Getting Recognition Right
+ Hospitality News and Jingle Bell Kindness #1 2024
Remember the theme song from Cheers?
We all kinda sorta remember the refrain (Sometime you wanna go, where everybody knows your name), but I’d forgotten how well the verses fit some of the things many people are feeling today.
Making your way in the world today
Takes everything you've got
Taking a break from all your worries
Sure would help a lot
We all have those kind of days, but in today’s streamlined and scripted world of hospitality, how easy is it to find a place that remembers you?
With advances in technology, many places have embraced the opportunity to let machines do what humans did, but how many places use machines to help humans do what humans do better?
Story 1
Yearly, from 2007 - 2018, Kirsten and I spent the second week of November in Washington, D.C. I attended OSAC meetings at the State Department, Kirsten explored the city and made awesome friendships.
One of the challenges we had was to find a hotel that was in an area that would allow me to walk to the Harry S. Truman building and within walking distance to many of the historical sights in DC, too. The hotel we chose also turned out to be a short stroll from shopping in Georgetown, so some would say my due diligence wasn’t flawless…
We stayed at the River Inn for eleven years. When we stepped out of the taxi in year two, the doorman said, “Welcome back!”
When we arrived for our last visit, the front desk agent, who was likely a third grader when we first visited, greeted us with “WOW! You guys have been staying here for eleven years! Thanks for coming back!” Of course he was aided by the memory of their guest history logs, but we’ve booked tables in restaurants multiple times a year and servers still greet us with “Is this your first time dining with us?”
Technology is useless without trained people putting it to use.
The River Inn always got recognition right.
Story 2
People who know us, know about our special relationship with Skinny Duke’s and their owner, Nixon Hospitality.
From the very first time we stopped in for a beer on a hot August afternoon, we knew it would become a place we’d often return to. Hannah, our server, welcomed us and said,
Before you order anything, can you tell me your names? We’re new and I want to get to know as many people as possible.
We returned so often between 2018 and the pandemic, that everybody at Skinny’s knew our names.
Then came the pandemic.
Everything closed.
When restaurants reopened, it was for take out only.
Skinny Dukes decided to open with a limited, pizza-only menu to begin with.
They named one of the pizzas after us!
“The Mox” was a sure sign that we had either been at Skinny’s too often or that they wanted to recognize us for supporting them during the pre-pandemic times.
Restaurants that provide great hospitality are successful. Skinny Duke’s was Nixon Hospitality’s second restaurant. Today, they have six.
A few weeks ago, Kirsten and I went to their newest one downtown, The Bohemian Café. When we walked in just before noon, the manager, Spencer, saw us and immediately came over.
“Hey Guys! Great to see you two!” We chatted about his recent travels to Japan and I introduced him to
who writes More McBarges here on Substack and is currently three quarters of the way through his worldwide, 52 countries in 52 weeks, adventure.Seeing Spencer, a former manager at Skinny’s and other Nixon-owned restaurants, gave us that familiar feeling even though we were in new surroundings.
We almost forgot to have lunch. Almost. They served up a mouthwatering Reuben!
Hospitality is all about caring. Caring about the people you serve. Caring about the people you work with. Caring about the products you provide.
Nixon Hospitality and the River Inn are two shining examples of places that get guest recognition right. They care about their guests and customers.
What hotels and restaurants do you remember because they remembered you?
Hospitality News:
The “official” end of the pandemic for a Toronto Hotel
The Strathcona closed when the lockdowns hit and was subsequently used as a shelter for unhoused. From April 2020 until August 2023, the property was leased by the City of Toronto and used as a homeless shelter. The owner, Silver Hotel Group, is undertaking a complete renovation and a rebrand. The “new” Union Hotel is expected to open in early 2025.
2025 will be the year of JOMO, planned detours, and ticking phenomena of your list
So says this article from Euronews. It also says hotel restaurants and solo male travel will be in vogue. (That’s good news for a couple of subscribers I know, but I’m not saying if they are restaurant folks, or solo males).
What trends do you agree with and which trends is the article missing?
New compliance requirements coming to hotels in New York City
It made the news when the Mayor of New York signed the Safe Hotels Act on November 4. People scoffed and laughed because suddenly, hotel operators will need to have a license to operate their hotels. You need a license to cut hair and operate doggy day care, said an article on APnews.com, but not to operate a hotel in the big apple. Who knew?
That’s likely changing when the Safe Hotels Act takes effect in May 2025. But it’s about more than licenses. You know those things you used to expect in hotels that you don’t always see anymore? Some of them will be back. It’s the law.
Hotels will need to have 24 hour front desk coverage and large hotels will need 24 hour security onsite. Night staff on the front desk need to be trained in human trafficking recognition. Hotels, except those under 100 rooms, will also need to employ “core staff”. All core staff will also need to be trained in human trafficking recognition within 60 days of employment. No more outsourcing every job in the hotel.
Year-End Sale!
Spin the Bottle Service - Hospitality in the Age of AI is on sale for only US$ 9.99 until January 15, 2025. The perfect gift for your friends and family who work in the industry or for anyone who loves stories of excellent experiences from the world of hotels and restaurants!
Jingle Bell Kindness #1 - 2024
The Kindness Games were started by Lee Oughton and Tim Wenzel. It challenges you to give shoutouts of kindness and gratitude to people who have inspired you or played an important role in your life.
Every Always Care Community Newsletter will include a Jingle Bell Kindness shoutout to people who are important to me.
Thanks for being part of the Always Care Community.
I’m Paul. I was born, raised, and currently live in Canada. After high school, I embarked on a gap year in Europe. It lasted four decades. I went to university in Norway and started my hotel career in the basement of a five-star hotel in Oslo. The manager who hired me told me I was too old, too educated, and had too many opinions to be a security guard. He also told me that the only other person who applied for the job didn’t want it.
Thirty years later, I left that same company. It had grown from a small regional hotel chain in Scandinavia to become a large, global, multi-brand company. I moved from Norway to Denmark to Belgium. The company awarded me their highest individual honour for leadership, and security professional peers selected me as the world’s most influential corporate security executive.
I’m a hospitality professional. I’m a security professional. If you ask, I will tell you that security was my job, and hospitality was my business.
Today, I’m an educator and a consultant passionate about hotels, hospitality, and keeping people safe during their travels.
In addition to the Always Care Community, I also write for Risk Resiliency’s Keep Travel Safe.
Written with the clarity of hindsight, the accuracy of a faded memory, and countless creative liberties, this is a newsletter of how life has made me an emigrant, an immigrant, and gifted me experiences I never dreamed possible.
Thanks for reading. Your support is my motivation and I’m genuinely grateful that you’re here. Please share, subscribe, and connect with me.
Stay safe, Always Care
I used to work in town, and went out for lunch quite frequently in the handful of restaurants around the school/training center where I worked. I loved feeling like a special regular customer. There's no longer anywhere I go to that frequently.
Congratulations on having the pizza named after you! That's quite an accomplishment.
As for trends, I feel like solo female travel has moved from a trend to a certifiable phenomenon, although I don't have statistics on it -- so why not solo male travel? What's good for the goose...