One unannounced visit, one written account, one conversation about it.

Start to finish

1. One

   You tell us what you want to know

   A conversation, not a questionnaire. Usually half an hour. Most establishments arrive with a suspicion rather than a question, and that is a perfectly good place to start.

2. Two

   We propose, in writing

   What would be assessed, over what period, at which of your properties, and what it costs. You keep the proposal whether or not you go ahead.

3. Three

   We visit as guests

   Unannounced, on an ordinary day, at our own expense. Nobody at the establishment is told, before or during — and neither are you, because a date in your diary would change the day.

4. Four

   The account is written while it is exact

   It is built from the visit itself rather than reconstructed weeks later from memory. Seventy-two hours on, a guest is asked what they still remember, unprompted, because what survives that gap is what your establishment is actually known for.

5. Five

   You read it, and we talk

   The account goes to you and to nobody else. Then our team takes you through it, and answers whatever it raised.

Questions

Questions we are asked

What exactly do we receive at the end of it?

A written account of one guest visit to your property, in plain language, describing what a guest met and in what order. It is written to be read once and acted on the same morning, not filed. Our team then talks you through it and answers whatever it raised. It goes to you and to nobody else.

Isn’t this what a mystery shopper company does?

It overlaps, and the difference is worth being precise about. Mystery shopping is a checklist run against a process — was the greeting given, was the upsell offered — and it is sold across retail, banking and hospitality alike. This is a guest experience assessed against a standard built for luxury alone. No one in South Africa runs a spa-specialist, instrument-led, anonymous-guest assessment: where spa appears at all locally, it is one line inside a broader hotel audit, or a once-a-year award a property applies to enter. We also use the term mystery guest rather than mystery shopper, and the distinction is not cosmetic — a shopper transacts, a guest experiences.

Will our people know they are being assessed?

No. Nobody at the establishment is told, before or during, and the visit is booked and paid for at your ordinary rate like any other. No individual member of staff is ever named to you. The account describes what happened, not who it can be pinned on.

Is this a score? Can we fail it?

No. There is no pass, no fail and no threshold anywhere in it, because an establishment cannot fail at the thing this measures — quality ebbs and flows, and what you are shown is where you currently sit and which way it is moving. It describes a position rather than delivering a verdict, and positions move.

How long does it take, and how much of our time does it cost?

Yours: about half an hour at the start, and about an hour at the end. Ours: a single visit is assessed on one day, a guest is asked what they still remember seventy-two hours after it, and your account follows shortly after that. You are not told the date of the visit in advance — a date in your diary would change the day, which would cost you the only thing you are buying.

Which kind of establishment do you work with?

Nineteen kinds, from hotels and safari lodges to day spas, wine estates, private aviation and members’ clubs — each approached on its own terms, because a guest journey through a lodge has almost nothing in common with a guest journey through a restaurant. If yours is not on the list, ask: our team will tell you plainly whether a proper assessment of it can be made yet.

Where do you work?

South Africa first, and anywhere on the continent a visit can be made properly. Thirty jurisdictions were researched before a word of this was written, because what may lawfully be recorded and reported differs between them. If we cannot do it properly where you are, we say so rather than travel.

What does it cost?

Every engagement is quoted, because the answer depends on where you are, how many properties are involved and how much of the visit you want assessed. Nothing is published, and the figure arrives in a written proposal before anything at all is agreed. The shortest of the five products never requires anybody to travel, which makes it the least expensive way to begin.

Who else sees the account?

Only you. Nothing is published, nothing is sold on, nothing is shown to another establishment, and your name appears nowhere outside your own account. That includes not naming you as a client.

What happens after we send the form?

Our team reads it and replies within three working days — an actual reply from somebody who has read what you wrote, not an acknowledgement. The reply is a conversation at a time that suits you, and a written proposal follows it. There is no obligation at either point, and if we are not the right people for what you need, that is what the reply will say.