December 2011 winner Harpreet Palak with Deputy Mayor Kerry Jang

Nomination: We are writing to express our sincere gratitude to your hotel staff for the exceptional service we received during our recent stay. Your hotel has been our home for the past six weeks as our son was hospitalized at St.Paul’s after suffering a very tragic experience. We have been ebtween the hospital and your hotel 24/7 since the day he was admitted.

We would apecifically like to acknowledge a Front Desk employee by the name of Harp. This young lady has done everything in her power and beyond to make our stay at your hotel as comfortable as possible. She has truly gone out of her way to accomodate our every need and the kindness and compassion she has shown our family during this extremely difficult time is something we will never forget.

Over and above the condition of our son, we’ve had to leave the routine comfirts and simply pleasures of our home and make the best of creating a new day to day life in your hotel. Early on in our stay, it came up in coversation that Harp lived in Surrey not too far from our home. In learning this, she immediately asked if there was anything we needed from home and offered to pick it up and bring it to us. Since that day she has regularly gone to our home and picked up things we’ve come to realize that we need and delivered them to us. In doing so, Harp has saved us the back and forth trip and allowed us to stay close to our son.

Our healrtfelt thanks goes out to this very special young lady- words cannot describe how ome of her little gestures have provided us with great comfort in our time of need. We have personally thanked her and let her know how much we appreciate everything she has done for us, but we also wanted to ensure that her efforts were brought to your attention and recognized by your management team. She truly is an outstanding employee.

Pam and Jinder Gill

Surrey, BC

November 2011 winner Maryam Alborz with Deputy Mayor Kerry Jang

Nomination: Yesterday as I was checking in I realized my Visa was missing. Without skipping a beat, Maryam at the front desk asked if I could remember where I left it. My panic had set in and I was only thinking I would lose me room without my Visa and this would destroy the conference and all the money I was spending to be here (I actually sold my gold jewelry to do this trip). Maryam remained calm, and I realized where I had probably left my Vusa, Within 60 seconds she was on the phone to the restaurant in Vancouver to track it down. Within 5 minutes they had phoned her back with a confirmation they had it!!! I raced back to Vancouver and two hours later Maryam was checking me into my beautiful room!

She is a hero and the reason I will tell everyone of this great experience. This hotel is great, but what makes it world class and a destination are hero’s like Maryam. Thank you so much!

Tricia Barker

Janet Cuddihy

September 2011 winner, Shawna Kostiuk, with Deputy Mayor Kerry Jang

Nomination: She worked tirelessly assisting us with the recovery of our lost passports. She used every resource at her disposal on our behalf. Shawna was totally professional, exceptionally competent and very compassionate. Her efforts led to the return of our passports the following day from the taxi cab company.

Rod & Paula Hurly

St.Petersburg, FL, USA

After the presentation came the prizes!  Over 300 people nominated throughout the year had a 1 in 3 chance of winning amazing industry prizes donated by hotels, restaurants and attractions from all around the Pacific Northwest.  We just want to send out a big THANK YOU for all the generous donations.  Thank you for making a difference in someone’s day and helping to inspire them to continue to make a positive impact in Vancouver tourism.

Generous donations provided by:

Abackus Communications Inc.

Absolute Spa Group

A.E. Vancouver Private Tours & Charters Inc.

