Large hotel chains like Marriott, Hilton, and Wyndham as well as small hotel groups across the nation are either starting their own valet operations or hiring a parking management company to manage the valet service for them. The reason for this is simple, most hotels these days are dealing with a lack of parking space and are simply not staffed for parking large amounts of vehicles.
If you go any popular travel site that allows customers to rate the hotel they stayed at you will see hundreds of comments stating parking was an issue. Here are a few comments regarding hotel parking from TripAdvisor.com.
Saso G.
“The hotel is in nice location, owners are slowly investing in it, but the rooms are still in the 70s style. Rooms are clean and nice size. Staff is unfriendly. Problems with parking during the weekends when people are coming to the camp next to the hotel.”
Nancy C.
“Stayed for a meeting overnight & enjoyed my stay. Food & facilities are excellent and commendable staff. Asked front desk staff about not being able to get parking again & was told that they had a big event. I have been to this hotel 3 times before & didn’t have any parking slot available. It was good that the assistant manager welcomed me for my stay & was able to solve this parking issue.”
“Have stayed at this hotel numerous times. Nice room generally although room 101 was both too warm and noisy if windows are open. Negatives this time:
It states that parking is available but we were driving around for 25 minutes trying to park at around 8.30pm, in the end squeezing into a tiny spot that wasn’t actually a parking place. When mentioned to reception the response was “well we host quite a few functions so sorry for that”. Ok you might think but after a long drive the last thing I expected was a stressful drive around looking for parking, along with another visitor. Also was given a bill £16 more than was quoted, this was refunded after showing documentation of the initial price. Nice hotel overall but customer service possibly needs a more proactive approach.”
You can see there is a clear correlation between hotel parking management and a positive hotel experience. In fact, most of the comments you will find that mention parking being an issue at the hotel or resort they stayed at usually have nothing but nothing but positive things to say about the business other than the parking but that still doesn’t necessarily make them leave a good star rating. This is why every hotel, resort, and casino should take into account the effects a lack of parking has on their establishment.