Human touch

We were at the Media Relations conference held by Conferenz last week. They kindly put us up for the night at the Duxton Hotel. The next day we decided to check out and try the Booklovers bed and breakfast in Mt Victoria because we love books.

We arrived fuming at the taxi driver for almost driving us to Haitaitai instead of Mt Victoria despite desperate efforts to spell the street name 3 times, repeating the street address etc (? go figure). We were cold, tired and it was getting late we just wanted to get warm.

Once we opened the door, we were greeted by this sanctuary. I instantly knew we made the right decision; the taxi experience was already a distant memory.

Jane Tolerton (owner, author, journalist, talented lady) has thought of everything down to the little details: home made chocolate chip cookies in jars placed along the hallways (which i loved and needed at the time) extra tubs of milk, assorted teas and coffee were available in and outside the rooms. It was just wonderful.

In the morning Jane had the table set out so nicely for a choice of a cooked breakfast, continental breakfast, muffins... you name we had it.

Everywhere you looked was yesteryear in the best possible way. Over the 2 days we met the other guests. We exchanged stories, took photos, they even dropped Simon and I off in town for our morning appointment. Jane could write a book about the interesting people she's had breakfast with. You never know who you'll be talking to.

I can go on and on and you obviously can tell that I really enjoyed staying at the Booklovers b&b. I was telling everyone I came across in Wellington that if you love books then you've got to sample the warm and generous hospitality Jane offers.

What a difference! The Duxton Hotel and Jane's booklovers bed and breakfast.

Why do you think I'm raving about booklovers instead of the Duxton? If you've noticed, I haven't said anything negative about the Duxton hotel. But I believe the booklovers had the "the human touch!".

At the end of our stay we exchanged business cards, took photos of each other and I ended up borrowing a wonderful book called Life's a Pitch by Stephen Bayley & Roger Mavity. I will always stay at booklovers bed & breakfast. It shouldn't be a best kept secret!

A young English man once came to live in the community led by Ghandi. When assigned to clean toilets, he protested, "Don't you know who I am? I have great things to do." Ghandi replied, "I know you can do great things; what I don't know is if you can do little things."

The next time you offer your clients customer experience, look for ways to "WOW" them. It's often the little things that matter the most.