As Raffles Beijing Hotel’s ambassador, John Spooner welcomes residents to the city’s premier luxury heritage hotel, attends to requests and recommends places of interest in the city.
Prior to relocating to Beijing in time for the Olympics in 2008, he was with both Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor in Siem Reap and Raffles Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh. He shares insights into his role and experience with us.
As Raffles Ambassador you are dedicated to creating outstanding experiences for guests – what do you consider to be the first rule of customer service?
The first rule of customer service is having like minded people working with you. The team is everything! As I live in the hotel I am as close as a phone call away and can be reached at all times of the day and night. But as much as I would like to be here 24/7, physically it is impossible.
As a result I rely heavily on my team to maintain the high standards I set. They see me approach my role with a happy, professional disposition and it is infectious, particularly with my Chinese colleagues as it inspires them to give of their best.
A can-do attitude is essential in hospitality.
What sort of experience do you think is necessary for anyone who wished to work in a role such as yours?
As my role is unique in the hotel, one has to be a people person and a good listener (everyone wants to share their travel stories) and it can help being single as the hours require flexibility! It would suit perhaps a retired GM who was still passionate about hospitality and wanted to work in the industry, but without the responsibilities of budgets or deadlines.
It is this love of being a host which is essential in this role.
Working in F&B for 30 years also taught me attention to detail – I don’t miss a trick – and this prepared me for the next stage of my career in the hotel industry. This skill has helped me enormously. Whilst at Swissotel Sydney in 2004 I was lucky enough to be awarded the AHA (Australian Hotels Association) Excellence of Service Award out of 10,000 hotel employees!
What is different about your role that is unique to the fact that it is in such an iconic Beijing property?
As the Raffles Ambassador my role is unique as I call the shots and have a free reign to give the guests the WOW factor.
One of the things I love best is giving history tours of the hotel with lots of funny anecdotes and interesting facts related to the property’s history. For example, the 1920’s dance floor in our Writers Bar was where Chairman Mao used to entertain his lady friends at the afternoon tea dance and after the tour we go to the Writers Bar to enjoy our signature cocktail, the Peking Sling.
In addition I get to meet and greet foreign dignitaries who attend meetings in the Golden Hall where the Communist Party started in 1949. And the hotel’s tradition has been for nearly a century to host visiting Royalty and diplomats, VIPs and film stars along with world travellers. This tradition continues today, and it is my role to welcome them. Even after 40 years I am not jaded, and still enjoy meeting all our guests and making them feel special…it keeps me going!
Everyone says that people are our a hotel’s greatest asset – both team members and guests. Why doesn’t the role of Guest/Customer Relations have a higher profile in most businesses?
It’s a good question and one I feel is getting better over the years. Having been away from Australia for over 10 years, it is a pleasant surprise to go back there and enter a bank or other service provider and increasingly be welcomed by a Guest or Customer Relations Officer. Management is seriously looking into this aspect to attract more business through their guests/customers by giving them the recognition required to earn loyalty to their brand.
To welcome the guest by name on arrival is without doubt one of the most rewarding emotions one can experience. To welcome a guest with his favourite aperitif in his suite delivers a sense of fulfilment.
What is the best service that you have ever received?
To tell you the truth the best service I have received is about the small things one would expect, but most of time they are just not there. I love things like having my chair pushed in when I sit in a restaurant and having my napkin opened and placed on my lap. This is from another era, but it takes little effort to do.
I am not out there looking for the big WOW factor myself. I just love being taken care of, like we all do. It is something I have done with all my guests throughout my entire career.
About the author
Timothy Millett’s training roles have seen him deliver programs across Australia, Asia, Europe, Africa and America ensuring cultural sensitivity as well as a broad base of experience in lecturing, teaching and training.
A graduate of the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland, his hospitality career spans management and director positions in Front Office, Guest Relations, Public Relations, Food & Beverage and Training with organisations including the Regent of Melbourne, The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and Mövenpick Gastronomy. He was also a founding staff member of the internationally renowned Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School in Australia.
Tim is currently the Director of Training and Development at iperform, an organisation that specialises in Sales and Service, Leadership and Effective Personal Organisation programs.
