Would you dare have your office in the hotel lobby?
The best GMs aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. They’re humble, hardworking, and take a visible approach to management. By getting out of their office and into the hotel more often, they’re able to fully immerse themselves in the guest experience. This allows them to gain valuable insight and become a better leader by working alongside their staff and talking to guests on a regular basis.
The Trump International Hotel is a luxury hotel in Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington D.C. that has been meticulously redeveloped and housed in an iconic building built in 1899 as the old Post Office. The hotel, which opened in September 2016, includes 263 of the largest and most luxurious luxurious guest rooms and suites in the city with soaring 16-foot ceilings, carefully restored original woodwork and dazzling crystal chandeliers. The hotel’s exquisite 13,200 sq. ft. column-free Presidential Ballroom is about the largest luxury ballroom among hotels in Washington, D.C.
The hotel’s showpiece however is the Grand Lobby, a soaring nine-story atrium that functions as the hotel’s main hub, houses 1,000 panes of glass forming the atrium roof that illuminates the interior courtyard setting with sunlight.
There is however another amazing feature in this hotel. The Managing Director of the hotel is on hand every morning in the lobby or in the restaurant to talk to both in - house guests and locals coming for breakfast meetings, etc. One might hasten to say that there are several other hotel managers in the world who do exactly the same. But do they spend at least five hours of every working day, using one of the tables in the hotel’s lobby as their ‘office’? Mickael Damlincourt does exactly that!
“I am on hand to greet and talk to both hotel guests and colleagues. I schedule meetings here; most passers-by realize when I am in serious conversation and do not interrupt. There really are no disadvantages,” the French- born hotelier claims.
Every morning a table with a reserved sign is ready from about 7 am for Damelincourt’s arrival. He himself invariably has his breakfast at the table – usually a croissant from the pastry cart that passes by with a coffee to drink. Depending on his schedule, and how busy the hotel is, sometime after noon, he would vacate the table and retreat to his more formal back-of-the house office.
As well as leading by example, providing excellent customer service, Mickael Damlincourt feels that sitting at the lobby desk has another big advantage. He confesses that he is motivated by the ambiance.
Now that’s a hard act to follow.
Ilzaf Keefahs – writes on hospitality related matters that he is passionate about, and likes to share his views with hoteliers and customers alike |
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