Originally Posted by
JohanSlam
I had an amusing/interesting situation at the Lima Hilton. I arrived real early to check in, at about 9.15am. The valet that opened the door of the taxi addressed me by name, unbeknown to me it was the opening day and I was the first and only guest.
Hah, that's amusing.
I've seen a number of good hotels where they use various techniques to simulate this approach:
- St Regis Mex (and presumably others) - The guy getting my bags quickly read my FF card and then referred to me by my name on there
- In the Park Hyatt Chicago the doorman has a great memory and always radioed up my name to reception who would be waiting in front of the desk with a key by the time I got inside
- The Park Hyatt Tokyo is the most impressive. The driver of the bus who picks you up gets your name and radios it ahead and then if you're a Hyatt Diamond and/ or from a major corporate customer (not sure what caused this), you get a handful of people waiting for you by the entrance giving you business cards and bowing like crazy (a la Lost in Translation).
When people who I don't recognise greet me by name it's usually because I met them on a particularly enthusiastic night out. I don't think I've been in that state whilst on board/ in the lounges, so I should be relatively safe in airports.