Air Canada

Arts Club Theatre Company

Ballet BC

Banana Leaf Malaysian Cuisine

Bard on the Beach

BC Ferries Vacations

BC Lions Football Club

Beyond Restaurant & Lounge

Brewster Travel Canada

Cadillac Fairview- Pacific Centre

Calgary Zoo

Canadian Family Magazine

Capilano Suspension Bridge

Century Plaza Hotel & Spa

Chambar

Chateau Victoria Hotel & Suites

Circle Craft

Coast Coal Harbour Hotel

Coast Plaza Hotel & Suites

Coast Vancouver Airport Hotel

Delta Vancouver Airport

Delta Vancouver Suites

Delta Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort & Spa

Dockside Restaurant

Douglas & McIntyre Publishing Group

Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association

Empire Landmark Hotel

Fairmont Banff Springs

Fairmont Chateau Whistler Resort

Fairmont Empress Hotel

Fairmont Olympic Hotel Seattle

Fairmont Pacific Rim

Fairmont Palliser Calgary

Fairmont Vancouver Airport

Fairmont Waterfront Hotel

Fish House in Stanley Park

Five Sails Restaurant

Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver

Georgian Court Hotel

Goldfish Pacific Kitchen

Gotham Steakhouse

Grouse Mountain Resorts

H.R. MacMillan Space Centre

Hampton Inn & Suites

Harbour Air Seaplanes

Harbour Cruises

Hard Rock Cafe Seattle

Helijet Airways

Heritage Park Calgary

The Hills Health Ranch

Hilton Vancouver Airport

Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Vancouver Downtown

Holiday on Horseback

Hyatt Regency Vancouver

Hy’s of Canada

Joe Fortes Seafood House

The Keg

Ki Moderne Japanese & Bar

Landsea Tours

Le Crocodile

L’Hermitage Hotel

LIFT Bar Grill View

Listel Vancouver Hotel

Loden Vancouver

Maplewood Farm

McDonald’s Restaurants

Metropolis at Metrotown

Metropolitan Hotel

Mister Flasher

Mount Seymour Resort

Moxies Restaurants

Old Spaghetti Factory

Opus Hotel

Pacific Coach Lines

Pacific National Exhibition

Pacific Sands Beach Resort

Palomino Restaurant & Bar

Pan Pacific Vancouver

Prince of Whales Whale Watching

Purdy’s Chocolates

Radisson Hotel Vancouver Airport

Red Robin Restaurants

Renaissance Vancouver Harbourside Hotel

River Rock Casino Resort

Robert Held Art Glass Studio

RPB Hotels

SalaThai

Science World

Sequoia Enterprises

Sewell’s Marina

Shangri-La Vancouver

Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre

The Shore Club

Suki’s

Sutton Place Hotel

Tilley Endurables

Top Table Restaurant Group

Toseki Entertainment

Tourism Calgary

Tourism Vancouver

The Umbrella Shop

Vancouver Aquarium

Vancouver Art Gallery

Vancouver Lookout at Harbour Centre

Vancouver Maritime Museum

Vancouver Canadians Baseball

Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle

Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Trolley Company

Vij’s/Rangoli

Wedgewood Hotel

West Coast Sightseeing

Westin Bayshore Vancouver

Westin Bellevue

Westin Grand Vancouver

Westin Resort & Spa, Whistler

Where Calgary

Where Canadian Rockies

Whistler Blackcomb Mountain Resort

Wild Whales Vancouver

Ziptrek Ecotours

On the new WorldHost® website, there is a provincial training calendar that highlights upcoming workshops and corporate training opportunities, contact info o delivery organizations across BC, profiles of customized solutions and an opportunity to register for the newest training solution, the e-learning module, Communication Tools for Service Professionals, to be launched later this month.  The site will continue to highlight Recognized WorldHost® Businesses along with exciting highlights of WorldHost® training around the province.

WorldHost® is also announcing WorldHost® e-News, a new quarterly electronic newsletter you can subscribe to!  The e-newsletter is full of information and updates regarding the WorldHost® network, program announcements, inspiring customer service stories, tips from the experts and much more. To subscribe, please click here.  The WorldHost® e-News checkbox is already selected for you, so simply add your email address and voila!

Councillor Andrea Reimer and Summer Day

We arrived at the Blue Horizon with an Audi All Road packed to the gills with a Thule carrier on top.  Unfortunately, the carrier made our car too tall for the hotel garage.  Ms. Day, cool as a cucumber, helped us unload the car, unload the carrier, take the carrier off the car, and put it into storage.  She was relaxed, helpful and turned our crisis on Robson Street into a smooth arrival.  She is the most helpful hotel employee I’ve ever encountered!

