The real meaning of a first-class service

Bearing in mind my commitment to giving praise where it is due, I would like to mention young Jonathan Ward of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Hong Kong.

Jonathan was on the front desk as we came down from a lunch of fresh salad in the Clipper Lounge. The plan, hatched earlier in the day as we bobbed across Victoria Bay on the Star Ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island, was to wander through the business and market areas, then sample some dim sum in one of the venues mentioned in the Rough Guide to Hong Kong.

However, having accidentally wandered into the remains of that morning's livestock market (where you knew something had been killed there and then) and seen so much slack duck skin, rice and unidentifiable fish pieces being fried and boiled on open-air stoves at each busy corner that my father was heard to mutter: "I just want a cold beer in a quiet bar." And I think I heard him mention the name of a pub near his home in East Sussex.

To me that sounded like: "Let's get into a large hotel away from this noise and smell." So we took sanctuary in the air-conditioned calm of the Mandarin Oriental.

Wedding

We were staying in Hong Kong for three days, returning from a family wedding in Australia. (Listen, if a stepbrother decides to marry an Australian girl in Sydney and the lead-up to the wedding includes barbecues, boat trips and beach trips, it would have been silly to refuse.)

Anyway, my stepmother wanted to leave a greeting card at reception, as my stepbrother and his new wife were due to arrive at the hotel a week later, completing their honeymoon.

Jonathan Ward I took to be English, and every inch a young international hotelier who knew exactly what he was doing.

"I wonder if I could leave this for Mr and Mrs Charlie Lewis, who are due to check in to the hotel next Wednesday for three nights?"

"Of course, let me check we have the name on our reservations records for that day." Jonathan calls the following Wednesday's arrivals on to the computer screen at the reception desk.

"I don't see that name with that initial, I'm afraid. Let me try a day either side to make sure we have the right date."

More taps on the keyboard as he tells us what he is doing: "I have three Lewises arriving on the Tuesday, but none with the initial C. Could there be another initial he uses?"

My stepmother says not.

"And there is no Lewis party arriving on the Thursday. Shall we try other dates? Might he have changed his itinerary?"

My stepmother thinks not, they were definitely due to arrive on the Wednesday. She now has some doubt as to the hotel they are due to stay in and begins to apologise for not being entirely sure that she had remembered the right hotel.

phoning around

"Let me try one or two of the other larger hotels for you. What about the Peninsula Hotel?" Jonathan says.

We agree. He dials out and we hear him ask for someone by name in reservations at the Peninsula Hotel. They look to see whether they have a Lewis who is due to arrive the following Wednesday.

The answer is no. No Lewis booked for that day, nor - after Jonathan prompts them to check - is there a Lewis due to arrive there on the Tuesday or Thursday.

He puts the phone down and apologises to us for not being able to trace Mr and Mrs Charlie Lewis, due to arrive at a hotel somewhere in Hong Kong next Wednesday.

He creases his brow in thought, a smile lights up his face. "Could it be our sister hotel, the Excelsior?" he asks. "Might your relative have mentioned the Mandarin name as a link? I could try them."

As he knows what service is all about, Jonathan immediately picks up the phone and dials the Excelsior.

They were not booked there either. We thanked Jonathan for his time and patience. Once again he apologised for not being able to verify where Mr and Mrs Charlie Lewis would be staying.

Feeling important

Now, all we wanted to do was leave a small card. But goodness me, Jonathan, you made us feel very important to have warranted so much attention.

The service you provided may not have benefited the hotel this time.

But you did more than any glossy brochure could: you sold us the idea of how fabulous it would be, next time we were in Hong Kong, to stay at "your" hotel.

Having travelled to Australia and back in the last month, stayed at two or three top-notch hotels, and eaten in several guide book-recommended restaurants, Jonathan Ward has reminded me that five stars, luxury, well-stocked mini-bars, pictures on plates and rooftop swimming pools count for nothing in this industry of ours unless there is a professional point of contact with another human being. Well done, Jonathan.

Next diary from Graham Webb will be on 22 May