Which MSCs are usually good about offering hotel shops? I've seen some offer intermittently. Which ones would you recommend I check out? I'm in the NE but travel a bit as well. No need to name the hotel chains which would be the subject of the evaluations.

Seriously? Just spend 15 minutes reading past discussions - it's been spelled out multiple times, over and over again......

I did use the search function to go through past discussions and didn't get an answer to my question, that's why I asked the question here. Instead of taking the time to write an unhelpful response, you could have just pointed to the post that you thought would have been helpful.

How about "no". If you can't find the information so clearly discussed multiple times (within last week as well) how do you propose to prep for and complete shops with 20 pages of guidelines and 20+ pages of reporting?

Are you talking about the post where everyone says they can't RBG actually to assign a hotel evaluation? Or the one where folks call hotels about wedding catering? Or the one where the OP is a west coaster? Explain to me why discussing the merits of each MSCs is so stupid that I am too stupid to complete an evaluation. Or how belittling a genuine question is the best use of your time over reupping a good resource for folks within your community.

Not "stupid" - just lazy and unwilling to do your homework. The majority of your past posts (and yes, I looked them up, it took all of 45 seconds to find) were all about asking for hints about MScs doing particular shops and asking for DMs from members in order to divulge the info.
Your question was not asking to discuss the "merits of the MSCs" offering hotel shops, please reread your original question.

"Which ones would you recommend"

kpersaud, I'm not familiar with that area.

On a separate note, just in general for anyone (myself included - I can get better at this, not directed at anyone specifically) become familiar with searching the forums. There's a lot of good info there, that's still relevant. Utilize all of the fields and dropdowns.

Sometimes there is the urge to ask about something specific or bring something up again to refresh. Sometimes you see the same question that was recently being asked about a topic you follow. Some shoppers don't follow the forums that closely. If it's a short answer, sometimes it's best just to answer it to close a topic that's run its course or move the discussion along. If it requires a more specific/difficult answer, it's fair to expect you won't get an answer.

Okie, thanks for the response and the advice!

Follow-up question on your guidance. Admittedly, I read the posts intermittently (and even less than that recently). I use the search function and set it to 'search all forums' when I'm looking for something specific. In this case, I searched the word 'hotel' across all forums. I also went through the "latest" tab on top as well. I went pretty far back into those results and didn't see my question answered. The responses I saw after doing my searches had to do with calling hotels, folks not getting responses from hotel shop requests, etc. None of these things helped with the question I had. What would have been the better approach to this? You would think searching across all forums would have pulled all relevant posts, no?

The sites I normally see hotels posted to are occasionally RBG and Coyle but none of them have anything listed recently. I've had these types of shops posted on Gigspot as well but I do not remember the MSC who listed it on the board and I haven't seen them listed there is quite a while. When I talked to folks on Reddit, they were helpful but seemed to have luck w/ HS Brands and Coyle. I worked with HSB on the reg for valet evaluations but never any hotels. Coyle doesn't have much posted in my area and 0 in the way of hotels in addition they can be hit-or-miss to work with. I think it's probably a regional difference but I was hoping some folks within the community had some insight.

Again, thanks for sharing your insight!

The search is not perfect, but the link below will probably get all of the (close to) relevant hits you need on one page. At that point, it does require some digging on your part.
[www.mysteryshopforum.com]

There's also list of MSCs. Admittedly, I have not gone through all of them.

@kpersaud I'm surprised that you wrote that Coyle hasn't posted many hotels lately. This past month, Coyle has posted more hotels than I have ever seen them post at one time this past year, across the States (and beyond). Maybe something like 100, possibly even more (I didn't keep count, but one of the chains had like 30 or 40 hotels alone). But they were almost all for September though (though a few in October and even November), and my September was already booked up so I was disappointed. BUT, they are ALL over the country, almost never in one region. New York and Florida seem to get the most. If you are restricting to one specific area/region, you will rarely ever see them, unfortunately.

@laloweryshops, thanks for the input. I haven't seen any available in the areas where I am traveling. Certainly, I do not travel constantly so part of it may be a timing thing. I try to line up my MSs with my work travels and I can do it with restaurant shops, retail, etc. but I do not see hotels where/when I go. I was recently in Boston and the only shops were retail, in Syracuse last week and there were only facials, and in Boston next week and there are only parking evals. Two weeks ago I was RI and will be back there next month and it is looking bone-dry. Before this, I was in NY and NJ. NYC had one that was too far away from my venue to be viable and there none in the area in NJ/PA that I was near. The hotel evals I get from Coyle are hotel restaurant/bars. I'd say most of the work I get from Coyle is restaurants.

Where in NY are you seeing them and maybe they book up early? (Most of my travel is in NE so I've never looked into Florida but I'll take into consideration the next time I'm down there.) Have you noticed a pattern of when Coyle posts new evals? Also, I normally use the map function on Coyle to search for available evals. Is this what you do or do you think there is better way of finding them?

Your advice is more than welcome, thanks again!

