Drive-in theatres retain appeal, update offerings

It’s little personal details that keep hotels ahead in the game.
Luxury hotels take pride in their ability to remember guests’ likes and dislikes-one way to keep a five-star rating and beat competition.
“Personal attention is what people respond to most favorably,” says Peter McCrossen, general manager of the Lodge at Woodcliff in Perinton.
The hotel pampers its guests with champagne, strawberries dipped in chocolate and even massages, depending on personal interests.
Whether it is a friendly concierge who recognizes a visitor or other staff who remember a preferred brand of chocolate, establishing a connection with the guest is key.
“We need to make it special for folks. People can choose to go anywhere,” says Barbara Natale, general manager of Hudson Hotels Corp.’s Canandaigua Inn on the Lake.
Natale thinks the hotel’s location by the lake is a big point in its favor.
“Our location near the lake makes the overall appearance different,” she adds. “In addition to that, our staff makes sure people get the best service.”
Another example is the St. Regis Hotel in New York City, which keeps track of guest preferences with a “guest history database,” indicating which complimentary chocolates guests ate on their last visit (dark or milk chocolate), which shampoo they used (scented or unscented), whether they are allergic to the feathers in the duvets-and anything else guests might mention during their stay.
The staff also pulls photographs of some high-profile guests off the Internet so they will not have to introduce themselves when they check in.
Sharon Telesca, director of sales and marketing at the St. Regis, says such considerations do more than simply impress the guests-they “eliminate the anxiety of travel.”
“Everything is thought of,” she explains, “so the guests don’t have to worry.”
The St. Regis received a Mobil five-star rating for 2001, one of only 25 lodgings and 17 restaurants in the United States to do so.
Located in Pittsford, the Del Monte Lodge also does its bit to make its guests’ stay memorable, whether it involves acquiring a hometown newspaper or keeping a favored snack in the room. The hotel updates its visitor database on a regular basis.
“Even prior to arrival, we try to find out what (guests’) hobbies are,” says Todd Plouffe, general manager of the hotel.
The Del Monte Lodge offers its patrons access to a variety of activities such as biking, golf and canoeing, among others.
Alberto del Hoyo, general manager of the swank Beverly Hills Hotel, says a five-star rating is a reflection of the quality of service and agrees that the smallest gestures are often the most memorable.
That is not to say this hotel is averse to making grand gestures: One guest wanted a swimming pool in the bungalow he frequently rents. The hotel built him one.
Guests always want a touch of home, says Eric Calderon, general manager of the Little Nell, an inn in Aspen, Colo., so he makes sure that the staff is well-versed in family history, meal preferences-even the pets they leave at home.
“We have stockings with their pets’ names hanging over the fireplace at Christmas,” Calderon says.
But the staff has to have more than just a good memory.
“Employees should be able to predict what the guests need before they know they need it,” says Richard Delany, general manager of the Fearrington House in North Carolina. “The requirement of the staff is that they have one, sole purpose and that is to make the guests happy.”
Steve Bartolin, president and COO of the Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs, Colo., says a five-star rating is not possible without an outstanding staff.
There are many hotels set in a beautiful area, with health clubs, shopping facilities, restaurants and beautiful rooms, he explains, but the staff can mean the difference between five and four stars.
The St. Regis holds an employee-appreciation rally-complete with “balloons and fruit kabobs and brownies” to cheer the staff on, Telesca says. Employees are the heart of the business, she adds.
But finding exceptional employees is no easy task. Calderon of the Little Nell says he looks for an “instinct” in potential hires that they will thrive by serving people, and experience in the field is not necessary. He requires “something in their facial expression … smiles, friendliness. The rest we teach,” he says.
Del Hoyo agrees: “I do not hire people that have a lot of experience. The experience can be acquired,” he explains, but the qualities he looks for, including kindness and good-naturedness, must be natural.
They also have to be committed-low staff turnover is vital in such a personal business, in which the staff builds relationships with guests.
“At the hiring stage itself, we try to look for people who are naturally caring about other people,” Woodcliff’s McCrossen adds.
Charlie Trotter, the chef and owner of the five-star restaurant Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago, ensures that every staff member-from the kitchen staff to the dining room staff to the dishwashers-knows that they are all equally important.
He has the staff swap jobs-the kitchen staff spends a week running food in the dining room, for example-so they return to their full-time jobs with “more of an empathy for what the other parties are doing.”
In addition to regular services like wake-up calls and shoe shines, employees at Crowne Plaza Rochester also are trained to provide secretarial services.
“Given the nature of the business, it has to be service-oriented,” Canandaigua Inn on the Lake’s Natale says.
A goal of this ultra-personal service, of course, is to keep the guests coming back-repeat guests make up a big chunk of business. Bartolin estimates that 60 percent of the guests at the Broadmoor are repeats.
“It has to be like they’re coming home,” he says.
Some 60 percent of Del Monte Lodge’s weekday guests are repeats, while 50 percent of the Lodge at Woodcliff’s customers come back to stay at the hotel.
“Recognition of returning guests is important,” Canandaigua Inn on the Lake’s Natale says.
The guest at the Beverly Hills Hotel who wanted a swimming pool in his bungalow is a repeat guest-he stays for one month every year, at a cost of $5,000 a day, according to del Hoyo.
“Most of the people, they have been coming for generations to the Beverly Hills Hotel,” he says. Going to great lengths to make them happy is good for business, del Hoyo says: “It’s the key to a luxury hotel.”
“Whether it is remembering a guest’s birthday or a favorite drink, we treat them as a part of our family,” Del Monte’s Plouffe adds.
It is not just gourmet chocolates and fizzy drinks that make people come back. Woodcliff’s “Murder at the Lodge” has been a winning attraction for the site. The murder mystery evening involves a wine- and-cheese reception, a four-course dinner and exciting theater.
“People love being involved with the actors,” McCrossen says. “Guests often give (tickets) as gift certificates to others, especially those who like theater.”
Creating novel ways to make guests feel special and sustaining them is important as luxury hotels compete with each other to bring more people through the door.
“Finding out what people like gives us an insight into what individual guests prefer,” Woodcliff’s McCrossen says. “People are not stamped out with cookie cutters.”
However, maintaining an active database is not an easy task. Hotel staff are required to make calls in advance to be able to make a stay memorable. Birthday and anniversary greetings, and coupons to favorite restaurants continue to be universal favorites among guests.
Del Monte’s Plouffe thinks treating each visitor as an individual is the secret to success.
“We would like to continue to personalize each guest experience,” Del Monte’s Plouffe says. “I wish I had a profile on every single guest in the hotel.”

08/10/01 (C) Rochester Business Journal