The Tune approach to guest satisfaction goes well beyond the conventional budget mindset, we discovered on a recent visit.

When staying at a hotel, I often wonder what services am I paying for that I am not in fact using.  It can be tricky to untangle what is included in the hotel rate and what isn't – but this is less of an issue with Tune Hotels, where all extras are transparently listed before you book.



This transparency is part of an obsession with the customer experience – maybe surprising for a group which also has some of the cheapest hotels in London.  The words "cheap hotel" and "friendly service" are rarely found in the same sentence but it seems to occur more often than not at Tune, helped by a more measured expansion strategy than some of its rivals.

On a recent fact-finding mission behind the scenes of the chain's new Liverpool Street Hotel (already knocking on the door of the top 100 London hotels on TripAdvisor which is remarkable for a low-cost hotel) we investigated the Tune service philosophy in more depth.



Tune has already opened two hotels in London - Tune Hotel Westminster and Tune Hotel Liverpool Street (pictured above) - with several others in the pipeline.

The friendliness of the reception staff has been noted by a lot of recent TripAdvisor reviewers and reflects the group's recruitment strategy which prioritises attitude over experience.  Staff are then trained to deal with customers in a warm and hospitable manner and to see them as individuals.  This makes comparisons with Ryanair – which has a similar pay-as-you-use pricing system – sound a bit superficial.

The friendly factor was confirmed by my blog colleague Andrea during her stay at Tune Westminster when she commented: "Tune also scored five stars on friendly service from the moment I walked in".



All Tune Hotels have internet terminals available for guests for a modest charge

The guest feedback form that all customers are encouraged to fill out on leaving includes rating factors such as: cleanliness, comfort, friendliness of staff and prices.  We snapped a pic (above – top) of a guest feedback form during our recent visit of the new Tune Hotel Liverpool Street.

The original Tune London hotel has now firmly established itself as one of the best genuine budget hotels in Westminster with prices kept consistently low, while the chain is also preparing to open a Paddington hotel shortly as well as a new hotel in King's Cross this July.



Tune Hotels opts for a premium "coffee station" rather than the usual impersonal vending machines that less service-oriented budget hotels would go for

The Tune service philosophy extends to other areas too, especially on a couple of factors that experience has shown to be particularly important to budget travellers: standards of cleanliness and sleep quality.

The obsession with cleanliness comes from the top as the Tune Hotels CEO personally confirmed to us in an interview on this blog.  And somewhat surprisingly for a budget hotel, they also provide the same Hypnos beds to their guests as are used in many 4 and 5 star hotels.

As we walked around Tune Liverpool Street, we noted the durable materials that had been used in fitting out the hotel – done partly out of self-interest since good materials will obviously last longer and often be cheaper to maintain.  But the generally "solid" feel of the hotel will also surprise guests who do not expect this level of product quality in a budget hotel.  And as we've commented before, new hotels have natural advantages - a fact which Tune seems to be fully exploiting.



Flatscreen TVs are another feature you don't expect to find in a budget hotel - but the beauty of the pay as you go system means that you only pay for this amenity if you have time to use it

So while some companies will use the pay-as-you-use system to sneakily "cross sell" and maximise revenue, Tune Hotels tries to present its add-ons as great value in their own right.  For example, while we've passionately campaigned in favour of free WiFi London hotels, Tune is at least transparent about its WiFi charge and keeps it low.  Unlike a number of famous 5 star London hotels that dupe you into assuming WiFi is free before clobbering you with a huge daily rate when it's too late.

The Tune philosophy as far as we can make out is to act in budget travellers' interest by not forcing them to pay for amenities they didn't want, need or use – while overdelivering on the essential building blocks of a stay (a clean room, a good shower and a refreshing night's sleep).



All Tune bedrooms have luxury Hypnos beds to faciliate a good night's sleep. Another useful touch is the fact that extra space is provided underneath to store luggage

It will be interesting to see how well they can scale up on this philosophy as they expand and open more hotels.  For further images of Tune Liverpool Street do check out our Tune Hotel photos on Flickr.

Photo credits: London Hotels Insight blogger Timea.

http://londonhotelsinsight.com