A hotel doctor is no more an unreachable luxury. This service costs the hotel nothing and it certainly improves the guests’ contentment. There are doctors who do the housecalling just as moonlight job but there are also those who do it full time. For hotel management it is important to know that when a guest asks for medical care they do not want to obtain a list of clinics. They want a doctor to visit them in person. Some hotels refuse to recommend a doctor because that could subsequently make them liable for the doctor’s performance. Hotel managers tend to underestimate how often guests request medical attention. According to a hotel doctor, Mike Oppenheim, a hotel generates one to three requests for a doctor per month for every hundred rooms.
For a hotelier it is important to know that the doctor they call is well qualified and that he or she will make a good impression on the guest-patient. The doctor should be chosen after an interview and after checking of the credentials. The doctor should be reachable by phone anytime a day. It is quite annoying when you need a medical help and can only reach a doctor’s answering service.
A hotel doctor may help a guest who has forgotten their pills at home by prescribing it without complications. After all, the positive experience is vital for the hospitability industry and a hotel doctor helps to create it. It can also happen that a hotel doctor is called to help the hotel staff to deal with a situation that does not require his or her medical qualification. For example, dealing with drunken people. There is no cure for drunkenness but the doctor may be able to calm the drunken person down thanks to his/her “doctor’s authority.” For the hotel’s image it is better when a guest is calmed down by a doctor than by a policeman.
