My Frankenstorm

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard about this huge, historic hurricane that hit the Eastern Seaboard. Or, as the weathermen coined it, Frankenstorm. I know I started hearing about it last Wednesday when I went to Weather.com to see the forecast for the weekend. I saw how crazy it was projected to be, and started spreading the word, just in case people hadn't heard yet. I went about business as usual, working the overnight shifts on Saturday and Sunday nights. As I was leaving Monday morning for my two days off, I checked the weather again and told my manager that if the storm is bad enough and the MTA goes through with shutting down the subways, buses and all other forms of public transportation, she should give me a call and I'll come in to help out. Turns out that may not have been the best idea...

I got out of the car at the hotel after packing up and immediately noticed there were no lobby lights. UH OH. That didn't look good. This is what the street looked like:



That light right in the middle was a car about a block away. The rest was pitch black. So we headed inside to see what was going on. The first thing I saw was the general manager, assistant general manager, front office manager, executive housekeeper and bellman all standing around the front desk trying to figure out what to do. In the two plus years I've been here, we have never had a blackout. So no one really knew what to do and how to react.

Being here these last few days has been an experience, to say the least. I've seen a natural disaster force the City That Never Sleeps into a panicked slumber. People are walking around with flashlights so they don't trip on debris or walk into other people. A few blocks north, where there is power, people are lining the convenience store walls with extension cords to charge their cell phones. There are people so desperate to work and connect with the outside world that they are huddling together outside Starbucks just to use the free WiFi. It's a scary sight.

I have now been at the hotel for three days. Let me tell you, it's not easy. There is no power, no heat, and no hot water. Our refrigerator and oven aren't running, so we don't have a full breakfast. Guests are getting antsy and want answers as to when the power will be coming back on. Unfortunately, we can't answer that. Our chief engineer got in touch with someone at ConEd and was told it could be anywhere from 2-7 days. We've done our best to accommodate guests as best as possible. We've called every hotel in Manhattan to find any available rooms, but everything is booked. The nearest hotel with vacancies is about 15 miles from the City. We've called airlines to help reschedule and confirm flights. It's tiring.

I'll tell you this though. Most guests we've had are completely understanding that this situation is out of our control. They'll stop by the desk to see how we're doing and how we're holding up, offering to run out to get us some food or coffee. They thank us for sitting in the cold lobby, dealing with their uneasiness and frustration.

Others, though, aren't as understanding.

"Why can't we have a place to charge our phones?"
"Why don't you know when the power is coming on? What kind of business are you running?"
"I don't think I should have to pay for my stay because of what happened. There's no power, heat or hot water."

We had a few unbelievable and great (in an amusing way) exchanges with guests that I'll post over the next few days. For now, we're just trying to get our guests out to fully operating hotels at reasonable rates so they can be more comfortable. And so we can shut down and go home until the power comes on. We're cold, tired, and spread thin. It's time to go home.

(Partially) Renewed Faith in Humanity

This story just happened and I'm amazed.  In fact, it's still happening because the guests haven't come back yet.  Let me explain...
Three guests arrived from New Zealand about twenty minutes ago after a long flight.  I checked on their reservation to confirm that we have them here, but it was too early to check in.  I started tagging their luggage to keep in storage for the day, when one of the guys yelled "OH BUGGER!"  We all looked at him, confused as to why he was yelling out.  He explained that he had another small satchel that he left in the taxi from the airport.

The guest frantically ran outside to see if the taxi was still here, but it was long gone.  They don't sit for very long on rainy days.  He came back in looking utterly baffled and broken.  He went on to explain that he had his passport, itinerary, and about $3,000 in cash in that bag and that he was part of a tour that was leaving in 2 days to go to Canada (not to mention, he also needed the passport to get home...).  "OH!  I also have my mobile phone in the bag!  Maybe we can try to call it?"  He got the number out of his wallet and proceeded to call the cell phone.  Unfortunately, there was no answer, which was good and bad.  Good because the phone was on and working.  Bad because no one found it yet.We proceeded to store the luggage and sent the guests on their way to explore Manhattan.  

