Malaysians – Frequent and Ethical Hotel Guests

November 30, 2016

Malaysians – Frequent and Ethical Hotel Guests

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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, 30 November 2016 – Expedia.com.my® released the results of the 2016 Expedia® Hotel Etiquette Poll that looks into guests’ behavior and preferences when staying at a hotel. The poll was conducted globally on behalf of brand Expedia by GfK Custom Research amongst those aged 18+ who have stayed overnight in a hotel. In Malaysia, the survey was distributed throughout all the states of Malaysia.

Whether it is for a vacation with loved ones or business, a whopping 79 percent of Malaysians have stayed in a hotel overnight at least once in the last 12 months. The preference for staying at a hotel could be associated with the fact that Malaysians enjoy the finer things in life as over 90 percent voted room service as a somewhat or very important amenity in their chosen hotel. In fact, over 80 percent Malaysians deem room service as a necessity rather than a luxury.

The only factors that came up higher than room service on the list of priorities, were the price at 97.8 percent and the ability to self control the room temperature at 93.6 percent, while the end-all, must-have amenity that superseded all others was, not surprisingly, the Wi-Fi at 99 percent. While a majority of Malaysians does expect a complimentary Wi-Fi in their hotel, should they need to, majority, at 36 percent, are not willing to pay for Wi-Fi more than USD$10 per day.

Simon Fiquet, General Manager for Southeast Asia and India, Expedia group said: “We at Expedia are all about making the travel more convenient, reliable and enjoyable for our customers. In this spirit, we undertake a number of surveys each year in order to improve the total experience our travelers get. We believe that this particular study will allow hoteliers a thorough insight into what could be improved to make their visitors’ stay even more meaningful.”

Dream guests

Malaysians might expect a top-notch treatment when it comes to room service and complimentary Wi-Fi but they are also a treat to host, as majority never breaks the hotel rules.Only around 10 percent of respondents allowed multiple people sleep in their room without notifying the hotel or stated the hoarding of toiletries to take home, as some of their favorite holiday past times. Similarly, only 3 percent admitted to having smoked in a non-smoking room, while a mere 1.1 percent checked in under a fake name or snuck in a pet without notifying the hotel.

Silence Please!

Interestingly, the study revealed that over 57 percent of respondents stay in a hotel for leisure. Whether it is to spend time with loved ones or to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and just have some “me time”, nothing annoys Malaysians more than the Hallway Hellraisers. A total of 64 percent voted that noisemakers outside of the hotel room as the most annoying and offensive type of hotel guests.

Some other high-ranking pet-peeves of hotel guests that Malaysians are not keen of include:

The Inattentive Parent – the hotel guest who let their children misbehave.
The Complainers – the hotel guest who harass hotel staff over minor inconveniences.
The Loud Speaker – the hotel guest who speaks loudly on their mobile in the hotel common areas.
The Bar Boozer – the hotel guest who gets sloshed in the hotel bar.
The Hot Tub/Pool Canoodlers – amorous couples in the hotel hot tub or pool.