Edgbaston Park Hotel

insight6

At insight6, we believe exceptional client experience (CX) is more than good service—it’s a critical business driver. Discover how we collaborated with Edgbaston Park Hotel to enhance its guest experience, increase bookings and satisfaction, supporting its aspirations for a 5-star rating.

In this case:
The Challenge
CX Solutions
Results

From Enquiries to Bookings – CX Matters. 

Leading Birmingham venue, Edgbaston Park Hotel and Conference Centre, aspires to be a world-leading hospitality destination. The Hotel is eager to enhance the quality of its customer service, supporting its 5-star aspirations. It was keen to improve enquiry handling to boost satisfaction and the conversion rate to bookings. The Hotel engaged with insight6 to undertake a tailored programme of Customer Experience Reviews (mystery shopping) and staff training. 

“Working with insight6 has significantly enhanced the way we deliver our guest experience.”

Clare Barnbrock, Head of Reservations, Conference & Events

About Edgbaston Park Hotel

Edgbaston Park Hotel and Conference Centre is an award-winning 4-star hospitality business in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Owned by the University of Birmingham, the Hotel offers venue spaces for various events and special occasions.

The hotel features 188 contemporary bedrooms, as well as a popular restaurant and bar, catering to conference attendees, wedding guests, and city visitors. The venue can accommodate up to 240 event guests and offers two tastefully restored 20th-century historic buildings for all types of events and celebrations.

The Challenge

Edgbaston Park Hotel and Conference Centre has a bold ambition – to become a world-leading hospitality destination. Reaching that level means delivering exceptional service at every touchpoint and ensuring that every guest interaction reflects the hotel’s premium aspirations.

To meet this challenge, the hotel needed a fresh, data-led approach to assessing and enhancing its customer experience (CX). With increasing demand across its accommodation, weddings, and conference enquiries, the team recognised the need to enhance enquiry conversion rates and elevate service consistency.

Working closely with Stuart Plant, the insight6 Customer Experience Director for Birmingham, the hotel set out to raise the bar. With a shared understanding of the hotel’s journey and growth goals, insight6 designed a programme tailored to support the next stage of their CX evolution.

Using CX Insights to Strengthen Service and Drive Growth

To support the Hotel’s vision and rising guest expectations, insight6 developed a tailored programme focused on enhancing the end-to-end enquiry experience. The programme included a combination of Customer Experience Reviews (mystery shopper calls) to the reservations team, and targeted staff training.

The programme evaluated key customer interactions, from wedding and conference enquiries to room bookings and cancellations, ensuring every stage met the high standards expected of a premium hospitality destination.

Thanks to the established relationship with insight6, the hotel team valued the depth of feedback and real-time insights provided. The precise, actionable data helped them pinpoint opportunities for improvement and confidently drive up service levels across the business.

“Working with insight6 has significantly enhanced how we deliver our guest experience. Their detailed reports provided an honest, unbiased view of how our team interacts with potential guests over the phone. The feedback was both constructive and actionable, helping us identify training opportunities we may not have spotted otherwise.”

Clare Barnbrock, Head of Reservations, Conference & Events

Testing Touchpoints to Identify Opportunities

Customer touchpoints shape the overall experience and provide valuable insights into customers’ experiences. We assessed the hotel’s customer touchpoints (online, by telephone, email, and in-person) for bookings using highly trained mystery shopping experts.

Our CX Reviews (mystery shopping) are scheduled randomly to avoid identifiable call patterns. We used in-hours and out-of-hours reservation calls, cancellation calls, and a mixture of phone and online enquiries for conferences and weddings to see the business through the customer’s eyes and identify opportunities for improvement.

Today, the hotel records and reviews all phone conversations, and the scores are used as feedback to support team training and development.

Increasing Bookings and Customer Satisfaction

At insight6, we know the difference an independent perspective can make. Edgbaston Park Hotel and Conference Centre is pleased to report that conversion rates for conference and event bookings have increased by 21% over the past two years since the programme began. The booking conversion rate in the highly competitive wedding space has increased by 17.5%. 

Gathering customer experience data is a smart first step, but real value comes from turning insights into action. Regarding Hotel room stays, the average customer satisfaction score for the reservation experience was 92.36% for 2024. This figure is expected to continue increasing further into 2025, indicating a sustained year-on-year rise in engagement and satisfaction. The hotel commercial team created internal training plans for an aspirational 5-star service, aiming high with customer engagement and satisfaction.

Clare Barnbrock, Head of Reservations, Conference & Events, Edgbaston Park Hotel

“Since partnering with insight6, we’ve seen measurable improvements in call handling, upselling techniques, and overall guest engagement, including some further suggestions on how to take calls to the next level and provide a 5-star service. I highly recommend their services to any hotel looking to raise service standards and truly understand the guest journey from the first call.”

Clare Barnbrock, Head of Reservations, Conference & Events