The Gallery Host Experience

Recently, my wife and I traveled to the Saratoga NY region and spent 5 days at a wonderful Hyatt Place Hotel in Malta NY. Beyond the fact that the facility was probably less than 2 years old and looked practically brand new, there was something about this moderately priced hotel that caught my attention. The level of customer service demonstrated and attention to detail was exemplary 24/7!

Here are just a few examples. At breakfast, my wife wanted decaffeinated tea which was not available at the service counter. She approached one of the staff members who said they did not stock it in the kitchen. When my wife told her such a tea bag had been left by the coffee maker in our guest room by housekeeping, this employee dashed down the hall to housekeeping and returned with the requested tea bags. While the very nicely prepared breakfast (way beyond our expectations) was self serve, staff members came to each table to clear the real plates, silverware, and glasses without us having to move. Mind you, there were no paper plates or plastic cutlery to be seen! Another thing that impressed me was how warmly we were greeted each time we returned to the hotel and how engaging the staff members were. On our second or third morning, I stopped one of the staff and said I noticed they all handled check-in and check-out duties, managed the snack bar, prepared and serviced the breakfast area, greeted guests using the meeting rooms, kept the lobby neat and clean, etc. I asked him what their job description and title was.

The young man told me that this was all part of his job. The team were all referred to Gallery Hosts and they were trained to do just about everything in the hotel except for housekeeping (which was worthy of its own dedicated article for excellence as well)! What stood out to me the most was that all the Gallery Hosts truly demonstrated respect toward each other, all worked together to create an excellent customer experience, and seemed like the type of people who were part of a great pool of potential management candidates for the Hyatt Place organization to select from as the needs arise.

As a recruiter, coach, and former school career services director, I was blown away at the program which Hyatt Place Hotels has developed. As I read about retail, restaurant, and other chains fading into the sunset, I wonder if they simply need to incorporate a new business model similar to this one and focus on the basics of customer service.