Togwotee room charge

[star7143]

Bonus Questions

Hey Erocket & Sleddingfarmer,

Thanks for your feedback regarding the grats paid to our staff.

Guest satisfaction plays a pivotal role in determining the share each staffer receives at the end of their season.

Our managers do their utmost to identify who is genuinely committed to our goal of complete guest satisfaction, and your feedback fills in whatever blanks remain.

I really appreciate your feedback and look forward to receiving any future questions or advice you might have for our organization.


Have a great day!

Duncan

 

[Dakota Drifter]

Duncan
Not sure about the specifics. I was more interested about the great snow conditions. They did talk to someone about it when they checked out.

 

[Jeff C]

Hey Erocket & Sleddingfarmer,

Thanks for your feedback regarding the grats paid to our staff.

Guest satisfaction plays a pivotal role in determining the share each staffer receives at the end of their season.

Our managers do their utmost to identify who is genuinely committed to our goal of complete guest satisfaction, and your feedback fills in whatever blanks remain.

I really appreciate your feedback and look forward to receiving any future questions or advice you might have for our organization.


Have a great day!

Duncan

Duncan:

Has ANY staff member been "let go" this year AT ALL?


I really would like an answer ........



Seems to me that the way the economy is today:
1. You can't afford to be sending a shrinking supply of customers somewhere else
2. there is an increasing pool of people waiting to be employed, and might do a better job than some of your staff (You hear me?)


If I was repeatedly getting feedback like you are getting on this thread, I would root out the bad apples, and polish up the ones I had left........


YOU should mandate that your staff members wear name tags (If they don't already), and mandate that they put their names on the meal tickets, and service receipts. Then hand your patrons a duplicate receipt so if there was a service issue, people would know who from a staff level was involved.

Place (If you have not already) in each room, on every table, comment cards.

Raise the room fee $5 for the stay, and give it back to them upon checkout if they take a minute to give feedback on a comment card.

The 1-5 rating your staff gets should in some way come from the customers, not the supervisor that occasionally observes staff members treatment of customers.


Upon check in, have YOUR business card handed to each and every customer with your name and phone number, or office number on it (Some way to get in touch with you quickly).

Have your supervisors call every customer or even knock on every cabin door while they are staying there, log all calls.........

This is at least the second year of a thread like this for your establishment. If it were me, I would be very embarrassed, and want to right the ship.

 

[skidooboy]

we have stayed twice in the last two years, both times prior to xmas. this year i ended up with altitude sickness very badly at the end of the first days riding. i didnt even come down to eat, but my wife asked for a dessert for me to bring back to the room, and the staff didnt hesitate to accomodate her request. the next am the server who gave the dessert even asked how i was feeling and offered suggestions to help with the AMS (accute mountain sickness). that for me was above and beyond.

i understand how much everyone pays dont get me wrong, and i understand how some expect ALOT in return but, people need to understand it is a respect thing, and it goes both ways. do you need clean sheets EVERYDAY AT HOME? do you need a fresh towel at home everyday for your shower? do you make yourself, or your wife make your bed up EVERY MORNING? my guess is no. so why do you expect it when you are a guest somewhere else? the room sheets, and towel are no dirtier when you are on vacation than at home... and you made the mess and want someone else to clean it up? (again i understand wanting to get pampered and paying the seemingly high prices.) think about how much it would cost you to build a house there, and provide the same service for yourself.

for us, we make our own beds, clean up after ourselves and respect the room and property as if it is our own. the only thing we ask is for TP and our trash removed. we try to put the do not disturb sign on the door so the house keepers can take care of someone else who might need/want it more. this also keeps our things safe if we leave anything in the room of value. i personally dont want ANYONE in my room without me being there for any reason.

we have used noah for both our trips, this year he added ryan to our group to help with guiding and stucks. they both were professional and courteous especially to my wife who had confidence problems the first few days of the ride. they both offered help with pointers and line selection for her, and were pacient when we couldnt keep up with their skill levels (especially with me being sick). they took our group to untouched untracked powder everyday, and we all got to ride the style we liked at one point or another during the week. we tipped both guides each day, they dont make much doing that, and we couldnt get to some of the secrets spots without their help so, the tip is easy for us.


duncan, one thing i could offer you is keeping your managment suprize inspections of the bar, rooms, cabin and resturant but also have private inspections with "secret shopper" type people you can trust for true reviews, friends, family, good guests even maybe. dont let anyone know who they are, except your key managment staff. let them get the same service as regular patrons and have them report back to you and or your upper staff with detailed info for their true guest expirience.

probably gonna get flamed for this next paragraph but, i got a flame retardant suit so, here goes...

i believe you make your own vacations great, why leave it up to a waitstaff or housekeeping to make or break your good time. were snowmobilers not supermodels, you dont need to be waited on hand and foot, every waking or sleeping moment. if you do, go to the spa or take a cruise or something. and when you do... wait to see what that bill will be. it will be ALOT MORE than what you pay to stay at TML for a vacation. and to think, you got pampered and never got to ride any great powder or see the tetons, or any one of the magnificiant views there are on the togwotee pass.

thats how memories are made. my .02 take it for what it is worth. ski

 

[Dakota Drifter]

Skidooboy
I think you missed the whole point of this thread. If you hang a do not disturbe sign on your door then how would you know what housekeeping's job is ? Sure I don't need to have bed made and all that but at $230 a night PLUS A 5% ROOM SERVICE GRATUITY I would expect some service. I have NEVER been to any lodge or motel that has not come into my room and cleaned and made the bed.

