Blumie

I checked in yesterday to the Ritz Carlton Marina del Rey -- not on anyone's "best of" list for luxury properties, but I like its proximity to LAX and for a run on the beach -- and was asked three times within 10 minutes of walking in the door, "So where are you coming in from today?" And two of the three times were by the same person within a three-minute span. (The front desk clerk asked the question as I was handing her my credit card, and then asked again as she handed it back.)

I have always found this one of the more annoying traits of the Ritz Carlton chain. Another -- although I haven't noticed it recently -- is that they train (or at least used to train) their employees to say "My pleasure" instead of "You're welcome" anytime you thank them for anything. Maybe it's just me, but I prefer to deal with human beings capable of conversing on the fly, rather than pre-programmed robots.

(I'd love to see the Ritz Carlton Marina del Rey getting their elevators up and operating rather than focusing on where their guests are coming from. I don't remember the last time all three of the hotel's guest room elevators were working. At least this time two of the three were working; last visit it was just one.)

And apropos of this, I just noticed the today's Wall Street Journal features an article entited "Checking In? Hidden Ways Hotels Court Guests Faster," which discusses, among other things, how many hotels are training staff members to be able to better read guests as they walk in the door and to attempt to adjust their interaction accordingly. I recognize that that's a tall task to ask of a hotel's staff -- to be able to accurately read a guests demeanor -- but in my mind it has to be preferable to the automatons at the Ritz.