How the Ham Yard Hotel Set the New Standard for Client Delight
Hi Everyone! I’m sorry for the inconsistency as of late. The truth is: I didn’t do a good job anticipating how my priorities would shift in October and November, among on-boarding Nancy, client work, and travel. Please forgive me, and I promise to try and be better through the end of the year.
But speaking of travel, as you know, I think that it’s vital for so many reasons. It’s imperative to understand different cultures; necessary for restoration; and it always opens my eyes to new insights, in both life and business.
I’d love to share with you today about a little evening that Dave and I had in London last weekend. In fact, I’d call it the evening. If I’m staying in a hotel in London in the future, I will never stay anywhere besides one of Kit Kemp’s hotels again. Why? Their client delight BLEW. ME. AWAY.
Allow me to give a little context, if I may…
The first line of Ellevated Outcomes’ 2019 business plan says: “We want to delight clients so much that they can’t help but tell other people about us.” We want to do this by achieving incredible results, financial and otherwise, of course. But we also want to delight our clients in fun, unexpected human ways that let them know, “We see you for you: we know that you love beer (Keith)… you like tea, not coffee (Tammy)… your business anniversary is December 1st, so let’s recognize you (Ila)!”
Nancy, our Experience Director, and I try to think about these things by asking ourselves one simple question: “What are little acts of recognition and kindness that delight us when we’re out in the world?” Therefore, we’re always keeping our eyes, ears, and hearts open for observation.
Now, back to London. Dave and I are typically stay-with-a-friend or Airbnb people when we travel. So, that’s exactly how and where we spent most of our evenings during our recent return: a few nights graciously hosted by Annmarie and a couple with Emilie and Grant (thanks, guys!).
But I knew that on our last night, which happened to be my birthday eve, I wanted to splurge. So I cashed in the last of our credit card points and excitedly booked the Ham Yard Hotel, designed and operated by Kit Kemp. From the moment that we stepped in the door, delight-gasps escaped my mouth at every turn. Here’s why…
The hotel is situated in a gorgeous, tucked-away court in Soho with a marvelous entrance and beautifully lit trees as the court’s centerpiece. We were greeted warmly at our taxi door, our bags were whisked away, and we entered the lobby to be enveloped in the striking, sophisticated, and fun interior design.
We checked in, to learn that we’d been upgraded, which has never happened to me in my entire life. I don’t know why this happened, but surprise number one already had me on the edge of my seat. When we finished check-in, I couldn’t seem to move. I stood frozen like a little kid in a toy store, gaping at the warm glow of the fireplace, the cool pop art, and the overall bask of, “We are here!”
I supposed that Josh, the doorman who initially greeted us, observed that Dave was having a hard time dislodging me from my stance. I saw him cautiously approach us from the corner of my eye, and he inquired, “Um.. Would you like it if I show you around the hotel?”
He proceeded to tour us through the restaurant, the guest-only common areas, the roof terrace with herb gardens and bee hives, the cinema, the multiple bars, the spa, the bowling alley, and the wing of long-term apartments (note to self re: new life goal).
Twenty wide-eyed minutes later, we arrived at our room…
Again, you have to remember that we don’t usually stay in hotels, and I’ve never in my life been upgraded. So although I knew that the room would be beautiful, I was expecting it to be a typical London shoe box. And it wasn’t! It had… (this was a first for me)… a view!
Alongside the view, the impeccable, lively design, and the dazzling bath products (I can spot them from a mile away), there on the table sat a vase of flowers, a birthday cake and candle, a box of chocolates, and a handwritten note on personalized stationary from the GM Laura.
Be still, my heart.
So, my next question was: “Dave, did you tell them it’s my birthday?”
He had not.
He had corresponded with the hotel restaurant to reserve some tables for our friends later that evening and may have mentioned this to the restaurant; but still, this all shocked me. Why?
We all know that in a business setting, it’s not common – certainly not a given – that communication flows easily “across departments.” So yes, I was shocked that perhaps the restaurant communicated the birthday gathering to the bookings team. Either, this hotel has their internal communications nailed, or they have a process in place to review guests’ birth dates when they’re booking and take it one step further, looking for ways to delight. Either way you cut it, it’s impressive. Non?
After our personal tour concluded and Josh left the room, we spent the next couple hours soaking in the beautiful view, then on a quick stroll around Soho to take in the newly installed Christmas decor before… our friends arrived!
During our tour Josh had showed us two common areas that are reserved for guests only. My gosh, they are GORGEOUS and meant to be a guest retreat to relax and enjoy a drink from the honesty bar. When we originally booked the hotel and invited our people over for a little gathering, we had no idea about these; and they were serious icing on the cake.
When our friends arrived, they couldn’t believe the place – especially the Drawing Room where the 15 of us were able to relax and congregate. Dave and I were feeling a little self-conscious about just how nice the place was, so we felt obligated to keep assuring our friends, “You have to believe us: this is not indicative of our new life in Nashville! We have not become wealthy, fabulous people… this night is entirely a function of luck, credit card points, and the caring hotel people!”
Six hours of hanging – and two-page-long-lists of honesty bar orders later, we returned to the room with our hearts full and my client delight brain swirling. It was one of the most gorgeous nights of my life, inside and out. The kind where all throughout, your internal monologue keeps asking, “Is this my life?”
But that’s not all. When we did land back in our room at 1AM, the turn-down fairy had paid us a visit. They dropped the blackout shades, placed (one of my favorite kinds of) bottled water on each of our nightstands, AND left lavender eucalyptus pillow spray at the head of the bed.
Obviously, I pulled a Ross and brought it home with me.
Sadly, a few short hours after alighting our heads on a cloud of comfort and ease, it was time to wake up for departure. Of course, I’d been excited about the breakfast – both the food and a chance to spend time in another part of the hotel: the restaurant! I couldn’t believe how different the space felt between night and day. I loved the design and atmosphere even more in the morning light.
I was standing on a mountain of happiness for that meal – replaying the evening, ecstatic about all the cool elements and artwork which my eyes kept landing on, and anticipating each bite I was about to take (shocker: the food was incredible too). Knowing that it was finally time to pack up and leave, I asked for the bill. When the waiter returned, he informed me that it was included in our stay. So whether this was originally true or part of the generous upgrade we were gifted, again, I was surprised and delighted. At this point Dave was officially sick of me exclaiming, “Can you believe this place?!?!?”
As the meal concluded, there was only one thing standing between us and Heathrow Airport. And I have to admit, it was the thing I was dreading: our final bill from the prior night’s honesty bar. I had observed that our friends had, in fact, been brutally honest about how much we were drinking, ha! On one hand, I was thankful to know that our people were doing the right thing and being honest… but on the other hand, you know: our tab was a two-page-long list of drinks.
We entered the lobby for our check-out, and I was joking about my dread both with Josh, who was in the lobby waiting for us, and with the kind gentleman at the front desk. As he handed over the bill, I squeezed my eyes shut then kind of opened one of them to get a glimpse of the number. I don’t know if they cut guests a break with the honesty bar, the staff was kind and took pity on us, or our friends didn’t drink as much as we thought… but what I saw – and this final farewell to the Ham Yard – brought relief to every cell of my body. I released one last simultaneous sigh of relief and squeal of delight.
As Dave dragged me away from one of the best hotels I’ve ever experienced, Josh pulled me aside to ask, “Was the tab as bad as you thought?” I was happy to report, “Somehow… not even close. I will be reinvesting the leftovers in your hotel any time I’m in London, for the rest of my life…”
