This guide builds a post-stay survey for a fictional mid-sized hotel on St Kitts. The same method works for a restaurant, a dive shop, a school or a professional firm. It takes about half an hour the first time.
Step 1: Decide what you want to learn
A survey without a clear goal produces answers you can’t use. Our hotel wants three things: an overall satisfaction score, the weakest part of the stay, and permission to ask happy guests for a public review.
Step 2: Draft the questions
Keep it to eight questions or fewer:
- How likely are you to recommend us to a friend? (0 to 10)
- How would you rate your room?
- How would you rate breakfast and dining?
- How would you rate the airport transfer?
- Did you visit Nevis during your stay? (Yes or no)
- If yes: how easy was it to arrange the ferry or boat trip?
- What one thing should we improve?
- May we contact you about your answers?
Step 3: Add branching
Question 6 should only appear for guests who answered yes to question 5. In Mailpro, you set this with a simple rule. Similarly, a low score on question 1 can open an extra question asking what went wrong. Mailpro’s market research survey and customer satisfaction survey templates show other patterns you can reuse.
Step 4: Brand and test
Add your logo and colours, and a friendly intro: Thank you for staying with us on St Kitts. Two minutes of your time helps us improve. Test it on a phone.
Step 5: Explain the data use
State briefly why you are asking and how answers will be used. If you want to add respondents to a marketing list, ask for that separately. This matches the notice and consent principles of the Federation’s Data Protection Act, 2018.
Step 6: Time the invitation
Send the survey two to three days after check-out, once guests are home. Most of our hotel’s guests live in North America or Europe, so schedule the email for mid-morning in their time zone rather than in Atlantic Standard Time. Use the survey sharing tools to send by email, SMS or QR code.
Step 7: Read and act
Watch results in live survey statistics. Our hotel checks weekly: if transfer scores dip, the manager talks to the driver company; if the ferry question shows confusion, the pre-arrival email gets a clearer section on getting to Nevis.
Step 8: Close the loop
Reply personally to anyone who left a low score and agreed to be contacted. Invite high scorers to leave a public review. Before the next high season, share what you changed in your newsletter; guests like to see that their feedback mattered.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Asking about everything at once. Pick the few areas you can actually improve.
- Sending the invitation while the guest is still on the islands and busy enjoying them.
- Promising anonymity and then asking for an email address. If you want contact details, say why.
- Collecting answers and never replying. Guests notice when feedback disappears.
Beyond guests
The same steps work for an internal staff satisfaction survey, useful for keeping good people through the busy season.
For more survey types and features, go back to online surveys in St Kitts and Nevis.