Visiting ITB in March, one of the largest travel fairs in the EU, was a Greta excuse to get back to hotel Hilton Berlin and have a taste of its new design as it was recently renovated.

Check in & out

Hilton Berlin room

Upon request, I was sent to the new executive lounge located at the ground floor at the place the Thai restaurant used to be before.

I was encountered by a very happy and smiling welcoming Linda. That early Sunday shift did not seem to influence her at all. The C.I. process was polite, concise and personal.

Checkout in my case was swift and practical. The invoice was awaiting me as I requested and I was ready to go in no time.

Late checkout, normally subject to availability, was granted.

The new Hilton Berlin design

The Hilton Berlin was recently renovated. One can still smell the “smell of new”  walking down the corridors. Everything looks and feels new, shining and clean, something that adds to the guest’s positive experience.

The executive level room offered to me was spacious, larger than the standard 25-30 square meter. My expertise are laying with management, not interior design, but I really liked the new design. The new Hilton Berlin design involving brown and silver colors with wood and metal was calming and appropriate. Actually, the exact level and design one would expect from such hotel.

The Hilton Berlin executive lounge

The newly designed executive lounge is wide, nicely designed and provides meals, newspapers, two meeting rooms and three flat screens TVs.

Hilton Berlin Executive Lounge

One can book any of the two meeting rooms for free to a certain extend. This is not common at Hiltons in general and I find it very useful.

The food and beverage location is separated by design concept from the sitting area, something that gives some feeling of intimacy. There are chairs and tables for organized eating as well as comfortable sofas for relaxing and having a drink.

Breakfast, complementary for gold and diamond level members as is the executive lounge entry, is reach and tasty. Dinner is minimized as it is in most Hilton’s executive lounges, but enough of enabling the average eater to replace a dinner.  Hot & cold beverages are offers all day long.

The lounge provides limited business services such as printing and PC to surf the Internet. There is an additional dedicated business center located on the first floor.

The issue I noticed and really found interesting was the fact that the welcome letter to the exec lounge sent by its manager, was not signed by her name but with the names of the lounge team. Since this is the first time I have noticed such approach in exec lounge, I bothered the manager for an explanation.

She said she wanted to create a team within the hotel team and the teamwork and efforts was important enough for her to singe with all the names.

So this was policy, not an accident. While the vast majority on managers at all levels would never miss an opportunity to sign their own names on a letter to customer, this one choose for the team and this is noted with respect here.

As I have spent much time at the Hilton berlin executive lounge, I can testify first hand that the service, the professionalism and attitude were on a high level and matching business guests’ needs.

The things I liked about Hilton Berlin

Hilton Berlin hotel

The new design, the spacious room, the executive lounge team and to top it up, a minute before leaving the hotel, I was given some sweets for the road… No I don’t think this is standard procedure, it was just the nice F&B lady at the exec lounge.

Welcome feeling factor: this is a factor stated by Endeavour long ago indicating the subjective feeling of the hotel guest regarding the level of being welcomed at the hotel.  Hilton Berlin scores very high on that one.

Our expectations for good service took off just as fast and we have to admit we expect nothing less than good service in today’s business environment.
Service is a key success factor in many industries and especially in the traveling and hospitality sector. This sector, by the way is characterized by high expectations, low tolerance for errors and constant interfacing with clients.

Hilton hotel Warsaw

Hilton Hotel Warsaw lobby

Allow me to share with you my last visit to Hilton Warsaw, Poland, where I experienced a service worth mentioning.
I visited Warsaw for a board of directors meeting and was happy to realize the Polish real estate market shows some positive recovery signs. There is still hope.
I choose the Hilton. I have never been there before, hence decided to give it a try.
I have requested a room with work space which I received. The room was big, comfortable and very well designed on a higher level than I expected. I am not a design freak, but it was simply beautiful to the level I have noticed it once walked in.
The room area was about 30-35 square meters and most customers immediately translate size to quality in this industry.
The hotel happens to accommodate the local Holmes Place health centre with a 25 meter long swimming pool. I just loved it.
A short while after arrival, I have received to my room some fruits and a local cake accompanied with a letter, signed by guest relation manager. Some hotels are doing that when they favor a guest. I did not expect that.
The next morning I missed breakfast and asked for a croissant and coffee at the hotel bar. I have received a giant coffee with few croissants. I am sure I was served more than I have ordered.
The crew of both the reception and concierge, were genuinely nice and pleasant, not the average corporate light smile produced by average customer service trainings, but a real care to guests’ requests. I got the feeling the crew was eager to assist me. I felt welcomed and comfortable while at the Hotel.
In general, the hotel would charge guests for usage of internet services, in my case they simply gave me a complementary code to use. At that point I suspected they were confusing me with someone else.
Since my flight was scheduled to leave at the evening, I needed to request a late check out. The receptionist didn’t hesitate and gave me five hours late checkout. No questions asked. I was impressed since the typical reply would be an hour or two after the usual checkout. The authority to approve such action was at the receptionist level.
When I left the Hilton Warsaw, I decided to write this post and analyze my satisfaction while at the hotel. Many hotels provide good service, but only few go the extra step and make you feel very wanted and welcomed.

Hilton Hotel Warsaw lobby 2

Room design: a major component in overall satisfaction of a guest. In this hotel the room was wide, with one wall made of glass, located at the 20th floor and providing beautiful city panorama. A separate working zone contributed to the feeling of space and utility. The bathroom design was impressive and the room stereo system enabled me to connect my IPod via USB and listen to my music.
Service level: outstanding and genuine as mentioned before.
Location: the Hilton is located just off the real city centre and not next to the downtown area; however, the business traveler mostly prefers that over noisy surroundings.

Facilities: the hotel provides the high class usual facilities expected from five stars deluxe level, however, the additional Casino and the local Holmes Place centre gives it a an edge over other city hotels.
Pricing: the price is actually the good news here. With global crisis here to stay for a while, it looks as if the high class hotels are making efforts to make their rooms affordable. A double room at Hilton Warsaw would cost around 130 Euros per night in mid September, weekdays. Breakfast included. If booked in advance with no refund possibility, the price dives to 109 Euros per night. Prices for end of august are even below the 100 Euros. Crisis, indeed.

All in all, I refuse to assign my positive experience at the hotel to fortune or luck. It definitely looks as the result of managerial approach and efforts. Superficially, it appears as if this hotel is positively managed with affinity to design and customer care as main goal. It is encouraging realizing luxury hotels are striving for excellent service level rather than sinking into mediocrity in economy slow down.
To avoid misunderstanding, I should properly state here although being a travel professional, there are no special business relations between Hilton and my company. I bring my unbiased opinion here. However, after being there once, I will definitely be back.

David Dekel, CEO
Endeavour Enterprises N.V.

Hilton Hotel Warsaw 1