On our wedding anniversary this year we checked into the downtown Hyatt Regency Hotel in Denver. A beautiful hotel, the service is always exceptional. In fact, after making the reservation online, I was very impressed that they not only sent us a confirmation email, but also followed up the day before with a thank you letter, directions for getting settled in, and announcements for the goings-on for the Independence Day celebrations.
Upon arriving at the hotel, we were warmly greeted and politely informed that we could unload our baggage, but would need to drive a few blocks away to park the car (for free parking, rather than the $39/day valet fee) before my wife could check in. So while I drove, parked, and walked two city blocks, my wife had to just watch while other guests checked in ahead of us.
When we went to the registration desk, we were greeted with a great smile, polite professionalism, and a “Happy Anniversary”, as the very nice clerk informed us that the only choice for a room with a king-sized bed was on the 27th floor, and while “the views are spectacular” the room is across from a big night club, so “it does get a bit noisy at times.” It had been a very long week with only a few hours of sleep, so we were a bit hesitant. The astute clerk, seeing our hesitation, immediately and graciously offered us the alternative of one of their rooms that had sleeper sofas—no BED, just a sleeper sofa. My response: “A sleeper sofa? For $200 a night?” Our extremely professional clerk responded with a great smile and only one word, “Exactly!” So the three of us agreed that the room-with-a-view would be “perfect!”
Like half the rooms on our floor, our room was indeed across the hall from this monster bar. But that wasn’t what concerned us initially, once we made our way to the 27th floor. What concerned us most was that our room was not only diagonally across the hall from the entrance to the bar, but was right next to the elevators. The room was nice, smelled like smoke, and the view was, well, only half spectacular. Only half because a full 50% of the 180-degree view was obscured by the wall which was the back of the elevators. I would have complained about the room location, but the idea of spending our anniversary on a sleeper sofa didn’t appeal to me much.
We immediately bounced out of our room to enjoy our evening in downtown Denver, having an appetizer and adult beverage at Bubba Gump’s (always a good time), then an amazing meal and customer experience at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. Being tired, after our meal we decided to call it an evening and return to our “room with a (half) view” and get a good night’s sleep, still hoping that the elevator and bar noise wouldn’t keep us awake.
Unfortunately, it was noisy all night long, but comically, mostly NOT because of bar. Rather, it was because of the only sink I’ve ever heard that “talked” incessantly… and one instance of a loud argument in the hall around 2:00 (presumably stemming from the bar that closed about that time). I mean, the noise coming from that singing sink was just plain bizarre. That darned drain (not the faucet, the drain) gurgled and blurbled and blooped and glooped all night long. The nice marble sink just created a natural amphitheater for the sound to penetrate the entire room.
So what’s the point? We received nothing but great “customer service” at this beautiful hotel, but the overall customer experience was, on this wedding anniversary night, just plain horrible. I had to walk two blocks before we could check in. We were given a choice between a privacy-challenged, king-sized bed or a sleeper sofa. And we were given a room with a sink that made more noise than the bar across the hall. There is little doubt that “customer service” is critical to any business’s success. But if you don’t give equal attention to the “customer experience” the odds on having happy customers are remote.
Suggestions for the Hyatt: Keep up the great customer service. You’ve got that down. Might want to explore your overall customer experience though. Some specific suggestions would include:
- Close room 2733; use it as storage, or rent it by the hour not the night.
- Remove from your training the notion of trying to “sell” someone on the idea that the king-sized bed they paid for was in any way equivalent to a sofa-sleeper.
- Find that “thing” that is living in the drain, and kill it!