Service Failures in 3- to 5-Star Hotels in Accra, Ghana

This paper examines service failures in 3- to 5-star hotels in the Accra Metropolis in Ghana. The objectives of the research were to ascertain the categories of service failures commonly experienced by guests and assess guests’ level of dissatisfaction with the service failures. Descriptive survey design using critical incident questionnaires (CIQ) was used to collect data from a purposive sample of 174 guests who experienced service failures in ten 3- to 5-star hotels. The data were analyzed using SPSS. The most dominant service failures experienced by guests were service system failures, such as unavailable/irregular service and defective products, occurring mostly in the housekeeping departments. With the revelation of potential service failures experienced by guests and their effect on guests, this study offers suggestions to managers to revamp some policies to curtail some service failures and improve service delivery. This study contributes to the literature on service failure in the context of a developing country.

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