Why Customer Service Feels Rare Right Now

And how some places quietly get it right.

Read time: shorter than most guest complaints

Let’s name the feeling a lot of people have but struggle to articulate.

Customer service feels rare right now.
Not gone.
Not terrible everywhere.

Just inconsistent enough that when it is good, people talk about it.

That didn’t happen overnight. And it didn’t happen because people stopped caring.

This Is Not About Bashing

I want to be very clear before we go any further.

This is not an anti-server, anti-host, or anti-front-desk post.
And it’s definitely not about lowering expectations for teams who are already stretched thin.

The last few years were brutal on hospitality workers.

COVID didn’t just disrupt the industry. It traumatized it.

Dining rooms closed overnight.
Hotels went dark.
People lost jobs, stability, and trust in the business.

Many talented hospitality professionals left for better pay, better hours, or simply less emotional exhaustion. A lot of them never came back.

The people who did come back are often doing more with less:

• Short staffing
• Longer shifts
• Higher guest expectations
• Less patience on all sides

Most teams are trying.
Most teams care.

This is not a labor problem.
It’s a leadership and systems problem.

What Happened to Hospitality in Hospitality?

This is the question I hear most, even when no one says it out loud.

Somewhere along the way, warmth gave way to efficiency.
Care gave way to process.
Service became something to get through instead of something to deliver.

Restaurants didn’t lose hospitality.
They lost margin, people, time, and breathing room.

What replaced it often looked like “serve yourself.”
Not because staff forgot how to care, but because everything got harder at once.

Pressure Changed the Game

Post-pandemic, operators were hit from every direction.

Staffing shortages didn’t bounce back.
Costs skyrocketed.
Margins tightened.
Guest expectations didn’t lower.

So businesses did what they had to do to survive:

• Cut amenities
• Reduced headcount
• Streamlined service
• Leaned harder on technology

None of that was malicious.
It was survival.

But survival mode isn’t where hospitality shines.

Tech Helped. And Also Hurt.

Technology stepped in to solve real problems.

Contactless check-ins.
QR codes. 😱
Ordering apps.
AI chat and automation.

All useful.
All efficient.

But efficiency doesn’t automatically feel hospitable.

When tech becomes the default instead of the support, the experience can start to feel functional instead of welcoming.
Convenient doesn’t always feel cared for.

Guests Decide How They Feel Faster Than Ever

Then comes the human moment.

The greeting.
The tone.
Whether it feels warm or transactional.

“Hi, welcome in” has quietly turned into “seat yourself?”

Sometimes that’s efficiency.
Sometimes it’s fatigue.

Guests can tell the difference.

Care Is the Differentiator Now

Here’s the shift some operators miss.

Good service used to be expected.
Now it’s memorable.

When a place:

• Makes eye contact
• Acknowledges guests
• Explains waits
• Maintains standards
• Feels intentional

People notice.

Not because it’s fancy.
Because it feels rare.

This Is a Balancing Act, Not a Throwback

Resetting service standards doesn’t mean burning out your team or demanding perfection.

It means:

• Being clear about what actually matters
• Designing service that supports staff, not drains them
• Training for consistency, not theater
• Protecting your team and the guest experience
• Modeling the behavior you expect on the floor
• Backing staff publicly and coaching privately

Culture isn’t what you say in meetings.
It’s what shows up during a rush.

And this part matters more than most leaders realize:

Leadership always trickles down.
So does calm.
So does chaos.

The best operators right now don’t choose sides.
They build culture deliberately.
They back their staff.
And they don’t lower the bar.

The Places Quietly Winning

The restaurants and hotels doing well right now aren’t the loudest or trendiest.

They’re calmer.
More intentional.
More human.

They didn’t reinvent hospitality.
They recommitted to it.

Guests feel that immediately.
And when guests feel considered, they come back.

The Reality Check

Hospitality didn’t disappear.
It got buried under pressure.

The operators who dig it back out... realistically, thoughtfully, and humanely are the ones building loyalty right now. And loyalty leads to revenue.

Guests don’t need more options.
They need to feel welcome again.

—

The Checklist
Reality checks for modern hospitality.
One ✓ before your next shift.

Coming up next:

Google vs. Social

Why likes don’t book tables or rooms — search still does

— Back to service.