@kpersaud Okay, so the issue is going to be timing. Coyle had, as I said, many many shops both in Boston, RI, NY, and more. I'm in New England too. They were all over. There were probably a dozen or more hotels and dozens of restaurants, between August and November so far. And one of the hotels was a 2 night stay at one of the fanciest hotels in Boston, for this month. However, it's all about timing. Coyle posts their shops anything from a few days to a few months ahead of time. For example, one of the fine dining restaurants for Coyle I did last week in Boston was posted several months ago. And I'm doing another restaurant for them in Boston next week that was posted a week or two ago. And their shops stay on the board anywhere from a few hours to a few days usually, tops (unless no one applies). I totally would have applied for the super fancy hotel shop, but Coyle sometimes gives very little notice for hotel shops and it was for this month and I was all booked up.

My tactic for searching for Coyle shops is quite time intensive but I just check the Coyle board every morning. This way, I have my pick of shops. And I also use a time intensive way to search the shops. I do not use the map. Instead, I click "Open Opportunities" and get rid of all filters and then I go down the list of all clients. I will also then use the search function to search for all shops in whatever states I'm interested in. That's how I do it. I don't mind the time because I really appreciate the special opportunities that I get with Coyle hotel/resort shops. I get to go on vacations that I could never afford otherwise, ones that are sometimes worth $3000-4000 for two days.

But if you wait until the week or two when you are actually looking, or look once for shops next month, you are rarely going to find anything. Consistency in checking the boards is key to secure the most/best shops for Coyle, in my experience.

Hope that helps.

The other thing I've noticed is the hotel shops are mainly in larger metropolitan areas.

Closest I've seen to me is an hour away for one night. Another at a casino 2 hours away.

You also have to realize for most you have to put cash out sometimes thousands of dollars. Then if your shop is rejected you're out that money!

From what I've read here, hotel shops are not condusive to be done to pay for your vacation stay. It's a job where you get to pamper yourself at the hotel and write the report.

@laloweryshops wrote:

@kpersaud Okay, so the issue is going to be timing. Coyle had, as I said, many many shops both in Boston, RI, NY, and more. I'm in New England too. They were all over. There were probably a dozen or more hotels and dozens of restaurants, between August and November so far. And one of the hotels was a 2 night stay at one of the fanciest hotels in Boston, for this month. However, it's all about timing. Coyle posts their shops anything from a few days to a few months ahead of time. For example, one of the fine dining restaurants for Coyle I did last week in Boston was posted several months ago. And I'm doing another restaurant for them in Boston next week that was posted a week or two ago. And their shops stay on the board anywhere from a few hours to a few days usually, tops (unless no one applies). I totally would have applied for the super fancy hotel shop, but Coyle sometimes gives very little notice for hotel shops and it was for this month and I was all booked up.

My tactic for searching for Coyle shops is quite time intensive but I just check the Coyle board every morning. This way, I have my pick of shops. And I also use a time intensive way to search the shops. I do not use the map. Instead, I click "Open Opportunities" and get rid of all filters and then I go down the list of all clients. I will also then use the search function to search for all shops in whatever states I'm interested in. That's how I do it. I don't mind the time because I really appreciate the special opportunities that I get with Coyle hotel/resort shops. I get to go on vacations that I could never afford otherwise, ones that are sometimes worth $3000-4000 for two days.

But if you wait until the week or two when you are actually looking, or look once for shops next month, you are rarely going to find anything. Consistency in checking the boards is key to secure the most/best shops for Coyle, in my experience.

Hope that helps.

This. This is one of the most helpful and thorough responses I’ve seen. And I - as someone who has worked for Coyle for years - approach looking for Coyle shops the same exact way.

I will add - Coyle, RBG, HS Brands are the three MSCs that consistently publish most (but not all) of their opportunities for anyone to see. The only additional companies that I might add would be TrueGuest, SQM, and maybe ACL (in certain areas).

The rest are typically invite only small sublists that are not posted publically. My advice is to foster partnerships with schedulers and companies, only accept shops that you can commit to giving 110 percent to, and patience.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2024 10:42PM by MickeyB.

Agreed with Mickey on seconding @laloweryshops advice. I check every AM over coffee because the good hotels post and often get assigned that very same day. At the most, 2 or 3 days later, unless it's problematic hotel to schedule.

That said, Coyle has a habit of posting top of the quarter and top of the month. There have just been a few straggler shops posted the past week. Last week of Sep and first week of Oct will probably have the remainder of hotels and resorts for 2024.

And this is also important

@wrosie wrote:

The other thing I've noticed is the hotel shops are mainly in larger metropolitan areas.

You also have to realize for most you have to put cash out sometimes thousands of dollars. Then if your shop is rejected you're out that money!

While Coyle works with people not to reject shops if possible, you have to be ready for everything required, and not miss any components. If you are in the city for other reasons and trying to do the hotel shop on the side, you best be extremely organized and able to work quickly/not sleep much.