Are you going to use a towel your buddy has been using for a couple of days ? We have 4 guys to a cabin with snowmobile gear hanging all over. It's pretty hard to keep 4+ towels seperated. We drink, cook and eat in the cabin. I thought you said this was a vacation but according to you we should start to bring our own vacuum, garbage bags, TP and color cordinated towels. You are a anal idiot. Do you go wash the towels at the end of your trip and fold them back up for the next guest ? Do you bring your own vacuum and cleaning supplies or do you buy them once you get there ? Do you think the lodge would nock the 5% charge off our room ?

I've been to many other places to snowmobile and all the other lodges are half the price and ten times the service, yet I keep coming back to TML for the RIDING. I guess I'm not a supermodel either, just a snowmobiler that works hard for his money and likes to get the services that I pay for.

Kind of hard to show respect to employees that treat you like you just pi$$ed in there cherios before you even say hi.

 

[skidooboy]

i didnt miss the whole point of the thread. this thread is about service opionions at tml. but, i say my piece and i get trashed by you, with you resorting to immature name calling because, i am adult enough to take responsibilty for my own actions, and being able to keep track of my own towell and making my own bed for a few days in the lodge or cabins. OUTSTANDING!!!

NEVER IN MY POST DID I SAY YOU NEED TO BRING YOUR OWN TP OR TOWELLS, OR VACUME THE ROOM. but you imply that in your post.

i wont resort to name calling, you've shown who you are to the forum. ski

 

[Dakota Drifter]

How can you coment on housekeeping when you hang a do not disturb sign on the door ?
If you want to make your own bed and clean up the room more power to you.
All I want is some houskeeping and friendly service just like any other lodges/motels. It is a lodge not a friends house.

Sorry I totaly took your post wrong but I felt like you were attacking people who want clean rooms, towels and beds made (service). You came across kind of anal in your post.

 

[XP Summit]

ski,

speak for yourself... we are snowmobiling supermodels.... did you see Kevin's hair gel bag? LOL... the thing is huge.

Shawn

 

[dafarmer]

OK, some people just are not getting the meaning of the thread. My point was, I was paying for a service(5% grat) that didn't get rendered--unless we called the front desk. We only asked for 3 things-- new towels, TP and garbage taken out. Nothing more. But if I wanted sheets changed it should be done without developing an attitude! So, bottom line is, if the 5% was never on the bill this thread wouldn't exist!!


I did call Duncan and had a pleasant conversation with him. He took the time to here my issuses and write them down. He also understood it was all about service. I really respect him for commenting on this thread.


Duncan, I told you I was hopefully going to make another trip in March, but not looking so good. I haven't gave up yet. If I do make it, I will look you up.

 

[tim600xc]

heading there tomorow

hey dafarmer
we're going there tomorow we'll see if things are better than last time we were there. I'm pretty sure they will be....

 

[dafarmer]

Hey Tim, thanks for taking me along! You know you're gonna miss me! Don't forget the barrier pillow!!

 

[gspbirdhunt]

Tog Visit March 11-16

Just returned from our first trip to Tog. Was a little nervous after reading all the posts but we had a great experience. Arrived on thursday at 10:00 am and they let us in our room immediately. Two ladies at the front desk were very helpful and fun to bs with.

We stayed in the lodge with a room above the bar - they offered to move us if it got to loud - but wasn't a problem. Beds made every day with fresh towels. Bar food was reasonable and descent although wings and onion rings are top notch! Bartenders not overly friendly but did keep table clean and drinks full.

All in all, zero complaints for the lodge or staff. Regardless of the lodge, the trip ranks as excellent because of the riding... After Laramie several years and then Cooke, Tog will certainly be a destination for snowmobile trip 2010 and beyond.... Thanks to Dakota Drifter for pointing us in the right direction... Found some great powder even with the lack of fresh snow up there.

Thanks to Ben and Duncan at the lodge. We fortunately did not experience some of the problems others did. Hope thats an indicator for future visits for all.

 

[Sxrlar]

My brother and I were out there the first week of March. Everyone was awesome, the food was good, our guide Nate rocked, just a great time. As far as room cleaning and stuff, don't know, I hung the do not disturb sign on the door the enite week. I don't need new sheets, and I used the same towel all week. Great place, loved it!

 

[star7143]

Checking In

Hey Guys,

Been away for a while and just wanted to check in.

To some of the questions and comments:

We received this past fall at least 500 applications for the 90 jobs we had available. We did our very best to choose the best possible candidates for those positions. There would be no value for us to do any less than that. We need good workers with smiling faces!

We do lose folks here every season (At least 25% of our original staff this season). The majority of the people who are let go are let go due to their inability to get along with others and attitude related issues. People who don't care just aren't a good fit for our place.

It's challenging to say the least to hire folks over the phone! I can know more about a person in five minutes face to face then I can ever know after 30 minutes on the phone...but it is what it is. We do our best to coach our staff, but at the end of doing all we can we have to make the hard decision and we do.

Hey DaFarmer! Sorry to hear you can't make it out this March! We still have plenty of the white stuff and the weather has been beautiful! Thanks for the honest feedback during our call...I'm not one of those guys that's gonna nod in all the right places to make you think I'm listening. I know you're trying to help and I appreciate it!

You guys have some great ideas! We are initiating a mystery shopper program next season that we're very excited about, and I promise that I'll carefully consider all the suggestions put forth in this forum.

I appreciate all your support and recommendations and we'll continue to make a genuine effort to make Togwotee all you guys have come to expect and want from us!

Have a great day!

Duncan

 

[skidoo eater]

I'm curius to see if things really will change or if star 7143 is trying to be one heck of a PR person. The first person I would let go in that staff is the pot smoking, bartender with the hat. Her idea of bar service is completely ridiculous. Wait ten minutes for a drink, got looked at like their doing us a favor, got asked not to roll dice for dollars but we could roll for fun or move to the other room, and got last called at 10:15 when we were spending $50 a half hour on drinks. We were told our ten people wasn't enough to keep the bar open. Last time I checked that easily covers a staff wage for staying open in a building you're already heating. Not to mention the people that might have come in to the place at 10:30 to find a closed bar.

That was right over New Years week, and things might have changed. Unless there is some really good remarks about service getting better and things changing on that site (besides a staff members post),I won't spend another dime at the place. I, like others, will take my business to a owner and a whole staff who appreciates there jobs, the businesses they work for or own, and who gives a little respect to the tourists that make their jobs possible. I'm not asking for the red carpet, but a little people skills would go along ways.

 

[Rev Kev]

typing this from our cabin at Togwotee, and the staff here has been awesome, yes even the Housekeeping staff. The front desk gang has been great as well, and it is starting to snow, so things will get even better!!

 

[Sleddingfarmer]

I'm curius to see if things really will change or if star 7143 is trying to be one heck of a PR person. The first person I would let go in that staff is the pot smoking, bartender with the hat. Her idea of bar service is completely ridiculous. Wait ten minutes for a drink, got looked at like their doing us a favor, got asked not to roll dice for dollars but we could roll for fun or move to the other room, and got last called at 10:15 when we were spending $50 a half hour on drinks. We were told our ten people wasn't enough to keep the bar open. Last time I checked that easily covers a staff wage for staying open in a building you're already heating. Not to mention the people that might have come in to the place at 10:30 to find a closed bar.

That was right over New Years week, and things might have changed. Unless there is some really good remarks about service getting better and things changing on that site (besides a staff members post),I won't spend another dime at the place. I, like others, will take my business to a owner and a whole staff who appreciates there jobs, the businesses they work for or own, and who gives a little respect to the tourists that make their jobs possible. I'm not asking for the red carpet, but a little people skills would go along ways.

i cant think of her name off the top of my head, but it was something unusual wasnt it?? Started w/an F maybe?? Never had issues w/her or the other young cuter bar tender...
Anyways fwiw she is gone(or should be) we talked w/her a couple times when we were there in early feb and she was leaving mid month to back to seattle to go on tour w/her band or something...

 

[mikes99ss]

I posted this on another forum but i figured it pertained to this tread so i copied and pasted my review of out trip from 1/29/09 to 2/6/09



Well I am back from spending 7 days out at Towotee. 6 Days of riding and one day in Jackson. The first 3 days of riding was with Brent as a guide and he is da man. Lots of fun and he took us to spots that only the mountain goats know even exist. Day 4 is when our worst fear in this trip came true. I don't want this to turn into a bash thread but i had a bad experience and wanted to share it. We meet with the general manager at Milwaukee snow show this summer and told here that above all we didn't want to get paired up with a group that couldn't or didn't want to ride the powder and guess what. Day 4 that is exactly what happened. So we went on our own. Day 5 Jackson day 6 with a guide that i don't think knew the area any better than we did and day 7 we flat out got dumped, No guide at all. so off on our own we went, again. I just wanted to share an experience that might not be a positive one but it's how it happened. For a lodge that is bills itself as an all inclusive snowmobile resort we spent half of the time entertaining ourselves because we either couldn't get the guide the knew where the good stuff was, couldn't get with a group that had any interest in the good stuff or couldn't get a guide at all. For what they charge per person per night in my mind this is absolutely inexcusable. The terrain is awesome, the views event better but lets face it, you are there to ride the good stuff and you pay dearly to do so. At the end of the day they did not provide that. Just my experience. I think what would have been nice is if ant checkout somebody would have asked me how the trip went. I could have then expressed my concerns

If you guys from the lodge would like to discuss this with me you can feel free to email me at mike99ss@yahoo.com I want to go out west next year but i am unsure at to where just yet.