't think I should stay, pay for any of this." But anyway, if you're a really generous person, I think like think, "Well, what would I do?" And then half that as your offer instead of p- offering to comp half the stay.
And that's the other thing that I teach a lot is comping isn't the first thing you should do.
It's like, you know, a bottle of wine or a dessert or appetizers at the restaurant or something like a genuine gift, shall we say, or acknowledgement, then like often you don't have to do anything.
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