A few seconds after leaving, the guest ran back in to hand me two $50 bills. "If the taxi driver or anyone comes in with my bag, please make sure to give this to them as a thank you."  They went off for some breakfast and I went back to my work.Just a moment ago, the taxi driver showed up.  HE ACTUALLY CAME TO RETURN IT!  I couldn't believe it.  We couldn't believe it.  I handed him the money from the guest and thanked him so much for returning the bag and he told me it was interesting.  He had two other passengers since our guest, and the first one didn't see it (or didn't say anything about it).  The second passenger started digging through the bag when the taxi driver noticed.  He took the bag away from the passenger because he remembered our guest with the bag.  He came right back here to return it.

He was also smart about the return.  He wouldn't just give me the bag because of how valuable the contents are, but he also didn't want to sit and wait for the guests to come back.  Finally, he took my business card, gave me his business card, and left the bag on condition that I have the guest call him when he gets the bag.  Medallion #4F54 driver, if you read this, you're a good man.  Thank you.

Now we're just waiting on the guest to come back so we can tell him the good news.

Have you had a story or situation like this?  Did you lose something in a taxi?  Were you able to recover it, or is it lost forever?  Share your story in the comments, and check back to see what happens with the guest!

UPDATED

Sorry, yesterday got busy and I didn't have time to update the post.  The guest came back in a few hours after the bag was dropped off.  He was elated to hear that we had it and he was on the verge of tears.  He was not expecting to get the bag returned to him and thought he would have to go to the consulate and get a new passport (not to mention, he would have been out a few thousand dollars).  He gave me $20 and a big hug, and went on his way to share the good news with his friends.

A Humbling Experience

Thinking back on my years in the hospitality industry, I don't think I've had a more humbling experience than I did tonight.

When working in the afternoon, my shift ends at 11:00pm.  I start closing out the shift around 10:30 so I can leave on time.  Around that time, we also get antsy to leave and it's possible we may not be on our best behavior (All of you normal schedule people, think of how you are at 4:30pm when your day ends at 5:00pm).  So here's the story...

A gentleman walked in tonight around 10:30pm when I was in the middle of counting the cash drawer.  I hate dealing with guests when I have the money out.  I don't know who I can trust and who's going to try to rob me.  I quickly scoop the money into the drawer so it's out of sight as I hear the sliding doors open.  I think to myself that I'll breeze through this check-in so I can get back to counting my money and end this long day.

As he walked up to me, I go through the usual check-in shpiel.  "Good evening, checking in?"  Instead of answering me, he pushed a paper in my face, pointed to the handwritten confirmation number that I had to decipher, and grunted at me.  I immediately got frustrated with him and said "I need your ID and credit card".  He looked at me blankly and started motioning with his hands.  I had no clue what was going on so I stared back at him and said louder and impatiently "Sir, I can't check you in without your ID and credit card".

As soon as I said it, he pulled his paper back and wrote "I can't hear you I'm deaf".  My heart dropped and I felt so bad.  I was too annoyed to realize he was using sign language when he was making those hand motions.  I didn't realize that maybe he wasn't being obnoxious and snobby, but just couldn't talk.  After I got over the initial shock of how stupid I was, I proceeded to mime all the actions I could so he would understand everything around the hotel.

I'll tell you, it's not that simple to come up with a hand motion for "free wireless internet", "vending machines" or "check-out time is 12:00pm" on the spot.  Finally, I got everything across to him through miming (and some writing) and walked him to the elevator.

When I got back to the desk two thoughts hit me.  First was "wow I need to learn some sign language, just in case this happens again."  I've learned to deal with people from other countries whose English is not that great, but they know the key words because they looked up our hotel online and familiarized themselves enough to know what I'm saying.  Someone who is deaf may be able to do the same thing, but I can't say the word slowly to them so it registers.  I have to either use sign language for those words, or use the method I used tonight.

My second thought was "Holy crap.  What if I acted like that towards a guest who could actually hear me.  That would be really embarrassing".  I realized that even that late at night, I still have to be cheery and welcoming, even if I don't mean it.  Good customer service can go a long way, and you never know who will give a good or bad review.  You never know what kind of day that person had and just smiling and welcoming someone at the end of a long day might be a big help to them.

As usual, leave comments with your thoughts, stories or experiences!

Racism at it's Finest

A black woman walked into the hotel a few days ago and reluctantly comes up to me at the desk:

Woman:  I need a room with two doubles starting tonight for a week.
Me:  I'm sorry, we're sold out tonight, tomorrow and Thursday.
Woman:  Are you sure you looked correctly?  Check again.
(I quickly check again)
Me:  Yes ma'am, I'm sure.  Unfortunately we're sold out those night's.

