{"id":1908,"date":"2014-12-27T19:12:20","date_gmt":"2014-12-28T02:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/?p=1908"},"modified":"2015-01-06T21:48:11","modified_gmt":"2015-01-07T04:48:11","slug":"return-to-a-home-away-from-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/golf\/lifestyle\/1908\/return-to-a-home-away-from-home","title":{"rendered":"Return to a Home Away From Home"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"DSCF4296\"

Home away from home: Puerto Rico’s Royal Isabela is one of many resorts hoping for a happy return<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cAuld Lang Syne\u201d is the most popular song on New Year\u2019s Eve, but another Scottish traditional tune, \u201cWill Ye No Come Back Again,\u201d is in the hearts of the hospitality professionals who\u2019ve hosted so many travelers this holiday season in hotels and restaurants. Many \u201chappy returns\u201d by guests are sought after and prized, so varying methods and strategies are used.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudies show that 68-percent of people who don\u2019t come back choose not to because of a human interaction,\u201d says Jose Luis Mogollon. He, therefore, provides a complimentary on-site psychologist and generous incentives for the 2,500 employees throughout his four Pueblo Bonita Resorts, in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. \u201cWe make sure everyone on staff can speak English and we educate them with extensive training. They can\u2019t give what they don\u2019t have.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Musser family, owners of Mackinac Island\u2019s historic Grand Hotel, has been teaching their seasonal employees similarly for generations, says managing director Ken Hayward. \u201cThey encourage staff to make eye contact, smile, greet guests by name and show people they care. You cannot say \u2018thank you for coming\u2019 enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spaniard Oscar Garcia, general manager at Texas de Brazil, a unique steakhouse in Detroit, has worked in restaurants around the world and recognizes the common denominator. \u201cI try to welcome diners in and send them away with the same warmth I would if they were visiting my home,\u201d he says, even suggesting a special glass of port following the extensive, dazzlingly diverse meal. \u201cWe\u2019ve had guests so relaxed they\u2019ve settled in for a good part of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes convenience is more essential, and a speedy check-in is the goal of Karl Knieling, the director of sales and marketing at the Crown Plaza Hotel near Grand Rapids Airport. \u201cWe provide a warm and sincere check in and tell our guests a little about our amenities and the location of their room, but through our rewards program we keep track of their preferences so we know what they like and provide it automatically when they return,\u201d he explains. \u201cDo they like a king bed? Maybe they prefer a room near the pool?\u201d<\/p>\n

In Puerto Rico, Royal Isabela’s returning guest program offers guests, upon check out, the chance to book their next stay at the luxurious seaside resort two-hours outside San Juan, with a special discounted rate. \u201cMost of our guests come to relive their last vacation experience, to enjoy the privacy of the casitas, the challenging game of golf or the organic restaurant menu that changes on a daily basis, plus to check-out all of the activities they weren\u2019t able to do the first time around,\u201d says reservations manager Angela Torres.<\/p>\n

The word of mouth \u2013 in its modern form \u2013 generated after a stay may be the determining factor for choosy travelers, according to East Lansing\u2019s Steve Wickens, who owns the Courtyard by Marriott and, in Novi, the Baronette Renaissance. \u201cThe online reviews \u2018millennials\u2019 post are very valuable to attracting guests. The switch to mobile booking and the influence of social media will change the landscape for hotels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michigan-based travel writer Michael Patrick Shiels may be contacted at InviteYourself@aol.com<\/a> or via www.TravelTattler.com<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 His talk show may be heard weekday mornings in Lansing on 92.1 FM and seen on Fox 47 TV.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAuld Lang Syne\u201d is the most popular song on New Year\u2019s Eve, but another Scottish traditional tune, \u201cWill Ye No… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":1909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[499897,1044570,1562,683120,998699],"class_list":["post-1908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-hotels","tag-detroit","tag-puerto-rico","tag-san-juan","tag-courtyard-by-marriott"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2014\/12\/DSCF4296.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1908"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1915,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1908\/revisions\/1915"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}