Originally Posted by
SHLTP
For that matter, I know SPG used to follow me. When I arrived at properties after a special public success, they often had things prepared. Custom cakes or chocolates in the shape or emblazoned w something very specific to my public event. They told me they often did Google searches for me before I arrived and I often found later guest service folks followed me on various platforms.
To each his or her own, but I personally find this type of behavior super creepy. Any hotel that thinks it's appropriate to stalk me (good term, Jaimito) and then announce that they're stalking me via pastry would lose my business.
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I've told this story in FlyerTalk before, so skip it if you're read it before or anecdotes aren't your thing.
Years ago, I worked at a corporate-owned hotel that served as a beta test site for programs, services, and products for the chain. This was the late 90s, so most cell phones still folded and anything WiFi was uncommon.
We were tasked with testing a special room key that encoded the guest's name on it. When the key was within X feet for a reader (and not blocked by anything thicker than the fabric of a pant pocket), the guest's name appeared on a special console. We set up the equipment in the hotel's Concierge Lounge. When guests with the keys entered, the hotel staff would greet them by name.
Guests freaked out.
Apparently back then, having a complete stranger address you by name was an unsettling experience for many people. The only guests that were okay with the concept were ones who stayed with us regularly. And our Concierge staff was great, so they already knew the names of those guests. That beta test didn't even last a week before our General Manager told the Corporate Office their expensive toy was a bust.
Times have clearly changed.