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Luxury is an Open Window

1/20/2015

Merriam‑Webster Definition of WINDOW. an opening especially in the wall of a building for admission of light and air that is usually ....

Growing up hotels were exotic destinations. We were a big family and a summer vacation was packing tents on the roof of the car and heading off to a series of provincial campgrounds. No A/C in the car so windows were open as we motored down the highway. Tent flaps let in the night breeze. Fresh air is always a fond memory of the luxury of childhood holidays.

Growing older and life became more urbane and more urban. Staying in hotels became part of life and before long a career. Hotels usually had retrofitted air conditioning units stuck under old casement windows. If a guest preferred the city night noises to the battleship drone of the A/C they could always open their window.

Fast forward. Most new hotels have windows that never contemplated being opened. If windows ever did open they are today often screwed shut in the name of safety. So now we have a sealed box of a room that is dependent upon a complex system of air exchange.

So let’s take a look at this engineered system. Makeup air, conditioned or not, is dumped into the hallways and finds its way under the guest room door and out a bathroom vent to create a flow of air. The wall unit that is found in the guest room only has one job - to heat or cool the air, stagnant or not that is in the room.

With this in mind walk the property with your Chief Engineer and test the bathroom vents with a ply of kleenex and see if there is a draw. Go up on the roof and check the vent exhaust fans. Put your hand on them to see if they vibrate and that the motors are working. Once during a transition I found 70% of the roof exhaust vent fans were broken and one of the make up air units wasn’t feeding 10 floors. The result was a building filled with stale air, a literal malaise. The poor air becomes a subliminal background problem that affects the good health and mood of your guests and your staff.

Do yourself, your guests, and your staff a favor and check to see how well your air circulation is working.

davidmalcolmgibbons@gmail.com
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The Hotel Seamstress

1/12/2015

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Most budgets find little room for a seamstress. When you see a concierge who looks like they were suited on Saville Row you know that hotel has a seamstress.

A great hotel needs to have a great seamstress and a great valet. Then the staff are always well turned out in their uniforms, the managers look crisply tailored and guest emergencies become memorable moments of service.

When the CEO of your top client loses a suit button 20 minutes before his televised board meeting, when your Vice President of Ops splits his pants on the first day of a property audit, when a new doormen needs his overcoat let out on a frigid morning, you really need someone on property who can sew. Luckily I have been blessed with some great tailors and seamstresses, men and women who learned their craft in far away places like Hong Kong, or Latvia, or Odessa or Rio de Janeiro. They brought their skill along with their work ethic and found a home in the hotel business. In this disposable world we live in sewing is becoming a lost art. I do not know if hotel schools spend a day on the subject.

I remember hosting a Leading Hotel of The World conference with 200 General Managers, and their spouses. They came from the most luxurious hotels around the world descending upon the property with overweight luggage filled with evening dresses and tuxedos. For this challenge we planned ahead. The Executive Housekeeper from a sister property came a few days prior to support our seamstress and set up a complete in-house valet and tailoring station. On the day of arrival, right on cue, there were gowns that needed a hem, dress shirts that had to be laundered, suits to be pressed. Turn around time had to be almost instantaneous there was no option to tell a guest that we could get it ‘expressed’ and it would be back in 24 hours. Like Cinderella the black tie ball had a clock ticking and you did not want any of your guests feeling like a pumpkin.

Every day is not a world wide conference but everyday there is some one in your hotel who needs a stitch. Check your manning guide.

davidmalcolmgibbons@gmail.com
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Brand Standards

1/4/2015

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One is never sure if Corporate Executives dream up ‘brand standards’ because consistency is the key to their brand differentiation and promise, or if they just don’t trust front line employees. The word empowerment is bandied about by every hotel management company out there but many don’t trust the waiter to drop the breakfast check at the appropriate time. Where is the bar? How low is the common denominator?

Next time you are having a leisurely breakfast at a corporate transient upper/upscale, don’t blame the otherwise charming and competent waiter for dropping the check the minute your eggs appear, it is the sacred ‘standard’ that has come down from the mountain, he has no room for a judgement call.

Having your name bellowed across the lobby three times before you are checked in is another rigid concept that is often imposed from above. One time I had Bill Gates arriving late in the evening. Even though he had been pre-keyed I thought it appropriate to greet him. Forget using his name, forget brand standards for VIP’s. He jumped out of a black SUV with a driver/bodyguard who looked like he had been trained by some agency in Langley or Tel Aviv. As I approached the ninja sidekick gave me a killer stare that froze me in my tracks. I backed off and smiled as they went straight to the elevator. In the morning my staff had a call that Mr Gates would be leaving at a particular time and requested ‘no goodbyes’.

So what is the moral? If you are a billionaire and stay in a luxury hotel you do not have to suffer through the brand standards imposed by someone miles away from any front desk. I appreciate when someone uses my name but please don’t keep count and don’t worry I will let you know when I need the check - my guest and I are not finished yet.

davidmalcolmgibbons@gmail.com
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Luxury is an Open Window

The Hotel Seamstress

Brand Standards

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