The Ritz-Carlton Way

My son, Jon, and I were walking along the beach one day imagining ships and monsters in the clouds above. We had just had a terrible experience at a Pizza place… (that’s another story). A flock of pelicans formed a V riding a tailwind up the coast. Waves were breaking at our feet. It was another beautiful day in Manalapan, Florida. We made a pit stop at the Ritz-Carlton of Palm Beach and together Jon and I experienced what real customer service is all about.

As we wandered through the hotel’s elegant halls, a young Ritz-Carlton associate named Lisa asked us if we needed help finding anything. Apparently, we looked lost (we were). I confessed, “My son and I need to use your restroom if that’s OK, but we’re not guests here.”

“No problem,” said Lisa, “I’ll show you where the restroom is.” And the magic began. When Jon and I walked back to the lobby, Lisa was waiting for us.

“Would you like to explore more of our hotel while you’re here?” she asked.

“As a matter of fact,” I said, “we’d love to. Can we see one of your ocean-facing rooms?” What the heck, we’re here I thought.

Lisa got to know my son while walking with us to an incredible room with magnificent views of the Atlantic Ocean. She shared stories about the hotel staff and her management team and she let us know how fortunate she was to be employed by such a company. Lisa was genuinely nice to Jonathan, she wasn’t just going through the motions or trying to impress me.

I remember thinking, “OK, she’s pretty good at this stuff. But hey, it’s the Ritz. I sorta expect this kind of attitude here.”

Then Lisa asked us if we wanted to play out by the pool. (I’ve got my three-year-old with me with time to kill. Twist my arm, Lisa!)

Jonathan’s eyes lit up. After all, it wasn’t just any ordinary pool. It was a Ritz-Carlton pool on the ocean! “We’d love to,” I said. “But please remember, we’re not guests here!”

Without hesitation Lisa said, “You’re my guests today. Stay as long as you like. We even have a scavenger hunt going on that I’m sure Jonathan will enjoy.”

It gets better.

While Jon and I were playing hide & seek around all the wealthy real-paying guests out by the pool, a young bellhop approached us. I thought he was letting us know our time was up. Au contraire!

The bellhop handed me a Ritz-Carlton bag with tissue paper flowing from within. “This is for you,” he said. I suggested he had the wrong guy. “You see, I’m not really a guest here. This must be for someone else.”

“No. I’m sure it’s for you.” The bellhop delivered his gift and vanished. Jonathan looked up at me and he said, “Surprise, Daddy?”

I’ll say! Inside the bag was an envelope. On it was Jonathan’s name, spelled correctly. The hand-written note inside said:

Dear Jonathan,

Thank you for bringing your father into visit us today. I hope to see you and your family here again soon…

Enjoy!

Lisa

Also, in the navy blue bag was a little Ritz-Carlton teddy bear.

Two weeks later I had a large budget to conduct a business meeting with a group of 30 people. Guess where we had our meeting?

We need more people like Lisa; people who serve others with dignity and respect just because.