Category Archives: Guest Services

The Importance of Mis-en-Place in the Hotel Industry

In the hotel industry, one of the most important aspects of ensuring smooth operations and high guest satisfaction is being prepared. This is where the concept of “mis-en-place” comes in.

Mis-en-place, which is a French term meaning ‘putting in place’, refers to the preparation of ingredients and equipment before the start of service. This includes tasks such as chopping vegetables, setting up cooking stations, and arranging plates and utensils. In the hotel industry, mis-en-place applies not only to the kitchen, but also to other areas such as front desk operations, housekeeping, and even engineering.

I remember one time when I was working as a front desk agent and we were understaffed that day. We had a full house, and guests were starting to arrive for check-in. I was rushing to check-in guests and answer phones at the same time. Suddenly, the computer system went down, and I had to manually check in guests. I was feeling overwhelmed and stressed, and it was obvious to the guests. It was only then I realize how important it is to be prepared and how it can make all the difference in providing excellent service to guests.

Another time when I was working as a housekeeper, I was making up a guest room and I realized that I had forgotten to restock my cart with essentials like shampoo and soap. I had to make multiple trips to the supply room, and it slowed down my work and I was running behind schedule. It was a valuable lesson on how being prepared can greatly benefit operations and own performance.

Having a well-executed mis-en-place not only improves the efficiency of operations, but it also greatly benefits the performance of the staff. When everything is in its proper place and ready to go, staff members can focus on providing excellent service to guests without being bogged down by the stress of last-minute preparation. This can lead to increased job satisfaction and a more positive work environment.

Furthermore, a well-prepared staff is better equipped to handle unexpected situations. For example, if a guest requests a special meal or requests a room move, a staff member who is well-prepared and has a good understanding of the hotel’s operations will be able to handle the situation in a timely and efficient manner, thus minimizing any potential negative impact on the guest’s experience.

In addition to the operational benefits, having a mis-en-place also helps to improve the overall image of the hotel. A clean, well-organized hotel, with staff that is well-prepared and can provide prompt service, leaves a lasting impression on guests and can lead to repeat business and positive word-of-mouth.

In conclusion, mis-en-place is a critical aspect of the hotel industry that can greatly benefit both the operations and the performance of the staff. By putting in place proper preparation and organization, hotels can ensure smooth operations, improve guest satisfaction, and enhance the overall image of the hotel.

Key Takeaways:

  • Mis-en-place is a critical aspect of the hotel industry that refers to the preparation of ingredients and equipment before the start of service.
  • Being well-prepared improves the efficiency of operations and benefits the performance of staff.
  • A well-prepared staff is better equipped to handle unexpected situations and provide excellent service to guests.
  • Having a mis-en-place also helps to improve the overall image of the hotel, leading to repeat business and positive word-of-mouth.
  • By putting in place proper preparation and organization, hotels can ensure smooth operations, improve guest satisfaction, and enhance the overall image of the hotel.

Personalized Guest Service So Simple

I started working in hotels in 2004 and still can remember my first mystery shop. The overall results of the inspection were ok, but unfortunately we missed out on a couple of points because not all of our associates used the guest name consistently. Over the years this standard became increasingly important and you could not pass an inspection anymore without using the guest name at least twice during every interaction – even if everything else was perfect there was no passing without usage of guest name. Continue reading Personalized Guest Service So Simple

W Hotels And The Modern Butler Service

WhateverWhenever is not only a department of W Hotels that handles guest requests amongst many other tasks, it is also a mindset and service philosophy. Whatever you want, whenever you want it (just as long as it’s legal and moral).

Isn’t that pretty much what a butler is doing? Does a butler need to wear a tuxedo, white gloves, and a bow tie, or is it a mindset, a service attitude that butlers service stands for? Continue reading W Hotels And The Modern Butler Service

How To Have The Best Hotel Experience

You are probably wondering why you should have to do anything to receive the best service, shouldn’t it be up to the hotel to provide you with the best experience without you having to ask for it. You are the one who paid for it, right?  Trip-Advisor-Logo

Yes, of course you are right, and you should receive the service that you paid for, and I hope that most hotels would get it right. But why even taking a chance. Why not making sure that they will pay this extra little bit of attention and do their very best that you’ll have a memorable experience. Continue reading How To Have The Best Hotel Experience

What You Must Know About Five Star Service – Never Assume!

I recently attended a Forbes five-stars training at my hotel. The Forbes trainer started the training by explaining how it feels to receive five-star service as a guest, and the genuine care and attention to detail that come with it. The trainer continued that while many of us have been working in the hotel industry for very many years and believe to exactly know our customers that we should never assume that a certain guest doesn’t care about us offering service that goes beyond and only cares about the basics. Continue reading What You Must Know About Five Star Service – Never Assume!

Is The Customer Still King?

I am all about personalized service and believe that it becomes more and more important if you want your business to remain relevant. I never believed in online shopping until I started shopping at huge department stores like Bloomingdales or Macys. It’s a challenging experience and you feel like that you need to be thankful to receive good and caring service, forget about the customer is king, here it’s the employee who is king and you can trust they make sure that you know by their attitude. I try to avoid asking for help as much as possible and now switched to online shopping just to avoid their customer service.

