When I’m traveling across this great world of ours to speak to various audiences, I tend to experience the whole spectrum of the hospitality industry. I have stayed in hotels where I slept fully dressed, fearing that the unknown critters would carry away my clothes in the middle of the night; I have also enjoyed staying at some of the finest hotels where you are treated like the prodigal son upon checking in. One thing that impresses me more than anything is the hotels which seek out some kind of unique experience for the guest to make your stay away from home memorable. I had the joy of one of those experiences recently.

I arrived at the Hotel Lexington in Lansing, Michigan the evening prior to a speaking engagement.  After a nice dinner, I was relaxing in my room and preparing for the the next day’s events when I heard a knocking on my door. I thought it may be a turn down service or maintenance notifying me of some unknown problem. The last thing I expected was….

The Kaba Kart! The man pictured above, named Kaba, emigrated to the US several years ago from Uganda and was stopping at every room offering cookies and milk. Yes, cookies and milk. At this point, I was looking to see if there was a hidden camera somewhere capturing this “Mister Rogers Moment”. While we were visiting, I asked him how he liked his job.

“Have you ever seen someone upset when they are offered a warm cookie and some milk before bed?” was his response with his large smile gleaming. What the Hotel Lexington did was set themselves apart from any other by offering a great memory for their guests.

How could this apply to your business?

1. Great memories don’t have to cost a lot of money (sometimes nothing at all)

2. Find a way to become memorable

3. Deliver that service with a smile.

I’m looking forward to my next visit to Lansing, and welcome that knock on the door from the cookie cart!