Sparkling Associates of The Peabody Orlando Scoop Glittering Prize: Nation's Top Hotel Guest Relations Award

ORLANDO, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–April 22, 2002–Associates of this 891-room, 57,000 sq. ft. convention/resort hotel located directly opposite the 1.5-million sq. ft. (soon-to-be 3-million sq. Orange County Convention Center) on International Drive, have added yet another national award to their hotel's crowded hall of fame, carrying off the coveted, American Hotel & Lodging Association's 2002 Achievement Award for outstanding guest relations through its Peabody Personal Service program.
In a previous award from Business Traveler magazine, Associates of the Peabody Orlando were aptly described as sparkling, the epitome of the daily practice of artful hospitality.
The art of guest relations and daily adherence to providing elegant, all-encompassing guest services, is alive and well at The Peabody Orlando. This is not only the philosophy and goal of the owners and management of the hotel, but of its Associates, who daily demonstrate an extraordinary dedication to achieving and maintaining 101% guest satisfaction.
Having previously won the Florida Hotel & Motel Association's 2002 Guest Relations Award, Pat Baird, executive housekeeper, and Barbara Bowden, assistant rooms director for The Peabody Orlando, accepted the national award at the annual AH&LA's 2002 Achievement Award at a recent awards ceremony in Philadelphia.
What is truly unique about this particular award is the fact that PPS is a program which was created and developed by our Associates themselves, said Alan C. Villaverde, vice president and general manager of the luxury, landmark hotel. Our guest relations practices have always been a priority at The Peabody Orlando, and always will be, but our Associates wanted to raise the bar still higher, to provide a mechanism which would provide all Associates the ultimate tool they needed to ensure total guest satisfaction.
PPS was created and developed under the direction of the Steering Committee of Peabody Service Excellence(R), our patented guest service delivery culture which has been in operation at the hotel for close to fifteen years.
PPS truly is a unique system whereby Associates, not guests, instigate a series of steps which address a guest's need, even before the guest mentions or reports it. For example, if a server in a restaurant overhears a guest remark on difficulties with a room key card, the server calls the PPS extension and reports the problem. The report is logged onto a specially-designed computer program, GuestWare, which Associates throughout all departments constantly monitor. By the end of the meal, after security check, the guest is presented a new set of key cards, and is pleasantly surprised that a situation he/she hadn't even reported, has been resolved. This is the last word in anticipating the guest's needs.
It's wonderful to see the look of delighted surprise on a guest's face, when something like this happens, said Andrew Lloyd Whitaker, manager of guest technology services for the hotel. All of us are accustomed to having to complain when something goes wrong, but it is quite an art to put something right before anyone complains or calls in a problem. That is customary PPS style.
PPS is monitored 24-hours-a-day by six designated managers who are assigned to monitor, and then interface with the guest, and resolve whatever situations or problems have been logged onto the system.
Another remarkable part of PPS is that it allows hotel management to review data, identify recurring problems, and then refine procedures to eliminate them in future.
Above all, Associates of the hotel have a sense of ownership and now, a justifiable pride, in their national award-winning creation, Peabody Personal Service.