Woman turns to my black coworker:
Woman:  Sir, can you please check for me to make sure he isn't lying to me?
(my jaw drops at this and my coworker does a double take to make sure he heard her correctly)
CW:  Sure, give me one second to look that up for you.
Woman:  Ok, I need a room tonight for a week with two doubles.
CW:  Sorry, we are sold out, just like my coworker told you.
Woman:  Ok I just had to be sure I wasn't being played.  Thanks for your help (directly to my coworker, not looking at me once).

Let me start off by saying that I've dealt with some minor cases of racism in my years in working in a hotel.  I'm an Orthodox Jew and I wear a kippah at work so I get people checking in and the entire time that I'm checking them in, they're staring at my head and not paying attention.  I'm fine with that.  They're usually from the Midwest or some small town in Europe that hasn't seen too many Jews come through their towns.  I've even gotten called things by people coming back into the hotel late at night after drinking for hours.  I can deal with that.  But to come into the hotel and act like that in the middle of the day in the middle of Manhattan is not so OK.  I don't know if it was because I'm white or Jewish, but being rude like that deserves a wake up call.  Welcome to New York.  It's 2011.  Get over it.

No Soap Radio

Two elephants were in a bathtub and one asked "can you pass the bar of soap?"  The other elephant replied "no, we donated it to Africa."

Sorry.  That was pretty awful.  I just needed something to lead into this story.

About three months ago, I learned that our hotel entered a program to help Clean The World.  The way the program works is when cleaning guest rooms everyday, the housekeepers swap out the "old" bars of soap that were used once or twice and replenish it with brand new ones.  While most people think this is a waste of perfectly good soap, it's actually not going to waste at all.

After collecting all the used soap, the housekeepers put them in a giant bin, and when filled, it get's shipped out to be sanitized and then distributed to "save the millions of lives lost each year to acute lower-respiratory infection and diarreal illness with the appropriate educational materials to sustain good personal hygiene practices."

I don't really have a story that this is leading into.  It's just a post to pass on the news that we're helping out.  It made me happy to learn about and it makes the guests happy, or at least content, when they hear what happens with the soap and shampoo after they're removed from the room.

If you're going to a hotel, feel free to ask an employee if their hotel participates in the Clean The World program.  It's a great cause and should definitely be looked into by everyone.

UPDATE:  The housekeeping manager saw this post and asked me to update this.  He just got an email this week with a tally of everything we've donated.  to date, we have donated just under 500 each of bars of soap and bottles of shampoo/conditioner.  Go team go!

I Have a Few Questions For You...

Quick rant here...

This is one of the scariest moments for a person working at the front desk.  You're assigning rooms and you realize you're oversold so you have to move some things around.  The phones are ringing like crazy and you don't have enough hold lines to pick up the next call.  And then the guests come in.  One by one at first, then they start to come in more bunched together.  And then they come in groups.  And it hits you:  TONIGHT WILL BE HELL.

You make your way through the first few guests and get them into their rooms without a problem.  The 4th or 5th guest in line checks in with no problems, but then proceeds to ask you questions.  Lots and lots of questions.  The line gets longer, and there's nothing you can do.  It kinda makes me want to interrupt her and ask "DON'T YOU SEE THERE'S A LINE OF PEOPLE BEHIND YOU???  GO TO YOUR ROOM, TAKE A BREATH, AND COME BACK IN A FEW MINUTES!  YOU'RE NOT GOING OUT TO EAT DINNER AND SEE A BROADWAY SHOW WITH YOUR LUGGAGE IN HAND ANYWAYS!"  But I can't.  We all know that.  Even though I REALLY REALLY want to.

Luckily we have some solid guests (most of the time) and they understand that people can be difficult.  It's nice when they make fun of the annoying guests when they walk away, just to lighten my mood when they see I'm frustrated.

On a complete side note but is strangely connected to the title...I had an undercover cop come in to the hotel today...

