Services that resonate with our customers' hearts
Mr. Kenji Ueda, former General Manager of Tokyo Baycourt Club Hotel & Spa Resort, has been involved in the launch of numerous luxury hotels such as Tokyo Baycourt Club and Exe Arima Rikyu. After joining Hilton Tokyo directly out of university, he moved to Sheraton Hotels before joining Resorttrust, where he served as General Manager during the opening of Exe Arima Rikyu, then General Manager of Tokyo Baycourt Club, and Vice President of Resorttrust Hawaii, fostering many hotel staff members along the way. We spoke with Mr. Ueda about his vision for ultimate hospitality.
――Please tell us what led you to become a hotelier.
My uncle was the General Manager of Hotel Nikko Ginza, and he often took me there when I was a child. Everyone at the hotel was kind, and I loved the extraordinary atmosphere, so by the time I was in high school, I had decided that I wanted to work in a hotel.
After graduating from university, I joined Hilton Tokyo, which was newly opening after relocating to Shinjuku, at my uncle's recommendation, and started my career as a bellman. After the new opening of Hilton Osaka, I joined Sheraton and at the age of 29, I served as the manager for the new opening of Kobe Bay Sheraton. After joining Resorttrust, I was involved in the opening of Tokyo Baycourt Club, and then became the General Manager during the opening of Exe Arima Rikyu. Exe Arima Rikyu was a busy hotel, with 24 consecutive months of full occupancy during my two years as General Manager.
After that, I moved to Tokyo Baycourt Club, where I served as General Manager for seven years. Then, I became an advisor to general managers and traveled to various hotels. I served as Vice President of Resorttrust Hawaii at The Kahala Hotel in Oahu, Hawaii, and then returned to Japan, ending my career as a hotelier.
――What do you consider to be the ultimate hospitality?
I believe it is service that can touch the hearts of our guests.
Exe and Baycourt, where I served as General Manager, are membership hotels.
Normally, if you don't like a hotel you've stayed at, you can simply choose another one next time. However, for guests of membership hotels, it's not so easy to switch hotels even if they are not satisfied with the service. Naturally, the level of hospitality they expect is higher.
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For guests who had a less-than-ideal check-in, I would look for opportunities to make amends, such as preparing complimentary champagne at the restaurant. Or, by gathering information from what they had provided in advance and from conversations during their visit, I would prepare a surprise dish.
I focused on how much high-quality hospitality I could provide, and how I could offer service that would truly resonate with our guests.
Ultimately, the ability to provide high-quality hospitality depends on the staff's sensibility. A large part of it relies on each individual's ability to perceive what guests want and respond to it.
To refine one's sensibility, it's important to visit good hotels and experience wonderful service.
Even if you don't stay overnight or dine at the restaurant, simply utilizing the lobby of a good hotel is sufficient. Experiencing something wonderful at a good hotel or restaurant helps shape your values and sensibilities. When I was working at Tokyo Baycourt, I made sure to visit any highly-regarded restaurants in Tokyo that I heard about.
――You have trained many hotel staff members. What was important to you when guiding them?
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Every job in a hotel has meaning.
It's important to consider the meaning and background of the work.
A bellman carries guests' luggage.
So, why does a bellman carry guests' luggage?
If you understand that "I, as the bellman, carry the guest's luggage so that they can be freed from heavy bags and relax a little," and act accordingly, your thoughtfulness will be conveyed to the guest.
Some bellmen might say, "It's just my job."
However, if you don't fully understand the background and meaning of the job, you will fail.
It's necessary to constantly ask "Why am I doing this?" and think about the meaning.
Your position when interacting with guests is also very important.
When guiding guests to facilities within the hotel, I always thought about where I should stand to make it easiest for them to walk.
These were things I experimented with when I was a bellman (shortly after joining Hilton Tokyo), but they are still ingrained in me today.
With the continued opening of new luxury hotels, how can they secure repeat customers?It's a given that hotel food is delicious.
It's also probably a given that hotel spaces have a certain quality.
However, if the space is good but the staff are not, customers won't return, right?
It's an analogy I often use: if you're asked whether you'd rather go to a restaurant where the building has aged gracefully but the staff understand you, or a sparkling new restaurant with no heart, you'd choose the former. In other words, I'm convinced that the staff are the ultimate deciding factor.