The Neglected Hotel Star - Luggage Cart

When you drag the tired body, pulling the heavy suitcase, the moment you step into the hotel lobby, the first thing you see is not only the warm reception, but also the luggage cart standing quietly on the side. It may look ordinary, just a metal frame with wheels, but for every guest staying at the hotel, it is an important part of the start of a comfortable accommodation experience, is the silent "star" of the hotel service.

If you think about it, you've traveled a long way, and your suitcase is full of clothes, souvenirs, and various items of life. If there is no luggage cart, you may need to laborously carry and drag these luggage to the room, which not only consumes physical strength, but also may bump into other items on the way and affect your mood. And the emergence of the luggage car, the perfect solution to these problems. It is like a caring assistant, steadily carrying your luggage, so that you can easily shuttle between the hotel lobby, elevator and corridor. However, despite the importance of the luggage cart, we often ignore its existence. In the eyes of most people, it is just an ordinary facility in the hotel, like a corner decoration, only when needed to be remembered. But in fact, the luggage cart has a profound impact on the quality of hotel service and guest satisfaction. It is not only a handling tool, but also an intuitive reflection of the hotel service concept and brand image. A clean, well-functioning luggage cart can make guests feel the hotel's professionalism and meticulousness; On the contrary, old and damaged luggage carts that are difficult to use may give guests a bad first impression and even affect their evaluation of the entire hotel. So, today, let's take a deeper look at this seemingly ordinary, but indispensable hotel luggage cart to explore the story and value behind it.

The "superpowers" show of the luggage cart

(1) Improve handling efficiency

The luggage cart is like the "super handling assistant" of the hotel porter, which greatly improves the efficiency of baggage handling. In the absence of a luggage cart, a bellman may only be able to carry 2-3 pieces of luggage at a time, and it takes a lot of time and effort to balance and move these bags during the handling process. But with the luggage cart, things are very different. Take the common four-wheeled luggage cart as an example, it can easily carry 8-10 pieces of ordinary sized luggage at a time. This means that the number of round-trip handling by baggage handlers is significantly reduced, and tasks that would have required multiple round-trips can now be completed in one.

For example, during the peak tourist season, hotel occupancy is high and guests arrive in clusters. Assuming 10 guests check in with luggage at the same time, each guest has an average of 2 pieces of luggage, making a total of 20 pieces of luggage. If there is no baggage car, the baggage man needs to carry 3 pieces of luggage each time, it needs to go back and forth 7 times to move all the baggage, which not only takes time, but also easily makes the baggage man tired. With the use of luggage cart, the porter can carry 8-10 pieces of luggage at a time, and only 2-3 round trips can complete the task, greatly improving the work efficiency, so that guests can check in faster and enter the room to rest.

(2) Ensure the safety of baggage

In addition to improving the efficiency of handling, luggage carts also play an important role in ensuring the safety of luggage. It is designed with the stability and safety of luggage fully in mind, using a series of ingenious designs, like putting on a layer of "safety protective clothing" for luggage. Many luggage truck countertops are designed with anti-slip design, some set anti-slip texture on the surface, and some use anti-slip materials, which can effectively prevent luggage from sliding off because of bumps or tilts during handling. At the same time, some high-end luggage cars are also equipped with special fixed devices, such as adjustable straps, flexible fixed nets, etc. These devices can firmly fix the baggage on the baggage car, even in the case of more complex terrain or emergency braking, the baggage can also stay in place.

There was once a hotel where a guest was carrying a suitcase with valuables and fragile souvenirs. During the handling process, when the luggage man pushed the luggage cart through a section of uneven ground, suddenly a wheel fell into a small pit, causing the luggage truck to tilt instantaneously. However, because the luggage cart is equipped with strong fixtures, the luggage is firmly secured and does not slip off, successfully avoiding the risk of damage to the luggage. Guests were impressed by the service and the safety of the luggage cart.

(3) Shaping the image of the hotel

Do not underestimate the luggage car, it is one of the hotel's "facade", in shaping the image of the hotel has a role that cannot be ignored. When guests step into the hotel lobby, the first thing they see in addition to the enthusiastic staff is the neatly placed and beautifully looking luggage cart. A new, clean and unique luggage cart will give guests a professional and high-end first impression, allowing guests to feel the hotel's attention to detail and the pursuit of service quality. On the contrary, if the guest sees the luggage cart is dilapidated, covered with stains, and even some parts are damaged, then the guest is likely to question the overall image of the hotel and think that the hotel has insufficient management and maintenance.

Imagine two adjacent hotels, one with a shiny stainless steel luggage trolley with spotless surfaces, smooth wheels, and no noise. Another had a luggage cart with peeling paint, visible scratches, squeaky wheels and a tendency to lean to one side. When choosing a hotel, guests are more likely to like the first hotel more, because the information conveyed by the luggage cart convinces them that other aspects of the hotel's service will be just as good. Therefore, in a sense, the luggage car is the silent spokesperson of the hotel, through its appearance and use norms, to show the hotel's brand image and service concept.

Correct operation to maximize efficiency

In order to give full play to the functions of the luggage car, the correct operation method is crucial. If the operation is improper, it will not only affect the efficiency and safety of baggage handling, but also may cause damage to the luggage cart itself and the hotel's facilities, and even bring a bad experience to the guests. Next, let's take a closer look at the proper operation of the luggage truck.

(1) The loading is exquisite

Luggage loading is not a simple thing to put the luggage on the top of the job, there is a lot of knowledge in this. First of all, we should follow the principle of "take lightly", just like the treatment of precious fragile goods, carefully pick up and place the luggage, to avoid scratching the surface of the luggage and damaging the internal items because of rough operation. When placing luggage, it is necessary to follow the order of "heavy under light on", "large under small on" and "withstand pressure under easy to wear on". The heavier, larger, and pressure-resistant baggage is placed on the bottom, and the lighter, smaller, and fragile baggage is placed on the top, which can ensure the stability of the baggage during the handling process and prevent the upper baggage from falling or being crushed because of the shaking of the lower baggage.

There was once a bellman who, while loading luggage, did not pay attention to these principles, and placed a fragile suitcase full of China under it, and several heavy suitcases were pressed on top. In the process of pushing the cart, due to the uneven road surface, the luggage cart was bumped, and the above luggage was pressed down instantly, resulting in the fragile luggage below being crushed, and the China inside was all broken, which brought huge losses to the guests, and the hotel was therefore in a compensation dispute.

(2) Implementation skills

When the luggage is loaded, it is time for the implementation phase. The standard method of pushing is to hold the handrails of the luggage cart with both hands and maintain a normal walking speed. This can not only ensure the effective control of the luggage cart, but also let the guests feel your professionalism and stability. At the same time, it is necessary to always maintain the state of "universal wheel behind fixed wheel in front", which can make the luggage car more flexible when turning, reduce the turning radius, and facilitate operation in a narrow space. Do not drag the luggage cart with one hand, so that it is not only difficult to control the direction, but also easy to make the luggage cart out of balance, resulting in luggage drop.

In different scenarios, there are also different precautions when implementing. When you meet guests, take the initiative to avoid, please first, and smile to greet the guests. If a guest is in the way, pause briefly and politely ask them to move out of the way. When turning, be sure to slow down in advance and try to enter the corner at a large Angle to avoid turning over or hitting the surrounding items because the luggage cart is too fast. Imagine that you are pushing the luggage cart to turn quickly, and the luggage cart suddenly loses control and hits the wall next to it, which will not only make a huge noise, frighten the guests around, but also damage the luggage cart and the wall, causing unnecessary losses to the hotel.

(3) Access to the elevator knowledge

Getting in and out of the elevator is an easy to be overlooked, but it is a very important link in the use of luggage carts. When waiting for the elevator, stand to the side of the elevator door, and place the luggage cart to the side, so as to avoid affecting others in and out of the elevator. Try to avoid taking the same elevator with the guests, if the guests request, up to 1-2 people can walk, at this time to pay attention to the luggage car advanced, the guests backward. This is because the luggage car is large, if the guests enter the elevator first, it may lead to the luggage car can not enter smoothly, or meet the guests during the entry process.

If you encounter other guests using the elevator on the way, apologize to them and ask them to take the next elevator. When getting out of the elevator, if you meet a guest, you should apologize to the guest first, and after the guest moves out of the way, carefully and quickly pass through. On one occasion, a bellman did not pay attention to the norms of entering and leaving the elevator, and when the elevator door was opened, he rushed in directly pushing the luggage cart, which almost hit the guests inside, causing dissatisfaction and complaints from the guests. Therefore, the seemingly simple operation of entering and leaving the elevator is actually related to the safety of the guests and the service image of the hotel, and must strictly abide by the norms.