Cop: "Good evening, [flashes badge and has a stone cold face] I have a few questions for you."
[My stomach drops and heart stops while thinking:  This is my first day back from a two week vacation!  I couldn't have done something wrong already!]
Me: "Hi officer, how can I help you?"
Cop: "I'm tracking a bad guy [yes, he called the suspect a 'bad guy'] and I found this key in a stolen vehicle.  Does it belong to your hotel?"
[My stomach slowly crawls back up and heart speeds up a bit while I slowly exhale]
Me:  "Oh yes, that's ours, but it's a standard Hampton Inn key and there are eight in New York City, so it can belong to any of them."
Cop:  "F*ck!  This case is going to be harder than I thought!  Crap!"
[I stare at him, not knowing what to say...]
Cop:  "Is there any way to track the card and see where it came from?"
Me:  "I can try to read the card, but if it's past it's checkout date, it will come up as voided and we won't find anything out."
Cop:  "Oh what the hell, give it a shot.  I found it four days ago.  I might as well go home..."

After trying to find information in the card reader, I tell the officer it's voided and there's no way to know which hotel the card is from.  He hands me his card with the suspects name written on it, thanks me for my time, and heads out.

Morale of the story:  I have to be more careful when I steal cars in the future.  Just kidding.  I don't carry hotel keys when I steal cars.

Real morale of the story:  Don't jump to conclusions when a cop comes up to you saying he wants to ask you a few questions.  I think I grew a few gray hairs and lost a few years of my life from that.

Oh, and if you know anyone who stayed at a Hampton Inn in New York City who steals cars, call the NYPD.  You would be a big help to the poor cop who came in today, and you'd be doing a big service to the community.

Behind Closed doors...

Have you ever interrupted a couple having sex?  My coworker did.  It was both hilarious and awkward at the same time.  Let me tell you what went down...

I received a call from a Japanese guest around 8:30pm who, in her very broken English, was asking me to order her a pizza.  It took about four or five tries for me to understand what she wanted me to do, and that was just the beginning.  I proceeded to tell her (here is my side of the phone call):

"sorry ma'am, you have to either call them and order what you'd like and give them a credit card number over the phone, or come down to the lobby with your credit card and then I can call for you."

...

"No, I can't do it now. I don't have your credit card."

...

"Oh, you can't come down?  Ok, can you read the credit card number to me?"

...

"Ok, I understand if you don't want to give me the card number, but then you have to call them yourself."

...

"No, you have to call them and they'll deliver to your room."

...

"Sorry, I can't order it for you.  I can't pay for it without your card."

...

"You can call from your room and order it yourself."

...

"Yes, you can call from your room and order it yourself."

...

At this point, I continued to repeat that last like 6 or 7 times until my coworker (and all the guests in the lobby) looked over to figure out what the heck I was going on about.  I put the guest on hold and explain the situation to "Bob".  He proceeds to take the phone off hold and somehow manages to get the credit card from the guest, and the phone number of the pizza place she wanted to order from.  Bob called the pizza place and discovered that it wasn't a working number.  After quickly calling the guest back, we find out that she was having the same problem and wanted us to try calling, in case she was calling the number incorrectly.

"Bob" told the guest he was going to bring up a menu for a different pizza place that we use often and then she can order from her room.  After a few minutes, he came back down, his face white as a ghost, and he was trying to hold back a laughing fit.  This is how he explained the interaction:

"I knocked on the door and heard shushing really quickly after I knocked, so I knocked again.  A woman cursed, or it sounded like a curse, in a foreign language.  The man said 'one second!'.  Then, there was a loud THUD and male laughter, which leads me to believe that the wife fell off the bed.  She must have quickly gotten her robe on and answered the door all sweaty and frazzled, took the menu, bowed down, and closed the door quickly.  As I walked away, I heard them laughing hysterically!"

My question is, WHAT???  Were they doing it when I was on the phone with her?  How about when they were on the phone with "Bob"?  If not, and they knew we were bringing the menu up, WHY WOULD THEY START THEN????  And weren't they hoping to get pizza delivered?  SO AWKWARD!

All I have to say is thank G-d I wasn't the one to bring the menu up!

Name of the Day:  Apussorn Phungsoondara

Renovations

We just finished going through renovations in the hotel, and it sure was an interesting experience, to say the least. Renovations started at the end of January and just finished last week. We completely renovated the lobby, breakfast area, and the guest rooms. Two and a half months of complaining guests (even more so than usual), renovation questions, jackhammering, drills, saws, dust, and everything else you can imagine that goes along with renovations.

