alvn

Over the last six months, I've stayed at the Ritz-Carlton Washington (the one on 22nd Street NW) three times, totaling eight nights. (Prior to the last six months, my last stay there was a while ago.)

I've always stayed in at least a Club Level Room, and I've generally paid relatively high rates.

On the second stay, the staff treated me much better than they did on the first stay. On the third stay, the staff treated me much better than they did on the second stay. I got an amazing upgrade, among other things.

I know that Ritz-Carlton, like most luxury hotel chains, does not have a formal "frequent stay" program. Of course, I also know that they track guest activity "secretly," and that information about prior activity is readily available to many employees.

However, I'm surprised that the threshold for "special treatment" is this low. Eight nights in six months doesn't seem like a lot to me.

So, for those of you who might have inside information about how things work at Ritz-Carlton in general or this property specifically, how does the staff determine whether a guest merits "special treatment"?

If you don't have inside information, guesses are fine too.

jacob_m

Most hotels (at least better ones) use a reservation system/program called Fidelio and I would guess Ritz/Carlton uses it as well.
I worked in the hotel business for a short period of time so I got to know how it works.
The program is basically made up of profiles for all customers (no matter if they stay once or have stayed 1000 times).
You link each reservation to a profile or create a new profile if the person has not stayed in the hotel before.
The profile function only really becomes interesting when a guest has stayed a few times.
You can very easily get lots of information about the guest such as the number of stays, number of nights, total revenue (both from the room rate and "extras"). You can also get information about previous stays for example the rate paid and what room the guest had.
Then there is a noticeboard for each profile where you can make notes, normally about previous upgrades and personal information about the guest for example if the guest is a troublemaker (and the staff should be careful), incidents in the past, special requests etc.
Exactly how it is used is up to each individual hotel.

Normally at the day of arrival you check the profiles of the arriving guests and make appropriate arrangements (necessary room assignments, upgrades, VIP treatments).
I would guess that's what they did and saw you had spent a lot of money and decided to give you better treatment, or they saw the potential for creating loyalty perhaps...?!
It does seem rather generous though after less than 10 nights.

Doppy

IIRC, there's some discussion of your question in this thread, where, again - IIRC, the original poster had worked for a Ritz Carlton:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=296457

If you didn't read that thread when it was active, I highly recommend it. A lot of good information, and it was very entertaining.

jacob_m

Interesting read! I had not seen the thread before.
The only thing to take into consideration is that some of the tips may not work very well outside the US such as the tipping parts (which can seem offensive in some countries) and asking/expecting upgrades without a valid reason (if you want a better room you will be asked to pay the difference or at least a charge in many hotels).
But indeed the hotels know a lot about their guests, and the funny thing is that many people don't realise this. Although more exactly how much they know mostly depends on routines and time constraints (it does take time to enter things).
If you are polite and nice, or for example if something goes wrong and you behave well (showing a bit of sympathy that everybody makes mistakes) you may well get some favourable comments in the records which will make a difference in the future.
On the other hand if you are rude or make a lot of trouble, or even worse trying to fool the hotel by telling lies etc (yes it happened!) you will most likely get a negative comment in the record which all staff will read every time you arrive and appropriate actions will be taken (or perhaps not taken).

alvn

Yes, actually, I know for a fact that the Ritz-Carlton Washington uses Fidelio.

While we were in the club lounge, "FIDELIO" was on the concierge's computer screen (in large letters). I didn't know what that meant at the time, but I do now. Thanks.

I'm not sure if I'd say that I spent "a lot" of money. I didn't pay rack rate, but I didn't pay bargain rates either.

And we spent a moderate amount on "extras," like restaurant charges, bar charges, and room service.

peter11

Personally I think it is important that a hotel quickly recognize who is providing repeat business to them. Even on the second stay they should recognize you. There is a natural tendancy, especially when staying at the best properties, to want to try another in the city you are visiting. Chances are, because of the way they treated you, you will not consider another hotel in DC. They are happy to have you and know that you will likely suggest the hotel to others. In such a competitive business, success is measured one guest at a time.

jacob_m

Yes it's written all over the screen in LARGE letters when you go back to the start page. I also notice it quite often when I stay in hotels so I know most hotels use it.

