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Daily Insights Into The Industry
Never let language stand in the way
Jannes Soerensen was a Golden Key Concierge (Les Clefs d’Or), who started his career in his native Berlin before embarking on a journey which saw him work in Paris, without originally speaking French; Barcelona, without speaking the native language; New York and London. From riding an orange scooter around the streets of Paris to taking advice from his concierge mentors to becoming one of London’s youngest General Managers of a five-star property, it has been some journey, with many lessons learnt along the way.
"Look up for spiders and down for snakes"
"Look up for spiders and down for snakes"The Great Service Debate - Part Three of SixEP and Giles Gordon-Smith, Founder of PensheeUnder blue Belgravia skies and back in the luxurious comfort of the Goring Hotel, the scene was set for the third Great Service Debate of 2018. Industry leaders gathered again and, fuelled by some potent coffee, it was time to address the debate’s two key questions:
"Why service at The Beaumont is becoming the best in town."
Why service at The Beaumont is becoming the best in townBy Giles Gordon-Smith, Founder, PensheeI don’t hide my belief that greatest competitive advantage in a hotel is its people. Great people make great hotels. Go to any five star hotel in London - how can you not be impressed by what is on offer? Cumulatively, the various constructions, titivations and re-developments in London’s five star market over the last few years bound into the nine figure bracket. The physical impact of this sort of capital investment is inevitably significant, whatever your taste. However accustomed to the finer things in life that you might be, I’d challenge you to eliminate the word ‘wow’ from your vocabulary on a show around of The Ned (for example). The bench is extraordinarily high, and is increasingly tight for space, so what really makes you stand out?