with liberty and free wifi for all.
OH, I’M SORRY, LARRY. I THOUGHT THE POINT OF GETTING A HOTEL WITH DELICIOUS BREAKFAST SERVICE, SOME HOT TUBS AND A NICE LITTLE POOL WAS TO USE THOSE AMENITIES TO INCREASE OUR ENJOYMENT SINCE THEY’RE INCLUDED IN THE RENTAL PRICE. FUN DOESN’T COST EXTRA. I DIDN’T REALIZE CHECKING YOUR EMAIL 200 TIMES WAS YOUR IDEA OF A GOOD VACATION OR I’D HAVE JUST BOOKED US A TABLE AT THE COFFEESHOP BY OUR HOUSE.
I’M SERIOUS. STOP TEXTING AND FROLIC WITH ME BEFORE I STRANGLE YOU.
A guest apologized to me other day.
It’s a situation that almost never happens. There was a mix-up with his reservation, and housekeeping entered his room after check-out time, thinking it was vacant when it really wasn’t. A misunderstanding in our conversation from the night before had caused this, and he became very angry and raised his voice to me at the desk.
The next day, as I saw him walking in the front door and towards me, I’ll admit I was a bit fearful. But a surprising thing happened. The guest said he understood where I was coming from - in my urge to help everyone (and eventually get to the gentleman behind him), we’d misunderstood each other. He knew my intents were good, and did not mean to raise his voice. He was just frustrated. I completely agreed with his take on the situation, and he went back to his room, taking with him a weight off my shoulders.
I’m posting this desk story because although we love our guests, sometimes they just make us want to punch things. They want what they want how they want it and NOW, and sometimes pleasing them is exhausting. And when they get mad about these tiny things, we tend to roll our eyes behind the scenes. But the surprising experience I had the other day reminded me that we’re all just people.
I was trying to be the perfect agent that day - there were so many people, and with less-than-normal staffing, and a great teammate recently leaving my hotel, providing the same level of service was a bit of a challenge. And therefore, my service suffered.
So thank you, Mr. S, for your valuable lesson in taking the time with each guest. Because sometimes even The Someday Hotelier forgets how important treating each guest individually is.
Modern Family, “Planes, Trains, and Cars”
Yesterday, I had the amazing opportunity to attend Hands-On DUMBO, a great event in northern Brooklyn sponsored by Etsy, who’s HQ lies there (and has been compared to Pixar’s Emeryville wonderland), and the DUMBO Improvement District. Guys - it was awesome.
While I love hotelier…ness, one of my main toutings of this blog is the amazingness that is Brooklyn. And DUMBO is definitely one of our finest attributes.
jerssica asked: Why do shmancy hotels charge for wifi, but Best Westerns and the like toss it in with the room?
The answer can vary for some, but with my experience, it all comes down to two words: business travelers.
These lucky ladies and gentlemen that stay in hotels on a regular basis have expense accounts. Their companies negotiate a rate with a hotel (which, you may notice, is a larger and perhaps branded hotel - almost never a boutique) in the area where their employee needs to be, and then gives the traveler a certain stipend to eat and get their work done. And though wifi used to be a luxury that the travelers could write off, it’s absolutely essential now - work emails, Skype conferencing, the like. So the company pays for it and the hotels profit.
In addition, these large and branded hotels also tend to use it as bargaining. You’re having a convention with us, and you’d like wifi for all your attendees? Sure, just pay a little extra. You are a transient traveler and want wifi for fun and games? Well, if you were one of our top-tier loyalty guests, you would receive it during your stay! Make sure to stay with us more!
Obviously, I disagree with the withholding of wifi. I’m a member of the religion that wifi - standard connection, mind you - should be fast and free. However, if you’re planning on downloading the entire Nora Ephron movie collection (may she rest in peace!) during your stay, that’s a bit of abuse to a system most guests are using just to check their email and update their Facebook statuses. If you’re looking for a super-fast connection for heavy downloads that will eat up all your hotel’s bandwidth, then maybe there should be a paying tier for that type of use.
Thank you, my lovely roommate, for this lovely question :).
Hello, Manhattan! #brooklyn #betterthanyourborough (Taken with Instagram)
