Think Customers: The 1to1 Blog

Yamada used to compete with this particular Westin, having served in a similar role at the Renaissance Grand Beach Resort on St. Thomas four years ago. (Within eight months of his exit, he says, that hotel shut down. “I like to tell people the two things were related,” he jokes.) He then spent time at several Stateside hotels, including one in Oklahoma City, before the siren song of the islands—and an admittedly great opportunity—called him back.

Not every company has a “Director of Fun”—though it’s diverting to think of what the DMV would be like with one—yet that’s what the Westin chain features throughout the Caribbean. In our case, Toya Frazer-Ellis provided such family-friendly events as an Easter Egg hunt, an on-site carnival, and a weekly hermit crab “race,” which in this instance featured 105 contestants. (Our own crab, Mickey, missed winning the second heat by thismuch, but made up for the defeat with his droll personality.)

Fun wasn’t the operative word for several families we met there, however, at least one of which was gone within 48 hours to the nearby luxury resort Caneel Bay. Having been waved vaguely towards their room by the hotel “greeter,” and confronted with the same condescending attitude by “James”—he of the Marlboro Man appearance and martinet-ish command of beach rafts—this particular group felt that for some $800 per night, they deserved better.

It was a hard position to argue with, and Yamada, to his credit, didn’t try. “That’s really my nightmare, when it comes to customers,” he said. With a staff of 420, he noted, “There’s a feeling of indifference that can come up, a lack of passion. My feeling is, if you’re not enjoying what you’re doing, then why are you doing it?”

Many of the Westin’s staff’s nametags include what their passion is (Yamada’s, unsurprisingly, read “Resort Life”), and to be sure the majority of employees we encountered seemed truly cheerful: one waitress, Tamika, practically adopted our three-year-old son, and Walter saw to it that our boy had chocolate chips in his pancakes each morning, even though they weren’t listed on the menu. (Not for nothing, Yamada noted that both had been on his staff at the Renaissance.)

As he continues to settle in, Yamada hopes to keep growing the brand’s reputation and increasing customer engagement. “We really want to keep inspiring,” he says. “Not just our visitors, but our staff as well.”

Mickey himself couldn’t have put it any better.