PERSPECTIVE
Employee Satisfaction
HOW DRIVING THE GUEST EXPERIENCE IS ABOUT MORE THAN JUST CUSTOMERS.
By DANIEL HOSTETTLER, CEO, THE BOCA RATON
One day, early in my career, I passed by an exhausted-looking housekeeper sitting alone, taking a break. I stopped and asked how she was doing.“ Everything’ s good,” she responded mechanically. Then, after a pause, she said something I have never forgotten.“ We spend all day making people feel cared for. Sometimes I wish somebody remembered to care for us, too.”
Expecting someone to make guests feel cared for when they’ re not being cared for themselves is, ultimately, an unsustainable situation. Giving great guest service requires your associates to remain patient under pressure, create calm for anxious guests, absorb frustration gracefully, regulate their own emotions and make strangers feel comfortable, particularly, but not exclusively, in the luxury sector in which I have built my career.
LUXURY IS EMOTIONAL LABOR A burned-out team will have a hard time creating an atmosphere of calm. A fearful team will have a hard time evoking warmth. An exhausted team will eventually stop noticing the little details, like whether the flowers are wilting, and so forth. A disengaged team is unlikely to focus on each and every guest, as luxury service requires. The experience of the employee eventually leaks into the experience of the guest.
42 hotelsmag. com September 2026