Morgan Williams | 3 months ago

I've been in hospitality for decades, but only about 20 years in Mallorca. So, I'm going to give you a bit of my experiences, and the experiences of others that I associate with that also have holiday lets or work in hotels. First, there are a few different types of tourist. One is the type that is coming to "let loose" and have a beachy (or private pool bash in the case of villas & fincas). Their goal is to party. drink, get crazy, have a great time. The other type is coming for a different reason. They're coming to relax, get away from the day to day life that they live, in a nicer climate, where they can just sit by the pool, read a book, go golfing, take a tour on horseback, see some pretty sights, maybe visit a museum. They mainly drink wine, but not excessively, so maybe they'll visit a vineyard and pick up a few bottles of nice wines. Now, neither of the above has much to do with nationality (with a few exceptions). There's a few guest profiles that anyone in hospitality has learned by experience, that you can expect "issues" with. One type is groups of under-30 yrs, of 6-12 people. They're not coming to relax. They're coming to party. They drink excessively, they don't pay much attention to cleanliness or order, they strew things about, they fall over and break things, they they spill drinks and leave food out on the countertops, they create mountains of rubbish (mostly liquor and beer bottles) and if there's something unique in the house, such as a stylish bathrobe, some cool beach towels, a good quality hair dryer, interesting candle holders, a book about Mallorca, etc., they'll be happy to pack it in their suitcase when they leave. Another type is they type that is "high maintenace". They don't like the colour of the pillowcases, and ask you to change them. They think it's too cold or too hot (and this can change by the minute). They've never seen a gecko before, and assume that it's some venomous reptile intent on killing and eating everybody in the house. They'll call you out to get rid of them. And other stuff. Obviously, these would not be most people's most desired guests. There's ways to avoid these types, but that's beyond the scope of this. Then there's things that certain nationalities consistently exhibit. In the case of British tourists, these are the commonly known behaviours: (generally, not always, but many - if not most - British tourists consistently exhibit these behaviours). First, in my experience, Brits are generally very friendly and polite, and so no problems there. BUT... Consistently with Brits, you can expect a complaint about something. It doesn't matter how good everything is, there will be *something*. But unlike any other nationality, Brits will never tell you so. They smile, tell you what a lovely time they had, then write all their complaints that you never heard about in their review. Mostly petty stuff. We rarely get British bookings, because Brits need British stuff, and we don't have much of that around here - although we have plenty of truly excellent dining, bars, boutique shops, supermarkets - everything you need, but they're not British. And when they do show up, they write that there "was nothing around", they had to drive to Palma (or Calvia). Right, then. Why didn't you just book something there? Brits need their English pub, Fish & Chips, Curry, and most importantly, they need to see other Brits when they go on holiday. Nothing wrong with that, but it explains why they overwhelmingly will be found where other Brits are. Outside of those handful of British enclaves, it's extremely rare to hear a British voice. But it also explains why most Brits assume that "Majorca" is a British dominant holiday destination. After all, you see almost nothing but Brits in Magaluf. So, when Brits do come, what do they come for? Generally it's because they *have* to - they're attending a wedding nearby or some other event, and need a local place to stay. Otherwise, they wouldn't bother. Other times, they're having a family holiday and just wanted to be away from the resort hubub. Which is fine. While there are other - often worse - guests, with Brits, you can pretty much expect the accommodation to be left in a less clean and more disorderly fashion than most other nationalities. I don't know if it's simply that Brits generally live that way, or that since they're on holiday and they paid for it, they can do whatever they want. So, we normally pay for a 3-4 hour cleaning, but with Brits, it's often going to be 5-7 hours. That gets expensive. Then, there's the spray on tanning thing. In my experience, we've never had any other nationality use those products. Or if they do, they wash them off before going to bed. I can understand it a bit - Brits rarely see the sun. They are generally very fair skinned and burn easily. So, rather than looking like a lobster, many Brits (especially women) will spray on their tan. It's much easier. And they look better for it. OK, that's fine. But with British guests, I can expect to toss some number of sheets and pillowcases, because even the best laundry service can't get it out. Our laundry service knows it well. They always ask, "English, right?". Yeah, we know. We only use the highest quality cotton sheets and pillowcases because the bulk of our guests do know the difference and cheap polyester sheets will be met with a complaint. They're expensive to replace. But there's more... I belong to a local "association" of others who run holiday lets. I put the word "association" in quotes because it's really just a social thing. We get together occasionally, often at a restaurant (sometimes at their holiday lets too), break bread, have some wine, joke, compare guest stories and so on... And every one of them agrees about British guests - especially the spray on tanning thing. One of the "members" has found a "solution": Whenever she is booked by British guests, she puts on the cheap polyester sheets and pillowcases - according to her, not one complaint about that. They complain about other stuff, but not that (we'd normally get slammed by guests for using polyester sheets, but maybe Brits don't know the difference?). Anyway, this stuff is no secret, nor some theory. It's well known in hospitality. I suppose if you run a place in a British resort, then all this would seem normal. And also why Brit resorts don't go to the trouble to use high quality items, or deliver a better quality experience for British guests. After all, just look at the narratives here - it's entirely about price for Brits, but you can't deliver 5 stars on a 3 star budget (and many Brits apparently don't know the difference anyway) - AND look where the majority of Brits go - They're not exactly the upper end of tourist resorts. The general expectation is that Brits seek price over quality, yet are amongst the more expensive to accommodate. It's hardly a secret. It's just a cost of doing business. And that explains why in the hospitality business, Brits really aren't the most preferred tourists. Others are less complicated and less expensive to accommodate, and aren't nearly as price sensitive. It's just good business to attract them.

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