It started in October when the GM put a note on our website saying "The hotel will be under renovations from January through March 2011". Little did we know that we were in for 6 months of hell. I understand getting questions about how the renovations will affect the guest rooms and breakfast and things like that. Then we started getting crazy questions. Here are a few of my favorite conversations:

Caller: Will your swimming pool be available?
Me: Sorry ma'am, we don't have a swimming pool.
Caller: You're closing down your swimming pool? That's the best part of the hotel!
Me: Ma'am, we've never had a swimming pool on our property.
Caller: Oh.

Guest Checking In: So I saw you're under renovations. What time do I need to be out of my room so they can do the work in the room?
Me: Excuse me?
GCI: Well I certainly won't want to be sleeping when they come in, so I want to get out early enough.
Me: Sir, we're not doing any work in the rooms that are occupied with guests. That's a health and safety hazard.
GCI: Oh good. That's good to hear.

Luckily for us, we have a lot of repeat guests that come in every week, or often enough that we know them by name. When they come in, it's always nice to see them and catch up. You know they're here often enough when you can ask about their family and how things are at home. Having these guests coming in during renovations was quite helpful with our morale.

Despite all the questions and complaints from the other guests, these regulars would come in with a smile (assuming they didn't have a crappy day) and lift our spirits a bit. They know that when we aren't bogged down with renovation stuff, we're a (mostly) great staff, the breakfast is good, and the rooms are comfortable. They're understanding and despite the minor disturbances and inconveniences, they still show up week after week.

So this post goes out to Mrs. Levy, Mr. Fox, Mr. Fennema, and all the other regulars that I can't think of offhand at 2:00am. Thanks for the help with the annoying guests and for keeping us sane when we're at the desk!

I'll be starting a new game.  At the end of every post, there will be a name of the day.  Each name I pick will be an actual name of a guest in the hotel.  I am NOT making these up, no matter how ridiculous they look.  Enjoy!

Name of the Day:  Christine Farondegoerdeherve

New York City Nightlife

We get all types of creatures wandering into the hotel when working overnight. Someone just walked in who clearly had too much to drink tonight. I knew from the moment he walked in that it would be a fun conversation and I'd write about it. Here's how it went:

(Man walks in, stops in the middle of the lobby, purses his lips while looking around, and then walks over to the desk.)
Man: (while still looking around) This looks different. Did you change it tonight?
Me: The lobby looks different?
Man: Ya, it's different than when I left. Did you move the desk from the other wall?
Me: No sir, we haven't moved anything tonight. In fact, it's been like this for 8 years.
Man: No way! You're s***ting me!
Me: No, I wish I was though!
(He looks at me quizzically)
Man: Am I staying here?
Me: That's a good question. Are you? What's your name?
Man: I'm not sure. Do you have coffee and tea in the back?
Me: Yes. Just around the corner to the right.
Man: So I am staying here. Are you sure you didn't move things around?
Me: Ya, I'm positive.
Man: This must be wrong. I don't remember you. I'm going to find my place. Can you point me in the right direction?
Me: Do you know where you're staying?
Man: (Silence...)
Me: Are you staying in a hotel or an apartment?
Man: It's...um...crap. (Rubs eyes and face). I'm so confused!
Me: Do you know what street you're supposed to be on?
Man: Umm...up. There somewhere (pointing to the front door).
Me: Ok, so you're staying uptown. There's a start. Do you know the name of the place?
Man: No, but it looks like this. I'm going to walk uptown. Where is that?

I point him in the right direction and help him get his bearing straight. The poor guy proceeded to walk down a quarter of a block and fell twice before the next corner. As entertaining as that was, I hope he makes it back ok. Mainly because he'll be safe, but also so the night auditor at the hotel he's going to can enjoy his presence as well.

Moral of the story: If you're planning on getting piss drunk in New York City, don't get separated from your friends, and keep a hotel business card on you, so someone can direct you to where you need to go when you can't get there yourself.

Holidays

Being in New York during the holidays is quite an experience. There is just so much to see and so little time to see it. Do you go to the Empire State Building first, even though you know it will take up two hours of your day? Or do you go see to Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree and go ice skating? Maybe head down to the Statue of Liberty? Oh, and you can't forgot about seeing Macy's all pretty and lit up!