It's still a bit strange they started upgrading you so quickly.
I mean sure they could see the potential of future business, but that could be said about lots of guests and upgrading everybody every time would simply not make sense, a hotel is still a profit-making company which has to sell some rooms as well, not upgrading everybody.
Did anything happen during the first stay (either very negative or positive) that may have influenced them to decide to pay extra attention to you if you would return (which you did)?
If they recognise you as a "frequent guest" the normal hotel practice is to write the surname in capital letters i.e. Mr SMITH instead of Mr Smith.
It is a simple, yet very efficient way to let all staff know it is a loyal and important customer who deserves a bit of extra attention.
If it's written in capital letters in the system it will be written in capital letters everywhere, on all lists, telephone screens, and on the bill and room service slips where you could notice it.

Doppy

Interesting info, jacob_m.

Got any other info or stories for us?

daniellam

What would happen if another guest who has the same first and last name also stays at the hotel?

BTW, if you move and used a different address to make reservations, would that mean they would treat you as a new guest who never stayed there?

jacob_m

There is no problem having several guests with the same name, you differentiate them by the city they come from.
If you make a reservation they will most likely ask where you're calling from to see if they can match your name and your hometown with an existing profile in the database.
As far as I remember it was never an issue...

Very good point! The system will not automatically understand it's the same person (as the city is different) so something has to be done manually about it.
If a new profile is created it will obviously say 0 nights, 0 stays, $0 revenue with no hints of previous stays.
Unless the staff at the front desk recognise you and make appropriate adjustments (linking the reservation to the old profile) the best thing to do is to tell them you moved and kindly ask them to update your address in the computer.
That will make them look for the old profile with your previous guest records and they can very easily correct your address and you will get credit for that stay as well.

Well I only worked for three months (a summer) some time ago but I learnt everything there was to know so in that sense it was interesting. It's pretty fun to stay in hotels now as I know exactly what's going on and what the front desk staff knows about me etc
Also when working there I got to see how it works when a famous actor/pop star (one of the major ones from Hollywood in my case) stays in a hotel for a few days. The person was booked under a fake name and everytime you had to talk about or refer to the person you had to use the fake name.
And everytime an agent or a manager called to speak to the person they would ask to speak to Mr/Mrs Fake Name.
By doing that you knew exactly who to help and who to tell "I don't know anything" or "no that person is definitely not staying here". Clever!!

I don't know if there is anything special to know.
It's mostly that the staff often knows more about you than you might think and that the reservation program is really advanced and there are loads of functions that the hotel can make use of if they want.
You can rank guests for example, giving them status by assigning them a number. There is one number for "mistreated guest", one for "not welcome anymore", "frequent guest", "gold card holder" or whatever is appropriate.

You can also keep track on the guests.
As an example, if one guests argues a lot at check-in and makes a lot of trouble, you can add a message that will come up everytime you open the reservation, for example "this guest should NOT get an upgrade" or "this guest keeps arguing about a reduction he/she is not entitled to" and then you normally write "see profile" where you write the full story/incident.
So if the guest comes back a few hours later and approaches a new employee and has all of a sudden a great complaint, the message will come up just by entering the room number.
Unfortunately these things are sometimes necessary and it freaked me out when it happened, there are people who make up advanced lies and use really nasty methods to try to get things they are not even entitled to.
The same functions can of course be used for positive purposes as well.

luxury

Thanks for the info, jacob_m!! I would imagine there are many different customisations, options or add-on's to Fidelio as I have seen it on the computer screen of the Receptionist at the Executive Lounge at the London Hilton Metropole as well as at Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton, for example. (It is very well known that FS/RC use Fidelio). Of course, the service levels are worlds apart and it seems difficult to imagine that Hilton would under-utilise their Fidelio and FS/RC would squeeze so much out of it.....

whiteknuckles

From the Amex website: "In order to receive Fine Hotels & Resorts program amenities and rates, reservations must be made through Platinum Travel Service."
It has been my experience that booking inquiries through PTS usually result in higher quotes for room rates than I can obtain directly from the hotel or other sources.

Sprite

I have NEVER found a lower rate/better deal at any Ritz-Carlton than when using PTS. I know other hotels are a different story, but for Ritz it's the best.

Navin R Johnson

Interesting.

On the Amex PTS, sometimes I can get a better rate, but it doesn't include the additional amenity or an upgrade if available. I make my decision on the hotel and amenity and also sometimes call the hotel and ask them about my chances for an upgrade.