Our hotel service story series has begun! Wow – what a tough time we had. There are some wonderful stories that our staff shared and we are thrilled to share their inspiration with you. Here we go!

• Janet on our Housekeeping Team was cleaning a guest room during their stay. The guest remained in the room during the clean as she was not feeling well. In fact the Janet noticed that the guest had her winter coat on because she felt so cold and ill – especially in the bathroom. Janet made sure that the room temperature was set correctly, finished the service and immediately headed downstairs to the Executive Housekeeper to if a small heater could be made available. The Executive Housekeeper located a spare heater and contacted the guest to let her know that Janet had brought the guest’s needs to her attention and when would it be convenient to deliver the heater to her. The guest was blown away that Janet had gone out of her way to make her more comfortable while sick on vacation.
• Kyle at our Front Desk was reviewing arrivals for December 17th and noticed that a couple was joining us as the Clay Hill Farm Facebook Friday winner. In addition to being a fan of the Meadowmere, the husband was on active duty and this would be a rare chance to go away together. Kyle took the initiative to call Clay Hill and make sure that their dinner plans were in place and share that the restaurant knew the husband was on active duty, making this stay extra special. He then placed an Ogunquit Champagne flute filled with chocolates in their suite and hand wrote a Christmas card thanking the husband and wishing them a wonderful stay. Today, a happy photo of their stay lives on our Facebook page.
• Sheila at our Front Desk encountered a guest taking pictures and raving about the holiday decorations. This woman was so excited to take pictures that Sheila asked her to send them to us to see – they sounded so wonderful. The guest then took a picture of Sheila and our Christmas Tree as a memory of Ogunquit. Finally, Sheila let the guest know that a fellow fan of the hotel comes every July for the World Wide Photo Walk and is a wonderful photographer – she helped them connect to share photos.
• Stuart at our Front Desk was making a reservation for a guest over the Christmas holiday, which also happened to be on a Saturday in 2010. While booking the guest mentioned that they wished to find a restaurant and prepay in advance for dinner on Saturday. In addition, it had to be walking distance. Intrigued, Stuart inquired as to why these needs arose. The guest said they are Orthodox Jews and this meant several restrictions after sundown, including handling money and driving. Stuart gave them the time of sunset for planning, found a restaurant able to accommodate their needs and assisted them with the other questions they had for enjoying a stay on the Sabbath.
• Kyle at our Front Desk happily checked in a gentleman who had received a complimentary upgrade to a Jacuzzi suite. After leaving the desk, the puzzled guest returned to the desk – he could not locate the Jacuzzi and was concerned that he was in the wrong room. Kyle excused himself from the desk to accompany the guest to the suite, where he showed the gentleman and his wife where the Jacuzzi was, how to use the Jacuzzi and answer questions about the room and stay for them. When they mentioned that they would like to stay another night, Kyle returned to the desk, extended the stay and returned to the room to update the paperwork and be sure that they could settle in to enjoy. This guest then took the time to send a note to the hotel: “The Meadowmere has become our home away from home these past many years and we want to thank you for the wonderful service. A very happy holidays to the entire Meadowmere crew!”
• Jeremy on our Housekeeping Team was called to a Jacuzzi suite with a concern over the water. After attempting to fix the issue and knowing that the the same concern had come up on the first night of their stay, Jeremy let the guest know that he was sorry for the concern arising again. As it was late and approaching closing of the common area Jacuzzis, Jeremy knew that this guest would miss out on having a Jacuzzi experience while with us. Jeremy walked the guest to the Roman Spa, our indoor whirlpool, letting the guest know that he would save this amenity until last to close so that the guest could enjoy. As closing takes quite awhile, the guest was able to have a full hour in the Roman Spa to themselves to relax.
• Matt on our Housekeeping Team was assisting a guest with a move to a suite during the busy New Year’s Eve holiday and upon returning to the original room to clean the space, discovered that the guest had left behind medications accidentally. He quickly realized that this would be important to the guest and promptly delivered to the guest personally the medications.
• Cheryl on our Housekeeping Team was in early before 6am  over the Christmas school  vacation when a guest asked for assistance – her daughter had become very ill over the trip. Cheryl immediately cleaned the room at 6am, from bedding to bathroom, and then let others know that this room would be resting for the day, recovering.
• Janet from our Housekeeping Team noticed a guest in the second level of our South Meadow building. The elderly gentleman looked confused so she approached him to provide assistance. He was looking for the West Meadow Pub and was indeed headed in the wrong direction. She walked with him to insure he reached the pub and along the way listened as he shared how his wife has breast cancer, needing someone to talk to. She listened the whole walk across the hotel and made sure he knew he was heard.
• Jeremy from our Housekeeping Team was en route to the main office when he noticed a gentleman in the Roman Spa with the jets off. Curious, he entered the spa room and asked if the gentleman would like the Jacuzzi jets turned on – to which the guest replied that he had tried, but they did not seem to work.  Jeremy promptly told the guest I can and will fix this for you – please wait here. He then went the mechanical area for the spa and quickly saw that a reset was needed. Afterwards, Jeremy returned to the Roman Spa and began the jets for the guest, who was thrilled to enjoy the amenity.
• Randi from our Housekeeping Team was in the laundry room when she could hear the soda machine whirring. The guest was trying to use an old dollar bill for a bottle of water. Seeing that the bill would not be accepted, she took one of her new dollar bills and exchanged it with the guest, who was immediately able to get the water.

“Being on par in terms of price and quality only gets you into the game. Service wins the game.”

Thank you for letting us share this week’s service stories with you. Each week we hope our little differences help bring a smile to you face – yes, service is not dead. It just took a vacation to Maine!