GUEST SERVICES HANDBOOK

May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Ed Watkins

Given the significant boost in room rates, hotels had better be providing oodles of facilities, amenities and other goodies to keep guests happy. While a lot of the latest in guest services revolves around technology (things like check-in kiosks, premium TV programming and high-speed Internet access), many hotels are also focusing on the softer side of the guest experience by upgrading bathrooms, bedding and personal care amenities.

Our annual Guest Services Handbook is an easy-to-use guide to those vendors that provide the latest in guest-oriented amenities. Use the reader service card in the back of the magazine to get more information from any of these suppliers.

The other side of guest service, of course, is more personal. It's the small and large acts of kindness that hotel employees and management do every day to make their customers feel more at home.

Each year, the American Hotel & Lodging Association sponsors its Stars of the Industry Awards Program to honor lodging GMs, managers and employees for their hard work and dedication. Here are a few prime examples of extraordinary guest service from some of this year's Stars nominees:

Hugh Chambers, banquet server, Westin O'Hare, Rosemont, IL. Banquet servers are accustomed to fulfilling guest culinary requests but the one Hugh Chambers received from a just-married couple at their dinner reception required Hugh to make a late-night run to a local fast-food joint.

Hugh, who has served as a banquet server for 21 years, has distinguished himself by going out of his way to accommodate any guest's need. Recently, a just- married couple mentioned in passing to Hugh, their head-table waiter, that they had arranged a separate meeting room for guests to go to after the wedding and that they would like to have White Castle hamburgers for guests to enjoy. Always customer service-oriented, Hugh jumped in his car at 12:30 a.m., drove to the nearest White Castle restaurant, picked up 200 sliders and brought them back to the hotel. But Hugh knows that presentation is everything so instead of just plating up the food, he put the burgers on silver platters and waltzed into the room where the guests were gathered and served them.

Shujaat Khan, head concierge, The Capital Hilton, Washington, DC. Concierges are known for securing concert or other event tickets, arranging tours and making restaurant reservations, but this concierge's ability and willingness to go above and beyond his daily responsibilities has made him a reliable and trusted source for hotel guests and his fellow employees.

Shujaat has been honored twice in the past few years with Hilton Hotels' Spirit of Pride award for his outstanding customer service. For example, when a guest mistakenly left $13,000 in cash on Khan's desk, he found the guest and returned the money. When another guest left essential court documents related to a major lawsuit in the back of a taxi, Khan investigated until he was able to track down the correct cab. The panicked guest didn't remember much about his cab ride, including the name of the cab company, the color of the taxi or a description of the driver but he did remember that the cabbie was listening to a sports talk radio show. Khan called the local sports radio station, got himself on the air and made a plea to the driver to return to the hotel immediately. Ten minutes later, the cab returned and the guest had his box of documents back.

Arifa Hodzic, style manager, W Lakeshore, Chicago. Imagine being a presenter at an early-morning meeting and your luggage from the night before never arrives? A guest at the W Lakeshore hotel was recently in this predicament when he didn't have any appropriate clothing to wear to the meeting. Style Manager Arifa Hodzic came to the rescue. A talented seamstress, Arifa fitted the customer with one of the hotel's staff uniforms. She hemmed the pants and even created a slit on the bottom so the pants appeared tailored to fit. She steamed the jacket and pants, polished his shoes and delivered the goods to him within 25 minutes so the guest was able to attend his presentation on time and in style.

Fongying “Polly” Hallen, concierge, Chicago Marriott Downtown, Chicago. Concierges generally aren't called upon to go to traffic court or to provide medical and legal aid, but those are only two of the more unusual guest service assists Polly Hallen recently provided to two guests.

When a guest received a parking ticket for parking in a no parking zone in front of the hotel, he insisted to Polly that the hotel pay for it. Without hesitation, Polly apologized, took the ticket and promised she would personally take care of it. Polly requested two separate days off and spent them in Traffic Court, pleading the case. She was able to get the ticket dismissed.

On another occasion, a Chinese doctor who spoke no English was staying at the hotel and was struck by a piece of concrete that fell from a nearby building. Polly, who is fluent in Chinese and Japanese, spent three days with the guest at Northwestern Hospital serving as a translator. She arranged for his prescriptions and helped him find an attorney.

Sandra Madison, van driver, Aspen Hotel, Fairbanks, AK. Sandra Madison is more than just the van driver at the Aspen Hotel. While her main responsibilities include driving guests to and from the airport and rail station, she also sets up and replenishes breakfast offerings, cleans public areas as well as the kitchen, sets up meeting rooms and handles guest requests, including a very unusual one well-suited for Sandra. She is of Native origin so when a recent older guest told Sandra that his last wish was to visit Alaska one last time, Sandra ensured that the guest's wishes to gain a better understanding of Native culture came true. Sandra, who regularly competes in the World Eskimo Indian Olympics, knew the guest didn't have time for the lengthy visit to the Olympics site so she gave him a personal demonstration of the various events in the hotel lobby. When the guest returned from the town of Barrow disappointed that he didn't purchase Eskimo boots, Sandra put out an all-points bulletin to friends and relatives and arranged for a pair designed specifically to his expectations.

Raul Berrios, guest services supervisor, Hyatt Regency Bethesda, MD. Raul Berrios knows his way around cars, but he didn't think his mechanical skills would be needed at his job until a recent event changed all that.

Recently, a guest arrived at the hotel on a Sunday morning to attend a wedding and realized that the underside of his car had been damaged. He discussed the problem with Raul who told the guest he would work on a resolution so the guest could attend the wedding without worrying about the condition of his car. In order to fully assess the problem, Raul climbed under the car and found that the car's oil pan had come completely off and was unable to hold any oil. Being a Sunday, all auto repair shops were closed and when Raul contacted them on Monday morning, none of them would even look at the car before Tuesday and the parts that were needed to repair the problem would have to be ordered from a dealer. Raul alerted the front desk and asked them to extend the guest's stay at the weekend rate.

On Monday, his day off, Raul called the nearest dealer to see if they had the necessary parts in stock. The guest gave Raul his credit card and Raul purchased the parts and spent two hours replacing the oil pan and refilling the oil. He suggested that the guest have a professional review his work as soon as possible, but the repair allowed the guest to return to his home in Dulles, VA. Later, Raul learned that the appreciative guest was the general manager of a hotel in Virginia and in his thank-you note to Raul, he said he was so impressed with Raul's customer service that he was going to use his actions as an example of outstanding guest service to his own employees.

Jim Brych, head bartender, Holiday Inn Inner Harbor, Baltimore. Visitors to this Eastern shore city often like to dine on seafood and Jim Brych made sure that some recent guests didn't miss this experience at his hotel.

Recently, a group of guests arrived at the hotel's lounge on a Sunday night and were disappointed to find that calamari wasn't on the menu. Jim overheard them making plans to dine at seafood restaurant the following night. Jim told them that if they came back to the hotel's lounge the next night that the chef would prepare for them some of the best calamari they had ever eaten. To ensure that the guests had an outstanding dining experience, Jim stopped by the city's famous Lexington Market on his way to work on Monday and purchased fresh calarami for the chef. Mission accomplished.