For some hotels, I don't even have time to leave the property. There's one hotel in NYC that Mickey and I used to do that was so time intensive, the one time I ever left was to walk the circumference of the hotel for an exterior evaluation. And we would usually give the spa visits away to our guests since there was very little free time.

Now...there are less work intensive hotels available. I have one end of the month that only has me ordering room service with no other F&B requirements, so I am planning to go out, enjoy the city and see a Broadway show.

I used to do a lot of restaurant and corporate dining room shops for Coyle when I lived in NYC. Never did a hotel shop for any MSC. Anyway, now that I'm in New England, the shops closest to me that Coyle offers, whether hotel or restaurant, are in Massachusetts, around Boston. That's still two states away from me. Nothing in my state, where there aren't huge cities and no major airports. Unfortunately, working for Coyle again would require me to create a route through a few states to get to where their shops are mostly concentrated.
.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2024 04:42AM by shopnyc.

Curious if anyone has done a shop with Regal Hospitality Group? I signed up some months ago and a round of locations posted from a chain. There was one within 10 miles of me. This specific location seemed to be on the simpler and straightforward side based on the description. Overnight stay, dinner and bar, breakfast. I figured I work up a sweat near that area with someone and crash there. I debated whether it was worth it, but didn't seem that bad and might be a good way to get experience with them.

In my application, I highlighted all of the overnight stay evaluations I've done so far and relevant experience that pertained to the required elements. It got denied though, and it may have just been more qualified applicants. But just wanted to see if anyone had any experience with them? What were the reports like?

@Okie wrote:

Curious if anyone has done a shop with Regal Hospitality Group? I signed up some months ago and a round of locations posted from a chain. There was one within 10 miles of me. This specific location seemed to be on the simpler and straightforward side based on the description. Overnight stay, dinner and bar, breakfast. I figured I work up a sweat near that area with someone and crash there. I debated whether it was worth it, but didn't seem that bad and might be a good way to get experience with them.

In my application, I highlighted all of the overnight stay evaluations I've done so far and relevant experience that pertained to the required elements. It got denied though, and it may have just been more qualified applicants. But just wanted to see if anyone had any experience with them? What were the reports like?

If I'm not mistaken, a timeshare presentation is part of the shop, but I could be wrong.

@wrosie wrote:

@Okie wrote:

Curious if anyone has done a shop with Regal Hospitality Group? I signed up some months ago and a round of locations posted from a chain. There was one within 10 miles of me. This specific location seemed to be on the simpler and straightforward side based on the description. Overnight stay, dinner and bar, breakfast. I figured I work up a sweat near that area with someone and crash there. I debated whether it was worth it, but didn't seem that bad and might be a good way to get experience with them.

In my application, I highlighted all of the overnight stay evaluations I've done so far and relevant experience that pertained to the required elements. It got denied though, and it may have just been more qualified applicants. But just wanted to see if anyone had any experience with them? What were the reports like?

If I'm not mistaken, a timeshare presentation is part of the shop, but I could be wrong.

Hm, looks like this one doesn't have that requirement.

Nope! I don't get anything in this area from them but folks I've spoken to on Reddit seemed to seemed to be active with them. Similarly, other folks use TrueGuest but I can't find anything from them. Maybe both of the MSCs are regional. I've never seen anything in the NE from them.

@Okie I have been following the Regal job board for a while, and I applied for an upscale hotel shop for one of the cash integrity 2 night overnights about a month ago. (When I am not doing hotels for Coyle, I prefer the cash integrity overnights rather than the ones where I have to evaluate check-in/housekeeping/public areas, etc, because the reports are so much easier and less time-consuming for me.) I did not get it assigned at first, but it was still on the board. I emailed the scheduler and introduced myself to her, since I had not done any work for them before, and she was super friendly and thanked me for contacting her. She ended up assigning me the shop. However, we had to cancel it (without penalty) because no rooms ended up being available at the hotel on the only weekend that I was free in September.

I will note that there is a pretty detailed thread on Regal hotel shops on this forum that do not paint Regal in the best light. However, there are also multiple threads on the horrors of yet another hotel MSC that I have personally had some really lovely experiences with.

@shopnyc, thank you so much! This is my experience exactly in the NE area. Good to know I am not alone!

Is the other hotel MSC that people complain about Coyle?

Thanks! I am going to try SQM. RBG, ACL, Coyle, TrueGust and HSB all do not have a single hotel shop anywhere near me or my travels. I've never seen anything at all from True Guest, unfortunately. I work with the other MSCs but just on other shops, not hotels.

@laloweryshops Thank you! I’ll check out the thread. I think other MSCs may have a better hold of the properties in my area. The chain that was posted seems to use a variety of MSCs.

@kpersaud No, I was not speaking of Coyle. The other hotel MSC that people on this forum have shared negative experiences about is CHC Solutions. However, I began working with them before I saw those posts, and I am glad that I did because I have had wonderful interactions with them.

Huh, I hadn't heard of them. Maybe I'll take a look.