Ever since the global pandemic of 2019, the challenges faced by restaurant owners / operators have dramatically increased. The cost of doing business has risen significantly and their profit margins have diminished so much that many have faced closure.
One of the side effects of the numerous challenges that hospitality professionals are facing is the diminishing service being offered to their guests. Recently my wife and I experienced this in a popular local restaurant.
We were promptly seated in the very busy establishment. The server approached our table and asked if we would like to start with drinks. We replied that we would like a glass of tap water.
The server then said “You need to collect it yourself from the counter.” She then pointed to a pitcher and glasses halfway across the room.
We were surprised that at a restaurant that charges £21 for a main course would require their guests to fetch their own water.
A few minutes later a second server delivered our main courses and we asked her why we were required to serve ourselves? She frowned and said “I am sorry. I do not think this policy is correct.” Then a few seconds later she brought a water pitcher to our table and filled our glasses.
This made me wonder that if more restaurants adopt this policy where might it eventually lead us? After all the term hospitality means to serve others. If the guests is required to serve ourselves where will it take us? Will we need to bring our own utensils in the future to save a dishwasher’s salary?
The following day I received an email from the restaurant asking us to “rate our experience”. I wrote a brief email describing my dismay about having to serve myself and the restaurant owner promptly wrote back complaining about the rising costs of doing business and reminding me that water is not free nor are the utensils required to serve the water. These costs, the owner stated, must be recovered for them to remain in business.
Whilst I am sympathetic to the challenges restaurants and other hospitality professionals are facing, I also worry about the future reputational decline of this once noble industry.
This experience reminded me of when I travelled all night on a train from Boston, Massachusetts to Atlantic City, New Jersey in the USA. Upon arrival at my small modest hotel I was surprised to see a middle aged receptionist wave at me from behind her counter. I quickly looked over my shoulder to see if she was saying hello to an old friend.
Then she pointed her index finger at me, smiled broadly, and gesture for me to step forward and warmly welcomed me to her world.
Upon stepping up to her counter she warmly said “Welcome to our hotel, We have been expecting YOU!”
For a moment I was surprised by her enthusiasm as typically in some hotels the first words you may hear are “How would you prefer to pay?”
Then I suddenly realised that of course she was expecting me because her guests were paying for the ongoing enterprise known as her hotel and also we were supporting her salary and the ongoing resources she provided for her family .
Then my new friend leaned confidentially across the counter and asked with genuine concern “What would you like to do first?”
I pondered her question and then noticed that behind her was a casino awaiting my gaming adventure, to her left was a cafe that would provide nourishment, to her right was a spa with massage and facials available to rejuvenate me, and finally behind me were a series of high end shops with gifts I might bring home to my own family.
I shrugged my shoulders and told her that I was awfully tired and would like to go straight to my room for a shower before giving a mid day luncheon speech before 1000 people in her grand ballroom.
Then as if she was a genie about to shout “Master, your wish is my command!” she tapped her well manicured fingers upon her computer keyboard. A few seconds later she raised her eyes to mine and said with an even bigger smile, “Professor Goldblatt, I would like to invite you to be our guest for a complimentary continental breakfast in our cafe while we prepare the most lovely room for you. Will you please accept my gift?”
Of course I realised what she was really saying is that at 10am in the morning my room was not available. However, instead of telling me I had to clean my own room, she was using the language of love by offering me a complimentary service of a free breakfast which was a nominal cost for the hotel.
l immediately accepted her gift, enjoyed my croissant and coffee, and soon a bellman approached my table and announced “Sir, please follow me and I shall bring you and your suitcases to your beautiful room.”
The room was not exceptional nor particularly beautiful. However, due to the generosity and enthusiasm of the receptionist and the bellman, I was genuinely surprised and delighted.
In my view, this is what is missing from modern hospitality. Due to the financial challenges being faced by owners and operators, some of the magic seems to be slipping away. And when a guest in a first class restaurant is told that they must serve themselves the water, to me this is the tipping point that will result in my not patronising their establishment in the future.
A wise business leader told me many years ago that it only take a little extra service to retain a customer in the future and it only takes a small mistake to lose a customer forever. In the USA state of Louisiana this extra service is entitled “Lagniappe” which is the French word for “A little something extra.” One example of this is when the baker adds a free thirteenth donut to his baker’s dozen.
I sincerely hope that restaurant and hospitality professionals will find other ways to reduce their rising costs without forcing their guests to serve themselves. After all, if a small hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey can surprise and delight me with their service ethos, perhaps all hospitality enterprises may aspire to this same magical standard?
Professor Joe Goldblatt is Emeritus Professor of Planned Events at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, Scotland. His views are his own. To learn more about his views visit www.joegoldblatt.scot
