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This story is one of the ones that makes me like my job, so I figure it's worth telling. A few weeks back, we had a convention here at the hotel, and a lot of the attendants were elderly and retired. Now, as is the case with most hotel guests, the majority of them were neutral, and we had almost no contact with them aside from passing them in the hallways and such, but I got to run in to one of them in a less-than-idea circumstance.
Ms. M, as we'll call her, was drinking some water in her room, and it went down the wrong tube. Unfortunately, she was unable to clear it, and she started choking in the room, so her friend immediately called for help, and I ran up with a few of my staff. Now, luckily, she had another friend who clapped her on the back a bit, and she was finally able to start coughing enough to get some air, so she was ok when we arrived, but we placed her on some emergency oxygen, and the paramedics came shortly after to check up on her as well. Until they arrived, we kept her company, and talked to her while she regained her voice and enjoyed the oxygen we brought with us.
Now, I have to do that sort of thing from time to time, so the moment passes, and a week or so later I've forgotten about the whole thing. So, what makes this guest so memorable? Yesterday, a letter arrived at the hotel, addressed to me. A 4 page letter which, in great detail, describes me and every member of my staff, thanking each one of us personally, by name, for what we did. And it's no small bit for us, she literally went on for pages singing our praises, and generally just heaping love from afar in our general direction. In all my years in hotels, I have never gotten such a sincere letter back from a guest, and probably won't see another quite like it before I retire. I made copies for everyone in the letter, to keep, gave a copy to the general manager and my bosses, and I took the original home and put it in a scrapbook.
In short, that letter is a shining point of light in what has been an extremely stressful month and a half, and though I'll probably never meet Ms. M again, she's one of the few who really let us know that we did something good.
Now, to work on the rest of my guests so they can be that cool.
Ms. M, as we'll call her, was drinking some water in her room, and it went down the wrong tube. Unfortunately, she was unable to clear it, and she started choking in the room, so her friend immediately called for help, and I ran up with a few of my staff. Now, luckily, she had another friend who clapped her on the back a bit, and she was finally able to start coughing enough to get some air, so she was ok when we arrived, but we placed her on some emergency oxygen, and the paramedics came shortly after to check up on her as well. Until they arrived, we kept her company, and talked to her while she regained her voice and enjoyed the oxygen we brought with us.
Now, I have to do that sort of thing from time to time, so the moment passes, and a week or so later I've forgotten about the whole thing. So, what makes this guest so memorable? Yesterday, a letter arrived at the hotel, addressed to me. A 4 page letter which, in great detail, describes me and every member of my staff, thanking each one of us personally, by name, for what we did. And it's no small bit for us, she literally went on for pages singing our praises, and generally just heaping love from afar in our general direction. In all my years in hotels, I have never gotten such a sincere letter back from a guest, and probably won't see another quite like it before I retire. I made copies for everyone in the letter, to keep, gave a copy to the general manager and my bosses, and I took the original home and put it in a scrapbook.
In short, that letter is a shining point of light in what has been an extremely stressful month and a half, and though I'll probably never meet Ms. M again, she's one of the few who really let us know that we did something good.
Now, to work on the rest of my guests so they can be that cool.