Today when attending the site visit at the Park Hyatt I really resonated with all of the small details that the hotel follows very strictly that really do add up to make a difference. I thought it was interesting how they said the main wall straight ahead when you walk into the building was placed there for a reason, to hide the front desk at the hotel to make the building feel more like a home. As well as the kitchens in the restaurants being so open and having order to how they are run. I now begin to wonder how exactly they come up with these small details that are really helping their brand. What makes them push for the humble signage rather than the big signage to pull people in.

Since the luxury industry space can be more competitive in these more populated cities especially big on tourism, companies like the Park Hyatt have to make themselves stand out in a crowd. The positive reputation that the Hyatt chain has helps to draw in customers however what the Park Hyatt does on the inside is what gets them coming back. They mentioned how they pay small attention to detail during their residents stays. They take notes on things that they do and don’t like for the future. For example they mentioned that they will remember if a couple preferred to sit near a door and make sure to seat them in their preferred area during their next stay. I found this very interesting as I would understand wanting to go above and beyond for service during ones stay but making the effort to remember what was liked in case of return is something I would never have thought to do.

With the Hyatt I liked their small takes on sustainability, as it can be very hard to make many large changes at once their small changes are positive for the world. Some being sensors in rooms to detect when someone is or isn’t in the room, changing the menu to a QR code to reduce paper copies, as well as being informed when they would like housekeeping to change things like their sheets. I thought this was super interesting as I feel like the housekeeping aspect is really spreading around the world. Thinking back to when I was younger on vacation staying in hotels, housekeeping would come everyday and they would always give you fresh towels and make the beds. However now hotels have been adjusting their policy to change every other day and even make different accommodating depending on the length of the stay.

Connections between the lecture and the visit to the Park Hyatt I made were how the hotel said they they build a resilience team and that so much of their higher up staff currently had started in lower positions like housekeeping roles. I really liked this idea because they said they really care about who they bring onto their team because they would rather someone more personable employee than someone who is super qualified for the role. This helps them bring on people that are going to uphold their mission as well as stay committed to their company. This made me reflect on an ethical question about what my group today talked about at UEF. We found out about how there isn’t really a tipping culture here compared to in the states it is so large. This now makes me wonder how wages and compensation in these hotel jobs and within the restaurants there may differ compared to the states because when tips are being received in America you can receive under minimum wage.