Novotel: superior service in Ipswich

Sometimes I think it’s best to leave reviewing a good customer experience for a few weeks to see if it stays with you for a period of time. The test of a superior service is that when you think back to the experience you get the same positive emotional reaction that you got the first time. So that – combined with a busy schedule recently – is my excuse for not posting an immediately positive reaction to the Novotel in Ipswich.

To be honest, my idea of a short break over the August Bank Holiday weekend was not, originally, to stay in a chain hotel in Ipswich – a town which, generally, doesn’t feature in people’s top 10 holiday destinations. However, leaving booking to the last minute, meant that the original plan for a country hotel somewhere in East Anglia started to look like a tour of potential candidates for Channel Five’s The Hotel Inspector. An attractive advance booking price at Novotel, Ipswich  meant a change of plan to use Ipswich as a touring base/bed for the night while we explored the delights of Suffolk.

As it turned out there was a lot more going on in Ipswich than we had expected and so we spent more time in the hotel than originally planned. And this turned out to be a good thing…

What struck us about the hotel was the genuinely friendly service from all staff, particularly those on reception and in the dining room. What struck me was that they took a real interest in how good a time you were having which is what you expect in a hotel but rarely experience.

Stuck in the middle of a roundabout, next to an identikit leisure park the hotel itself doesn’t immediately strike you as a great place to stay but the attitude of the staff makes it somewhere I would definitely consider going back to.

The acid test comes this weekend where a trip to Leeds means an overnight stay and given a choice we chose another Novotel – so, yes, great customer service does mean you get more business. I’ll be interested to see if the experience is the same.

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