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Is this the future? Are we moving to impersonal online shopping as the quality of service decreases? Continue reading Is The Customer Still King?

What Your Hotel Can Learn From Starbucks

It’s all about personalized service, and any hotel is striving to deliver the best service possible. I work at a 5 star property in Manhattan and all hotels in our comp set are beautiful, have luxurious rooms and facilities, and state of the art technology. So why should travelers spend their money at your hotel and not at the competition next door? Well, your answer is probably because your hotel provides better service, right?

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I am Sam

Nowadays it’s not so much about the product anymore, and all about the service… personalized service to be more specific. Welcoming your guests by their name is the simplest and most effective way to provide this personalized service… but only in theory! What if I told you that every luxury hotel I ever worked at either struggled or the very minimum had room for improvement with using the guest name consistently? Do you think this is acceptable? Continue reading What Your Hotel Can Learn From Starbucks

Give Me Solutions Not Problems!

I strongly believe that constructive feedback is a must and I want my team to come to me with solutions to opportunities rather than just problems.

Most companies have a culture of complaining and I believe that it’s their leaders’ fault for accepting this. It’s essential to share feedback with your boss and I understand that sometimes it’s important to simple vent, but keep in mind that the goal is to make things better. Chances are that most problems are not news to your boss and that rather than being part of the problem you want to be part of the solution.

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Office Space

Continue reading Give Me Solutions Not Problems!

Forget About Who’s Getting The Credit!

President Truman once said that ‘it is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit’, and it captures one of the main challenges within any industry – we hesitate to take ownership and go the extra mile, if we feel that others are not stepping up to the plate as well and that we do not get the proper credit for our efforts.

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We want to do great and go beyond, but it’s important for us that everyone else does the exactly same thing too. How often do we complain about having too much on our plate, if the person next to us works as dedicated as we do? We usually don’t! We mostly complain that others are doing less than we do, and that this is not fair. Why should we do more than others? Continue reading Forget About Who’s Getting The Credit!

Luxury Is Changing – Are You Changing As Well?

My wife and I are living in the West Village in Manhattan, and adore this neighborhood as of its vast variety of excellent and unique restaurants. We love to dine out, and excellent food and service doesn’t cut it anymore. It takes something more…Screen shot 2014-02-22 at 2.52.57 PM

The face of wealth and luxury is changing! Continue reading Luxury Is Changing – Are You Changing As Well?

Kill Complacency Before It Kills You!

Complacency is your worst enemy! It can damage your business or your career, and the worst thing about it is that you’ll probably be the last one to find out that you became complacent yourself!

Screen shot 2014-01-06 at 9.14.59 PMFrom the outside it’s always easy to judge, if someone is falling victim to complacency. The person doesn’t believe in change anymore, or cannot see the need for it, loses his passion for excellence at every single step of the way, believes that he’s the victim of the incompetence around him, and is not willing to step out of the comfort zone anymore and take risks. Pretty obvious, right? Anyone from the outside can see it.

But what happens if you’re the one who is struggling with complacency without even knowing it? Did you ever had the feeling that it’s not just not right that you have to do all the work, and that people around you should step up to their plate as well, that you’re tired of always going the extra step without seeing the direct impact or outcome of your efforts? Complacency is a slow dead and you need to watch out for the early signs of it:

  • You’re not taking risks anymore
  • You’re too comfortable stepping out of your comfort zone
  • You’re not striving to do your best anymore
  • You’re not trying to think out of the box anymore
  • You’re not taking initiative anymore

Andy Grove, the former CEO of Intel, said that ‘success breeds complacency’, and ‘complacency breeds failure’, and he’s so right. You look at all the companies and businesses that used to be so initiative and great just a moment ago, and are not even relevant anymore now. But what happened? Well they stopped changing and evolving because of complacency, stood still for a moment, and the world passed by them.

Just have a look at most of the great hotels from the past. Try them and you’ll be surprised by how their service and hospitality lost its edge.

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Experience Is The New Currency!

Luxury is changing, and what mattered most to us only a decade ago, isn’t even attractive anymore. Guests don’t rate hotels by its amenities and luxurious settings anymore, they’ll judge them by the experiences they provide them… experiences and memories that last long after they depart.

historical-gold-prices-1Experiences cannot be measured in money, but are so much more valuable in adding meaning to our life. An experience is invaluable, not subject to inflation, lasts for a lifetime, and is the new and most stable currency ever. Continue reading Experience Is The New Currency!

Is The Hotel Industry Losing Its Hospitality?

I recently happened to watch the WestJet Christmas Miracle video on YouTube and I was impressed by how simple yet powerful this idea was in building an emotional connection between an airline and its customers. The video went viral, has over 26 million views on YouTube, and the cost for the Christmas presents is nothing compared to the return on investment this campaign will have for WestJet.

