"Wow" Hotel Experiences

How often has a hotel done something "above and beyond" that simply "wowed" you?

I know how impressed I was with the engineering staff at one of our hotels following a snowy night a few years ago. They hit the parking lot early in the morning clear the snow, and while they were at it, they cleared the windshields of the cars parked at the hotel. Imagine how surprised and delighted the hotel's guests were when they rushed out to clear off their cars only to discover that someone had taken care of that for them.

Wow!

In another instance, a guest checked into one of our hotels and, while impressed with the steps the hotel had taken to provide a comfortable bed, suffered from a bad back and required a board beneath their mattress in order to get a restful sleep. Upon hearing about this, one of the front desk clerks proceeded to trudge through a rainstorm and a muddy construction site where the company was building another hotel next door, secured a sheet of plywood, cut it to size, stomped back through the mud to the hotel where he worked, delivered and installed the board into that guest's room.

Double wow!

Yet another employee at a pet-friendly extended-stay hotel discovered that some of the pet owning guests were unable to return during the day to take their dogs for a walk. The hotel's operations manager offered to dedicate a few minutes of each day to help these guests out by taking their dogs on a little mid-day walk, so the owners wouldn't have to worry about racing back to the hotel to free Fido.

That deserves a "bow wow!"

Remarkable hotel experiences are not limited to five star luxury resorts. All of the instances I've described here occurred at three-star hotels who have employees that are willing to go the extra mile to to ensure that their guests are well taken care of during their stay. These employees, in my opinion, are the epitome of what a hospitality employee should be. They don't see obstacles, they see opportunities to serve.

Have you had a hotel "wow" you lately? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments.