As a frequent traveler, I suppose I would qualify as a road warrior, as my job as a hotel trainer and conference speaker does keep me on the road on average about six or seven nights a month. As I've written about so many other times in my monthly articles, hotel "hospitality and guest service" these days seems to be all too often trained solely as a series of communications techniques that fulfill "standards" that increasingly seem detached from what guests really want and need.

For example, although it is always nice to hear my name being used sincerely during a conversation, I frankly don't care precisely how many times it is used--unless it is repeated robotically three times during a 20-second wake up call request. I will little note nor long remember that the hotel staff said "I hope you come back to see us" unless their eyes and facial expressions showed they truly meant it.

Although professional courtesies, standards, and communications techniques are important components of hotel industry training, it takes more to create a hotel culture that fosters authentic, warm, hospitality generously every day. While most of the 60+ hotels I check into each year are extremely efficient and their staff members say the right words, rare is the flash of a real personality that shows he or she cares about the guest as well as caring for them as required by some brand standards. I would say I encounter approximately one such hotel staff encounter every two or three hotels, whether working in room service, the front desk or a housekeeping or maintenance staff.

Yet rare has it been in my nearly two decades of hotel experiences that I experience a hotel were each and every associate of a hotel went above and beyond to create hospitality excellence in every encounter. This is the true story of a truly excellent hotel. But first, the true story of an especially stressful business trip!

…As a road warrior I've always kind of hated Sunday departures. While I'm never anxious to leave, I find myself resigned to it on weekdays. But to head out on a Sunday always makes me feel robbed of the family time I so desperately need to recharge. It was especially hard this beautiful fall Sunday afternoon, with my son Adam, who has long outgrown separation anxiety, tugging at my heart at the Ft. Lauderdale airport entrance by saying "Daddy, I don't want you to go on the airplane – just this time stay with me!"

But off I went like always, being enough on time to grab a sandwich to bring onboard and head down the ramp. Having flown this same nonstop flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Philadelphia many times, for me we were still relatively "on time," as they announced a short 45-minute delay due to weather in Philly and the pilot parked the plane on the taxiway. When he came back on to announce a 30-minute extension due to continued weather in PHL, I have to admit becoming a bit anxious about what I saw out the window as low, dark clouds moved in from every direction and a torrential, tropical rain opened up here in FLL. About the time the lightning bolts started hitting, another announcement came on that we would go back to deplane, but there was no gate available. "Oh well," I thought optimistically, "At least you're on a non-stop and you'll get there tonight." I knew the next day was an important one, as I had to train new agents in Philly that were to "go live" just two days later.

Then in the middle of this crackling thunderstorm comes another announcement, that the traffic hold from Philly had cleared, the local storm was moving on, and in 11 minute's we'd be wheels-up! "Wow," I thought to myself, "This law of attraction and positive thinking deal really works!" as I mentally rewarded my travel optimism. That was when the pilot restarted the engines... everything went dark… then another announcement that there had been a catastrophic electrical failure and that this flight would be cancelled. Although no one said we'd been struck by lightning, I thought about the coincidence as we deplaned in the dark by the flashlight. Avoiding the mob at the desk, I re-booked myself online from the backseat of the taxi ride home and was able to find a morning non-stop to still get me there in time, although it would make for extremely long day.

It was good to be back in my own bed unexpectedly, even if for only 3 hours, and I was soon back at the boarding gate for an on-time departure. After a full day of training in Philadelphia and dinner with the client, it was time to rent my car for the "45 minute" drive to Atlantic City that took me nearly two hours. Thanks only to the pleasant voice of my "Garmin Girl" to talk me through the spaghetti-like interchanges, I noticed it was 9 p.m. as I pulled up to the Porte-cochere.

Can I tell you I was exhausted? Can I tell you I was hungry? A good metaphor for my personal state was the batteries of all of my devices, as the cell phone, the Blackberry and also the Garmin GPS were all in need of recharging.

For readers who wonder at the previous digression, my story is told only to set the stage for what happened next, which began the best overall hotel guest service experience I have ever had on a business trip. The first person I saw as I pulled in was Bobby the bellman, who welcomed me into the hotel while partnering with Joe the valet attendant to secure my bags. Not only did they ask how my drive in was, but more importantly they took time to empathize with how confusing the route I took can be.

Next I was escorted to the front desk where both Shelia and Ryan both welcomed me with warm smiles and sincere expressions without once asking "Checkin' in?" Most importantly, as they cared for me by getting the key packet ready right away, they seemed to care about me as they took time to listen to my "how was your trip in?" story, which it sure made me feel better to share.

I had a great conversation with Bobby as he escorted me to the room; you could tell I wasn't just another "front" for him; he obviously knew the real job of a bellperson has little to do with carrying luggage. Not only did Bobby offer to hang my garment bag, but he even offered to get me ice after receiving my gratuity. To my continued surprise, next up was a delightful conversation with my new friend Lelani from room service, who was just so fun and personable that I felt myself relaxing despite that CNN was announcing more bad news on the economic fronts on the muted flat-panel TV screen.

The next morning as I was just done setting up the meeting room and looking for a place to buy mints, I was astonished when the banquet set-up staffer offered to run to the market to buy them for me. Given more space, I could provide a further narrative of every encounter I had during my two nights there. But just one encounter more provides a defining moment. It was when Dave, my room service waiter, noticed the day prior I had requested a morning paper. Observing the papers hadn't been delivered this early, he offered to bring me one. How could he have known that the one routine I like most of all on the road is starting my day with the morning paper, especially during election season?

After fond farewells from the front desk and guest services team I headed back home, thankful that I was fortunate enough to experience firsthand such genuine, authentic hospitality.

As surprising as it was to experience this level of excellence, it was no surprise at all what I later learned from Stephane Mozziconacci, their hotel manager: Despite still being under construction during their soft opening phase, The Hotel Chelsea has already rocketed-up the Trip Advisor ratings list to being the number one rat.

Doug Kennedy, president of the Kennedy Training Network, has been a fixture on the hospitality and tourism industry conference circuit since 1989, having presented over 1,000 conference keynote sessions, educational seminars, and on-premise training workshops for diverse audiences representing every segment of the lodging industry. His articles have also appeared worldwide in more than 17 prominent international publications. doug@kennedytrainingnetwork.com www.kennedytrainingnetwork.com