The holidays bring people to New York from all over the world. Off the top of my head, I can remember meeting people from at least 14 different countries. Despite the language barrier, it was amazing to meet them. The come in from Sweden, Chile, Germany, or whatever country they're from. They wake up early to venture out into the craziness that is New York City and spend the entire day traveling, sightseeing, eating and shopping. I don't know if you've ever had the chance to do it, but it's exhausting. Sometimes I forget that I haven't done much touring around New York and that some of these tourists have seen and done more than I have.

They come back in after their long day and they just love to talk, in their broken English, about what they did and saw. I love to hear their stories. It makes me feel like I've been where they've been and seen what they've seen. Sure, I've never been to the top of the Empire State Building before, but after hearing the story dozens of times and having them explain the view with vivid details makes it all seem real. The Central Park Zoo? Nope, I've never been there either, but I'll tell you those animals are adorable without ever seeing them! How about that helicopter tour around Manhattan? "Oh ya! That's an incredible trip! You'll really enjoy that!!"

And then there's hearing about everything around the world. From the way they talk about it, New Zealand, Sweden, Morocco, India, and Japan seem like fascinating places to visit. They make the United States seem bland. Well, New York at least. If only I had time and money to travel...
I guess I'll just have to live vicariously through the guests and enjoy their stories.

Story of the week:
9 guests walk into the hotel at the same time while I'm the only one at the desk. I start checking them in relatively quickly and get through most of them when my front office manager walks up to the desk. I'm checking in the 8th guest when she asks "are you all together?"

The last guest looks around and, as he's walking up to check in, says "No. Well, yes. I'm together. like, in my head. I'm not crazy. I'm just not with them. Not in their group. Wow. I'm making an idiot of myself in front of strangers in New York City. I'm going to stop talking now."

Happy February!

Good Customer Service Pays Off

Guests in a hotel are very easy to please, despite what people may think.  Especially in New York.

Guests spend lots of money on hotel rooms and quite frankly, they deserve good service for the prices they pay. I'll be the first to say that some of the rates in New York are incredibly insane.  $300 for a room per night?  At a hotel that doesn't have a pool, spa, lounge or restaurant?  It's outrageous, and I'm kind of surprised that people are so willing to pay that much.  I guess they have the "well, it is New York..." attitude, so they are accepting the fact that they will need to spend more money.

Back to my original point though.

Guests are very easy to please.  They come in to check in and expect to see a smiling face welcoming them to the hotel.  Not so difficult.  The check-in process should be relatively quick.  Verify the guest information for the stay, tell them which amenities the hotel offers, have them sign the registration card, and wish them an enjoyable stay.  It should take no more than 2-3 minutes to complete a regular check-in.

Once they are in house, things get even easier.  Most guests try to figure things out on their own, such as directions, attractions, etc., but usually they'll ask the concierge.  If there is no concierge, like in the hotel I work at, they come to the desk and ask us.  In this case, knowing the local area and the big attractions are key.  Point them in the right direction, suggest a good restaurant or somewhere fun to go, book them a cab or car service to the airport.  Those are the big three requests we get at the front desk.  If you know where to send them and how to get around, you can tell them without confusing them and they are very satisfied.  They are more likely to come back to you for advice and suggestions through their stay, and the more the rely on you, the higher chance of getting a tip at the end of the stay.

It's not even so much about the tips (although they certainly don't hurt!).  Being good at customer service is enjoyable.  You tend to move faster through the day and keep up a better attitude.  Both because you did well, and there's the chance of making extra money.  Maybe they give you enough to pay for that coffee you got on the way in to make sure you can stay awake through the shift.  Or maybe they slip you a ten and you can pay for lunch with that.

This wonderful family from Ohio was in the hotel for 4 nights this past week.  They were first timers in New York and relied on us for suggestions to shows, parks, museums, and restaurants.  Each time they walked by the desk I would greet them with a "Hello, how's your day going?" or a "Have a great evening!".  They truly loved it.  They remembered my name and said hi from across the lobby, got concerned when they saw me at 4pm, 10:30pm and then again at 7am and we're hoping I didn't work through the night.  It was really very nice.

They checked out today and came straight to me to check out.  The husband had a big smile on his face and said in his thick Midwestern accent, "Daniel, thank you so much for all you've helped us with.  We were worried about being in New York and getting lost and you made sure that didn't happen.  Next time we come back we're certainly staying here because of you", and he slipped me a ten dollar bill.  Just for being nice.

This is what customer service should be all about.  Making the guest so happy and so comfortable with their stay that they are willing to pay extra money because they know they will get good service.