What concerns me is that the hotel industry who claims to be all about its guests and their well-being didn’t come up with this first. It feels like that we keep holding on to our glamorous past by thinking that we can still impress our guests by sending up a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries to their rooms, while other industries figured out a way to move on and to connect deeply to their customers.

WestJetThe exact same thing that the airline did for its customers any hotel could be doing for its guests staying over during the holidays by asking them prior to arrival what they want for Christmas and delivering these gifts on the 25th. Continue reading Is The Hotel Industry Losing Its Hospitality?

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos Takes Customer Service To The Next Level

Jeff Bezos takes customer service to the next level, and is planning to have packages delivered within only 30 minutes of ordering! How is this possible? Click on video below and you’ll find out how. For more details read the related article in the Washington Post.

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Why It’s Better To Ask For Forgiveness Than For Permission

The value of acting promptly and making a mistake requiring forgiveness is greater than the value of delaying to get permission! Let me explain you why…

Most companies fail to deliver excellent customer service because their employees are not empowered to make the right decisions the moment it counts most to make the customer happy. They need to check with their managers first delaying any helpful response, and making it frustrating for the customer to do business with you. Empower your employees to make the customer happy the fast and uncomplicated way. Your customers have a choice to do business with you, or the competition across the street.

Screen shot 2013-12-08 at 6.31.07 PMIf it’s the right thing to do and in the best interest of the customer, your company and colleagues, go ahead and do it. You’re not going to be 100% right all the time, but we’re working in the service industry and are not performing heart surgery, so trust me most mistakes can be sorted out later. We need to go back to the roots and focus all of our energy and efforts on making the customer happy. This is the only way to differentiate ourselves from the competition and ensure that we stay relevant. Continue reading Why It’s Better To Ask For Forgiveness Than For Permission

Graduated From Hotel Management School? Why You Should Become A Butler!

Years ago hotel management graduates would mostly apply for a position as front desk agent or sales coordinator at the beginning of their journey in hospitality. Why? Because this is what everyone else applied for and because it seemed to be the most promising path for a successful career in hospitality. Now this is changing…

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Continue reading Graduated From Hotel Management School? Why You Should Become A Butler!

Complexity Is Your Enemy!

Making things simply for the customer is the essence of great and prompt service! How often do you get frustrated by unnecessarily complicated and difficult service?

Our policy states… I need to ask my manager first… No, I am sorry… You need to… Please hold… let me connect you to…

Does any of this sound familiar to you? Trust me it is happening at your company as well! Our customers do have a choice, and if we don’t strive to make it easy for them to do business with us, one of our competitors will sooner or later!

Listen to your guests and put yourself in their shoes!

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If you want to learn more from Richard Branson and his secrets to provide excellent customer service you must watch video below. My favorite customer service tip to empower your employees to do the right thing the fast and uncomplicated way is ‘it’s better to ask for forgiveness than asking for permission’.

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Stop Pointing Fingers and Turn Your Complainers Into Brand Advocates!

No one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes! Our guests expect perfect service, and are unforgiving to any service breakdowns, correct?

1541558False, our guests expect perfect service, but do understand that mistakes can happen, and it’s important that we recognize mistakes, when they do happen, as opportunities to get it right. Guests who have a complaint that gets resolved to their satisfaction are more likely to return than the ones that never had a complaint to begin with. It’s because we understand that no one is perfect, and if something goes wrong, we want the service provider to take ownership and turn the experience around to our satisfaction. Continue reading Stop Pointing Fingers and Turn Your Complainers Into Brand Advocates!

Allow Me To Unpack Your Suitcase For You!

Staying at a luxury hotel that provides butler service to its guests is truly an experience second to none! Being able to fully enjoy this butler service, however, is easier said than done. Most of us do not have a personal butler at home waiting for us, and so most of us don’t really have an idea what the butler does. One of the signature services of most hotels that provide butlers service is packing and unpacking.

lux97ls-33394-Imperial Butler ServiceAre you really comfortable having someone else unpacking your suitcases for you and touching your personal belongings and underwear? No, and most of us aren’t… at least not at first. It takes a moment to adjust to this new level of service, and it’s up to the butler to break the ice and make the guest feel comfortable. Continue reading Allow Me To Unpack Your Suitcase For You!

How Important Is Consistency With Butler Service?

When providing excellent service, quality and consistency are really just the cost of entry, but don’t do anything to get you ahead of your competition or to make you special. With offering butler service consistency continues to be the basic foundation for excellence, only that your team now needs to know when exceptions should prove the rule.

lux412ls-48710-Butler serviceButlers need to know when they can and must make an exception of a value added service to go beyond and when to stay consistent, and this doesn’t come without challenges. Most hotels that provide butler service offer the following value added services that come with it:

  • Packing & Unpacking Service
  • Beverage Service
  • Shoe Shine Service
  • Garment Pressing
  • eButler

eButler is the newest addition to the value added services provided by the butler and it gives your guests the opportunity to connect with their personal butler via e-mail or over an app on their smart phone from anywhere at anytime. So no matter where you are, the butler service is right at your finger tips. Continue reading How Important Is Consistency With Butler Service?