Have Fun at Work to Create Spirited Service Experience
by Ron Zemke
(Copyright © "The Business Journal", March 7, 2002.
All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.)

First-timers checking into the Hotel Monaco Chicago, just off busy Wacker Drive on Wabash Avenue, in the heart of downtown Chicago, are taken aback when the desk clerk offers them a goldfish. In a bowl. For companionship. Repeat guests, and 70 percent are, often ask for a specific fish. By name.

For the confused -- and who wouldn't be? -- the desk person explains: "We're a pet-friendly hotel. Since you don't have a pet with you, we'd be pleased to loan you one of ours." There is very little about the Monaco that fits one's preconceived notions of "hotel" either.

Founded in 1989 by San Francisco businessman Bill Kimpton, who had been impressed by European bed-and-breakfast hotels, the seven Monaco hotels, a part of the 30-hotel Kimpton Group, work hard at creating a unique, fun experience for frequent business travelers bored with the bland, big-box, cookie cutter, convention-oriented hotels.

Frequent guests -- Big Wheels in Monaco speak -- will tell you that bland and boring are the last words they would use to describe the Monaco experience. The look of public areas and guest rooms was created by Beverly Hills designer Cheryl Rowley, who specializes in homes, not hotels. Every room has a large window seat -- meditation area in Monaco-ese -- and room décor that runs to bright colors and bold patterns.

In addition to the standard complement of food and drink options, the in-room mini-bars have a compliment of nifty little "just because" items: wax lips, yo-yos, candy necklaces, hand buzzers, silly putty, and Etch-a-Sketch boards. Thirty rooms are especially designed for tall people. Turn-down service is a surprise as well. One night there may be a Tootsie Roll on the pillow, the next a pack of Pixie Stix, and, if you're lucky, the occasional Illinois State lottery ticket.

The lobby of the Chicago Monaco has an intimate fireplace alcove where General Manager Jim Marino hosts a wine reception for guests every evening from 5:30 to 6:30. In addition to the drinks, Marino's little receptions feature quirky entertainment: one night a tarot card reader, another a neck and back masseuse, another night a graphologist.

On Friday nights the fun is cranked up a notch -- usually following a theme of some sort. In December, Fridays were dubbed `Vintage Friday' and featured a huge toy chest of antique and retro toys of the '50s and '60s amassed by the every-ready concierge and rolled out for have-at-it guest entertainment. "It may seem strange to some, but guests really get into the spirit. One Friday I walked into the lobby and there was a group playing Twister, having a great time," Marino recounts.

The unusual extends beyond recreation. Big Wheels club members are entitled to suite upgrades when they are available. It's not infrequent that two or more Big Wheelers will be vying for the last suite upgrade. Rather than simply resorting to first-come, first-served policy, the desk person will suggest a putting contest, a hula-hoop twirl-off, or simply letting a shake of the Magic 8 Ball -- which is kept handy for such occasions -- decide.

Whether upgraded or not, Big Wheels members are entitled to express check-in, free access at a local health club, check cashing privileges and free beverages at Mossant, the hotel's French restaurant. And every fifth stay earns a pull from the Big Wheels toy chest, always filled with toys, soaps and shampoos, and gift certificates for Marshall Field's and Victoria's Secret. One of the possible prizes, of course, is a Big Wheel.

And whether you are a Big Wheel guest or not, the always flamboyant doorman will have a loaner umbrella at the ready should a sudden Windy City rain kick up.

The hotel's spirit of fun and whimsy is spelled out in its "Vision for the Millennium," that urges employees to, among other things, "Explore your inner child, every day. Help our guests find theirs," "Take our guests and employees on an odyssey of WOW," "Embrace your discomfort zone," and "Laugh uncontrollably. The guests will join you."

Always in the hunt for new ways to entertain and surprise, Marino is politicking for a new courtesy car. A Volkswagen. Painted goldfish yellow. With scales and fins, of course.