When I travel on business there are a few hotel conditions I live by:
Don't pick a hotel that was once a brothel
Stay away from hotels that charge "by the hour"
Ensure there are windows
Hotels that offer 'Happy Hour' (but from 6pm - 2am) are generally to be avoided
I was in Dallas, Texas recently and as I was speaking at the ASTD International Convention and Exhibition Conference I chose to stay at the Omni Hotels & Resorts Dallas hotel - located adjacent to the Dallas Convention Center.
It's a splendid hotel devoid of any of the bullets above. (it's also devoid of bullets)
My flight back to Vancouver was slated for 7am. Naturally, being the time management nutbar that I am, I was in bed at 10pm with a wake-up call set for 5:15am so I could shower and head off to the airport to catch the flight.
At 2am the orchestral movement in the dark of high-pitched hyena-like laughing began from the room next door. My semi-catatonic // semi-conscious state presumed it was a dream but it ensued for the next 10 minutes. That's when I took action. Yup, I began hitting the hotel wall presuming my thuds would be an inclination of displeasure.
It wasn't.
I'm pretty sure they were snorting cocaine.
So, after another 10 minutes of Canadian patience I called down to the front-desk and explained the situation. I don't recall the woman's name I spoke with but she said not to worry and that it would be handled.
I found some earplugs from my bag, put them in to soften the hyena yelping down to a lower pitch, and I tried to go back to sleep.
When the phone rang at 5:15am, I got up, had my shower and with my trusty bag already packed, proceeded to exit the room on to a waiting taxi for the ride to the airport.
But what did I see under the hotel room door? The graphic below explains things rather nicely:
To Kyle - the night manager of Omni Hotels and Resorts in Dallas - you (and your team) should be recognized for the reassuring way in which you handled the situation (I presume you didn't shoot the hyenas next door) as well as your Customers First approach to make me feel better about the inconvenience.
It wasn't your fault, but you took responsibility which is certainly above and beyond the call of duty.
Thank you for an exemplary case study of customer service leadership.
WORK-LIFE BLOOM
PERSONAL ASSESSMENT
Find out if youโre currently blooming, budding, stunted or in need of renewal through the Work-Life Bloom Personal Assessment.
We are so proud to have had you at our event. Your talk was a big hit. It moved us. We canโt thank you enough.
Malin Bjรถrnell, Salesforce
Dan challenged us to have clarity of purpose, both as individuals and as an organization. He related inspiring stories drawing on his experience in business, technology and academia. As he said, โThere is no ownership without belonging.โ
Christian Pantel, D2L
Fantastic engaging talk for our global partner summit. Thank you so much, Dan!
Barb Kinnard, CEO Response Biomedical Corp
Dan not only brought his presentation to life with his charisma, but also content, style and presentation finesse. Our members were especially interested in his thought provoking and top of mind topic on the future of work and how weโre going to be leading the next generation of leaders.
Cheryl Goodwin, CPA
Dan is a conference organizerโs ideal speaker. Not only did he inspire and energize our group, but he also masterfully adapted his content so it resonated with the audience and our conference theme. As a bonus, Dan is able to nimbly navigate to adjust to a reduced time slot when other speakers went over time without sacrificing the impact of his session.
Director and General Counsel
Dan accomplished what we set out to do, which was not only to be inspirational, but also to leave everyone with tools and food for thought / self-reflection to improve their personal and professional lives.