There is no doubting the grandeur and luxury of the Sofitel’s Hotel Metropole in Hanoi. There is a sophisticated french colonial atmosphere that has been augmented under the Sofitel brand. The old citroen’s out the front fight for attention with the gleaming color coordinated cyclos and the liveried staff hint at a bygone era of un-rushed sophisticated travel. I was thinking: string quartets over afternoon tea, changing for dinner and staff who anticipate your every need often before you realize that same need yourself.

Hotels – especially luxury hotels such as the Metropole – differentiate themselves on service because most hotels in this price range have similar facilities. The rooms are luxurious, elegant and fitted with every convenience. There are a couple of restaurants, one often with a famous chef, there is a famous bar or lounge and an elegant Spa. The Metropole has all of these and I can particularly endorse the Spa (ask for Miss Ha).

This all comes at a price of course- one that most of us think is fair otherwise we wouldn’t stay there. But if a hotel charges these premium prices then the service needs to live up to the same exacting standards. Everyone told me that the service at the Metropole was legendary.

Sadly it is not.

It is not that the local staff are not delightful – always smiling, always willing and always very smart in their elegant uniforms. It is just that the standards are not consistent. And at this level – and at this price – they should be. The staff – and of course, the guests – deserve better from the Metropole’s management.

I might be being über-critical but as someone that has spent over 200 nights a year in hotels for the last 10 years, I do understand what good service can mean to the customer experience. More than that, I also do mystery reviews for a leading luxury hotel chain, represented a luxury hotel chain in the middle east, am building a luxury hotel and spa in Italy and my day job at Accenture is all about Improving Customer Experience, so my comments come with some objectivity.

So for me the real differentiator is not how good the service is, but how that service makes you feel. Great Hotels realize this which is why hotel branding and marketing is so much more than a website, a glossy brochure or a fancy room. greta Hotels focus on making the hotel a destination, an experience in itself using their staff, customer service and their amenities as the tools by which we experience that brand.

Done right, it drives the bottom line because a great customer experience creates an emotional connection. We are most passionate, most willing to share when we feel good about somehting. This advocacy is marketing nectar. It cannot be bought and thus the resulting independent reviews, repeat business and that elusive “word of mouth” recommendation start to create the differentiation that the Hotel was seeking in the first place.

So what went wrong at the Metropole because I had received a number of recommendations exotlling the hotel and its service?

Well, the checkout experience was one of the most confusing, poorly explained and burdensome I’ve had in many years. Even getting American Express Centurion Services on the phone didn’t seem to help. The receptionist was flustered, unable to explain the process and even the duty manager was confused. It took nearly 30 minutes.

In the brasserie restaurant you would often have to ask 2-3 times for something and on most occasions there was an error with the order. Nothing major but it was systemic.

On several occasions the turndown service for the room in the evening didn’t happen. Not that I needed it but again it is more an indication that the training and the management are not as good as they should be. In particular the F&B manager and the Head Housekeeper need to review some of their processes and training.

Mistakes happen. People have good days and bad days. We all understand that and make allowances for it. But a hotel is designed to be efficient and to “work” when it is at full occupancy, not just the low season. A brand such as Sofitel – particularly its luxury Legend hotels – cannot afford to get the basics so wrong.

I don’t think the Metropole has it right yet. Overall I loved the building. I loved most of the staff. I loved the Spa and the food was excellent. But the management needs to be less complacent, more focus on driving for perfection, have a greater attention to detail and deliver that rare yet critical and still lacking component…consistency.