Journalists should be well-rested and fawned over, lest they lose sight of the relevance of a press trip in a flurry of service complaints. A recent visit to Cape Town for the Intel Cape Fashion Week provided a fine example of press nurturing.
The Arabella Sheraton is a shimmering glass tower. A scattering of milling tourists fills the lobby, and as my stay falls over Fashion Week, a disproportionate number of tall, breathtakingly beautiful women and polo-necked men are part of the parade.
With international guests as clueless as this, it`s hardly surprising that the hotel sees fit to dumb down an already unchallenging interface.
Georgina Guedes, Journalist, ITWeb
The guests all trample back and forth across the plush, brightly coloured rug that swathes the reception area. Staff, who have obviously undergone intensive training in preparation for the opening of the hotel on 1 August, conduct their movement through the lobby at right angles, skirting the omnipresent rug.
This is just a small indication of the level of training that these people have gone through to prepare them for making this hotel the ultimate service experience. Well-groomed women and men attend to the guests with just the right level of obsequious friendliness. Somehow, when uttered in low, resonant tones, the Kaapie accent sounds almost exotic. I`m not entirely sure where they found the French doorman.
Service and technology
Aside from being a study in good taste and manners, the hotel is a fine attempt at integrating technology into an age-old institution to enhance guests` experience. Behind the reception desk, where you are checked in via wide-screen computer monitors, a sheet of smoked glass forms a barrier between you and a buzzing call centre. Two projectors cast video clips onto the glass, further obscuring the hive of activity behind, but the sense of professional activity filters through. But I am concerned that behind all those gadgets, a guest could lose out on the warmth of human contact.
The hotel is particularly proud of its E-butler service, offered by the call centre, which allows guests to access the full spectrum of hotel services by merely dialling "1" from their room telephones. It occurs to me to wonder how guests found the perplexing system of having to discern concierge from room service by their single digit numbers in older hotels.
My scepticism is put to rest when an American family strolls into the lobby. Kitted out entirely in multi-pocketed, khaki safari suits, Mom, Dad and two sons gawp at the other guests whose suits or jeans and T-shirts are far more suited to the centre of Cape Town`s business district. With international guests as clueless as this, it`s hardly surprising that the hotel sees fit to dumb down an already unchallenging interface.
Bar blunders
Previous press trips have taught me to be wary of bar fridges. When you`re rattling around alone in your hotel room, the questionable combination of chocolate and whiskey somehow starts to seem like a good idea. But any drinks consumed out of eyesight of the appropriate PR are for your own account, and the bar fridge`s offerings are prohibitively expensive. This doesn`t stop me from foraging through its contents though, and it is when I am standing with a tonic water in one hand, and a jar of pistachio nuts in the other that my eyes come to rest on a particularly worrying info sticker.
"This fridge is computerised, and any items removed will automatically be charged to your account."
I slam the containers back into place, wondering if perhaps technology hasn`t noticed my blunder. Fortunately, I am able to dial "1" and guarantee the friendly people down at reception that I have not consumed their beverage or snack, and get them to reverse the charges.
Relieved at having unintentionally gypped the system, and resolved it with the help of the E-butler service, I am forced to concede that the combination of technology and service excellence makes the Arabella Sheraton a hotel worthy of housing even a bevy of hyper-critical journos.
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