Great service, luxurious accommodations, delicious cuisine, spas and a strong sense of place are the hallmarks of hospitality. If you dig a little bit deeper, what makes the best hotels the best in the world are the roles they have played in supporting the local community and facilitating important moments in history.
This is perhaps the best example of a North American city in this category. The Mayflower Hotel, a 585-key property located in the heart of Washington, D.C. that joined Marriott’s Autograph Collection in 2015 and has been labeled both the ‘Hotel of Presidents’ and the ‘Grande Dame of Washington’. To understand the multitude and caliber of dignitaries, politicians, celebrities and other VIPs that have graced this hotel’s halls – as well as the profusion of grand events that have taken place in one of its ballrooms – you need only glance at The Mayflower’s Wikipedia page which is longer than the brand standards compendium for most other properties!
The Mayflower’s centennial celebration this year is a great opportunity to reflect on the key events of the past century and to ponder the question: how can a historic property balance its heritage with the constant drive for innovation?
This is a dilemma that nearly all luxury properties and those aspiring to stewardship face. We want to maintain a firm footing in the past but keep vigilance on the future. Since The Mayflower opened its doors on February 18, 1925 – and, fun fact, as one of the first buildings in the world with air conditioning – it has strived to vigilantly balance the dichotomy of staying true to one’s heritage with the need for evolution and adapting to the hospitality trends of a given era.
Shelly diMeglio has helped answer this question and guided the vision of The Mayflower on its centennial. She has worked with Marriott Hotels over 34 year and at this esteemed hotel for more than three years. Her words offer valuable lessons on luxury service.
Service to guests is based on a culture of strength
When I sat down with DiMeglio to discuss the matter, his answer was clear: As one of the biggest luxury hotels in District of Columbia the team at The Mayflower came together as one big family. Each of them understood the importance of their role within the grander contents of things, and how impeccable customer service is necessary for these matters to happen as they should.
DiMeglio emphasized the importance of looking after the hotel’s 400 staff, of which 55 have been working at The Mayflower over 30 years. While it may not reveal itself on paper, this degree of ‘bench strength’ is an undeniable point of distinction for the operations, and one that all hotels should aspire to achieve. In the culinary world, the hotel’s reputation as a place where chefs and cooks can learn about haute cuisine has been cemented by the guests they serve. Like other hotels, the chefs have worked at the hotel for more than 30 years. They each have their own specialty and develop personal relationships with the guests.
This timeless lesson is that if a hotel is dedicated to its team, it will create a mutually beneficial relationship. The net benefit for the hotel is long-term employees who take pride in providing excellent service to guests. They are also proactive and intuitive in anticipating guest needs.
The onboarding process of every associate included a thorough review of The Mayflower’s history. From the very beginning, the associates become enamored with the hotel and its passionate century-old hoteliers.
From the guest’s perspective, not only does the hotel conduct history tours with on-property historians – as offered in 20-minute and 1.5-hour versions – but every team member is also prepared for any question from curious visitors going about their day. When a guest is first arriving, they may ask the bellman about the lavish galas held in the ballroom or the famous people that have stayed there. Some guests will want to tell the hotel staff of their past honeymoons, or the restaurants they enjoyed thirty years ago. The staff can keep up with and remember the happenings onsite from bygone eras. It’s a sense of place, it’s telling a story; it is the making of an excellent hotel. And it’s all up to the frontline staff.
The meaning behind name of the hotel – Mayflower being the pilgrim ship that landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620 for those who want to brush on their US history – helps convey this ‘foundational’ significance, as does the property’s tagline, “Exactly like nothing else.” This results in every associate feeling ownership and appreciation of the unfolding events.
The Changing Needs of the Guest
DiMeglio, despite the fact that a GM is often busy with reports and meetings, still takes time to personally welcome guests in her beautifully chandeliered reception area. She says, “There is no better way to understand exactly what a client needs and to deliver beyond their expectations.”
What brought you to The Mayflower? continued DiMeglio. This is the only thing I need to know to ensure that they have the best possible stay in the city. We’ve seen that every guest has a different need, and over the past 5 years we have seen many of these needs rapidly evolve. “It’s important that all executives keep this one-toone connection in order to adapt the operations and facilities to future changes.”
Indeed, hospitality times are a-changin’ – and fast. The staff at this property has had to be very attentive to the needs of each guest. The Hill, or in other areas of the city, may require business travelers to stay only one or even two nights.
In addition to consistent and quick service, this segment of guests also needs a quiet space for working. For that, the hotel has equipped the lobby with a mezzanine specially designed for videoconferencing. In this second-floor promenade, the hotel also built a showcase that highlights the history of the building with art, antiques, china, and even archival keys.
The meeting rooms are also designed to make it easy for VIPs to quickly get into private areas for confidential conversations. It is not just the planning of areas that matters, but also the experience of staff in providing attentive and discreet service. The same can be said for the F&B presentation; at Edgar Bar & Kitchen one can easily find themselves hobnobbing with VIPs, while the staff takes equal pride in their exception in-room dining menu for private meetings taking place.
DiMeglio, who specializes in the MICE and social gathering segments of the mix of segments, has seen a dramatic increase in the size of groups over the last three years. People enjoy the opportunity to meet in person as well as the networking aspects of an event. Washington, D.C. is no exception. While it can be said globally, this is especially true. DiMeglio faced a challenge when some groups had been visiting The Mayflower for more than 50 years. The goal was to maintain the historical and beautiful nature of the Mayflower, while modernizing it.
There is no room for error when it comes to execution due to the responsibility that the hotel holds in hosting important gatherings. The Mayflower, for example, recently hosted a wedding in which the bride’s grandmother and mother were both married there. The hotel honored this tradition by creating a menu that paid tribute to previous generations.
Looking forward to the Next Centennial
DiMeglio’s favorite memory of the hotel is the first one: the inaugural party for Calvin Coolidge, held in the winter months of 1925. The DNA of The Mayflower will remain grateful to be a part history and as the hotel of presidents for many decades.
To celebrate its centennial year, the hotel has gone all out to fuse the 1920s with 2020. Before the launch of seasonal menus, the hotel hosted a party for event planners. The reception featured food from all the decades over the last 100 years along with archived menus. The menu included chateaubriand and lots of seafood, crabcakes and Caesar salad, all served tableside. Desserts of the 1920s, but with a contemporary twist, were served. Adding another touch are the prohibition era cocktails, with a ‘bathtub gin’ drink and an old fashioned made with a custom-branded bourbon in partnership with WhistlePig.
The team also transformed the Presidential Suite, where countless dignitaries stayed, into an Legacy Suite Package where guests can have an exclusive peek at historical photos and archived documents from events that took place in this one guestroom. It’s another way the hotel preserves the past and invites guests to help shape its future.
DiMeglio ended his remarks by stressing the lessons learned from the past. He said, “Listen directly to your guests and empower them to understand the significance of their work.” At a place where history is being created every day like The Mayflower, immersing associates into the heritage of this historic hotel is a reward in itself and is absolutely crucial to our operational success.
