Hospitality

Hospitality is defined in one dictionary, Wordnet by Princeton University, in a way that I really like. It says hospitality is “kindness in welcoming guests or strangers.” For most of us, most of the time, the guests who come to our hotels are strangers to us. By using the one simple word, kindness, we find hospitality described in an easy to remember form that all of us can understand. We can approach any guest contact situation with kindness. I find that the word kindness evokes a pleasant and positive feeling for people when they hear it. To apply kindness to hospitality really helps anybody understand what is meant by hospitable service.

The overall environment to give our guests the best stay possible is one of kindness, cordial, and generous hospitality. An environment that is welcoming and informative with no problems. To avoid potential problems have information ready if the guest needs it, but don’t force the information on guests who don’t want it.

Generation X likes to gather information and if you can provide the information they are asking for, when they ask for it, then you become a hero to the Gen X guest. You take one more step to proving that you deserve their loyalty. Anticipating needs is the best way to reduce, or eliminate, problems before they occur.

Not too long ago I was in Portland, Oregon, to conduct a seminar at the Holiday Inn Portland Airport. The printer sent out the workbooks for the seminar one day later than I expected. So, at 10:00 o’clock the night before the seminar, I was in desperate need for a FedEx Kinko’s store to print some emergency copies of the seminar workbook. I asked at the front desk where I could find the Kinko’s and the desk clerk knew the location of the store. She then opened a file drawer and pulled out a piece of paper which she handed to me. It had exact, detailed directions to the Kinko’s store. It started with ‘turn left out of the hotel driveway…’ and it included distances between each turn. I drove to the Kinko’s store as if I had made the trip a hundred times before. That hotel anticipated my needs and prepared the information ahead of time to satisfy my need. That was something I did not expect. They exceeded my expectations by preparing for my needs.

For more information about Generation X and their hotel travel patterns, as well as some tips on coaching Gen X, my eBook is available for download.
http://www.freewebs.com/borderlandhosp/xcellentserviceebook.htm