Going the Extra Mile

A stay at two different Four Seasons properties in one week demonstrated how small gestures can have a big impact — and taken together, reveal an extraordinary service culture.

IMG_0124I happened to stay at two Four Seasons hotels during one week in May — the Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort and the Four Seasons Houston. There is something about the culture of hospitality and the attention to detail among every level of staff at Four Seasons’ properties that blows me away. 

In Orlando, I had used the jacket flap of a hardcover book I was reading to mark my page and left my book next to the bed. When I returned to my room that evening, a member of the housekeeping staff had thoughtfully placed a Four Seasons bookmark on top of my book. 

When I arrived late at night at the Four Seasons Houston — which was hosting the PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) Travel and Tourism Conference I attended — I found a lovely plate of fresh fruit waiting for me in my room. And to my surprise and delight, two sugar cookies glazed over in the latest cover of Convene 

During lunch the next afternoon, an attendee at my table shared how she had left a military bracelet (her husband is in the Army) in her hotel room during the day. When she returned that night, she found a handwritten note under the bracelet that read: “Thank you to you and your family for your service to our country.”

And it made me excited to read this year’s Best in Show nominations about the people behind the scenes who have gone that extra mile.

It’s those unexpected touches that made me recall a quote I keep by my desk: “The extra mile is a vast, unpopulated wasteland.” And it made me excited to read this year’s Best in Show nominations about the people behind the scenes who have gone that extra mile to make meeting professionals’ events shine. If you haven’t nominated your unsung hero, there’s still time. Please make your nominations by June 13.

Michelle Russell

Michelle Russell is editor in chief of Convene.