Robert Whitfield
Periodically rumors make the rounds on the coconut wireless. Recently there has been a rumor that Hualalai Resort has lost two diamonds, or lost one diamond, or lost 2 stars, or lost 1 star or the Four Seasons has been warned if they don’t improve in some areas they will lose diamonds or stars or both.
I went directly to Robert Whitfield who is not only the General Manager but also the Regional Vice President of the Four Seasons.
Q: So, Robert, what’s with the rumor that we lost two diamonds?
A: Forbes gives out the stars and AAA gives out the diamonds. We haven’t lost any diamonds or stars. As Helen recently clarified in the Members Newsletter, we have been awarded the AAA Five Diamond Award and the Forbes Five Star Award for 2017.
Q: What about being told to make changes or else you will lose either stars or diamonds?
A:. Any time the AAA or Forbes inspectors complete a review of the hotel they provide us with feedback that highlights the areas they enjoyed as well as areas where they feel we can improve. As they are travelling to and assessing our competitors as well as Hualalai, the value of the perspective these inspectors bring is significant. We share this feedback with employees as we do other feedback from members and hotel guests.
Q: So, how did this rumor get started?
A: I can’t be certain but I think the root of this rumor began when we had our last quarterly “Ohana Meeting”. The theme of this meeting is “One Strong Hualalai Ohana” and is when we bring all the staff together and review our goals, objectives and progress which we do two or three times a year. We share concerns and we share successes. It’s a grand overall review with a focus toward the future.
During this last session a few weeks ago we emphasized that it has been 2 years since we combined the two personnel groups, Four Seasons and Hualalai Resort. Putting the two entities totaling close to 1200 employees under one umbrella (Four Seasons) was a very large task. While it is by no means complete, we feel really positive about how the employees feel and the way that they are working together today. We also acknowledged that for all of us this important task has taken a lot of our attention. At the Ohana meeting, we shared with all the employees that we are now re-focusing on our standards of service and best practices in taking care of our guests and members, for example employees getting to know members and guests by name, getting things right first time every time as well as anticipating their individual requests. To show why that is important we shared with our employees how the two entities, Forbes and AAA, scale these various refinements into stars and diamonds.
Thanks, Robert, for clearing that up.
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