Ed Greenberg,

Boulder, CO

Councillor Andrea Reimer and Cesar Carias

I decided to take my family on vacation to Vancouver for a respite from the weather in Dallas and to appreciate the outdoors.

I was pleasantly surprised to find an incredible level of service at the Renaissance, particularly as it concerned my family.  The lounge attendants made a considerable effort to have soy milk on hand, as my song is lactose intolerant.  The reservations team went out of their way to accommodate specific dates for our vacation.

Our trip to Vancouver was for two glorious weeks and included stops in Whistler and Victoria.  We ate a lot of diverse food but being from Central America, I was jonesing for some Latin fare.  I had not found a place to go and I was prepared to write it off.  Enter Cesar Carias.

I noticed Cesar was Latin and asked him where I could get some good Latin food.  After learning he was from El Salvador, I asked him specifically where I could get some good pupusas.  Pupusas are a traditional El Salvadorian dish that consists of corn tortillas stuffed with either cheese, shredded pork, beans or a combination thereof.  He explained that there was a restaurant some thirty miles away.  We only had two days left in Vancouver and would not be able to make it out that way.

After seeing my reaction, Cesar took notice.  He asked me to make sure I check with him the next day as a follow up.  I thought he was going to do some investigating and find a restaurant for us to go to in the downtown core.  The next day, I received a message from Cesar.  He asked me to meet him that afternoon when his shift began.  Cesar had brought to the hotel an entire selection of pupusas from the restaurant.  I was stunned and did not know what to say.  As it turned out, it had been a long day.  We had returned late from Grouse Mountain and we were beat.  Having the pupusas brought to the hotel eliminated us having to go out late for dinner, and anybody with a 2-year-old can appreciate that.

I do a great deal of travelling for work.  I have and expect a high standard of service.  Our expectations were surpassed at the Renaissance Harbourside Hotel.  I am not sure if Cesar would do that for everybody he meets and I don’t want to set him up.  But I am pretty convinced he would go out of his way for all his guests and treat them with the same level of professionalism and passion that he exhibited for my family.  While our trip was incredible, Cesar’s enthusiasm to make us feel welcome and bring a bit of home to the last days of our trip made it MEMORABLE.

I will recommend your fair city to all my friends and family.  But above all, I will recommend that people stay at the Renaissance and experience superior hotel service the way it should be.

John Michael Samson,

Dallas, TX

Councillor Kerry Jang and Dinesh Lal

On June 10, 2011, I checked in to the Westin Wall Centre.  During the check-in process, the hotel experienced a power failure.  After dropping off my luggage, I set off in search of something to eat.  Unfortunately, the whole area was experiencing the power outage and could only accept cash as payment.

I returned to the hotel and explained my predicament.  I had no cash on me, I was really hungry and the power outage was expected to last until 7PM (it was 4PM at the time).  I asked the hotel if I could have a $10 advance for food purchases but was informed by an attendant that they were unauthorized to do so.

Mr. Dinesh Lal, the concierge at the front door, overheard this conversation.  When I left the front desk, he approached me and handed me $20 from his wallet.  He did not know my name or the room I was staying in.  He told me he overheard the conversation and wanted to help out.  He was NOT acting on behalf of the Westin hotel, but rather as a concerned citizen.  It was his own personal money that he was offering as assistance.  I gratefully accepted and headed back out to pick up something to eat.  Later on that evening, the power returned and I was able to repay Mr. Lal.

Mr. Lal’s kind actions have made a lasting impression.  It is actions such as Mr. Lal’s that makes the world a better place.  Thanks to the warm hospitality shown by Mr. Lal, my Vancouver trip ended on a positive note.

Kelly Meagher,

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

Councillor Kerry Jang and David Lall

I forgot my dresses at the airport.  David asked for my boarding pass and told me he would deal with it.  Two hours later, he called me with dresses in hand!  He had to call the airport multiple times, organize a cab and finally succeeded in getting my items back.  Unbelievable service!

Emmeli Bruno,

Los Angeles, CA