I’m not a particularly demanding person when it comes to hotels. I don’t care about suite upgrades or 1000 thread count sheets so much as I want a clean, quiet place to sleep and shower between my time spent exploring whatever local I happen to be visiting. Location matters, too. I want to be within walking distance of decent food and drinks when at all possible. Oh, and toilet seats.
And so, on our recent trip to New Brunswick, when the need arose to book a few nights of last-minute hotel stays I went online and hoped for the best. What I found were a few options from the Delta Hotels chain. As a relatively small (only ~40 properties) chain of mid-level hotels in Canada I had modest expectations. The rooms were notably less expensive than the bigger brand options (Hilton in one case, Holiday Inn or Four Points by Sheraton in the other) and the location was better, too. And so we passed on the trivial points earning and so-called “free” benefits the larger brands offered and booked our nights with Delta.
The stay in St. John was nothing particularly special one way or the other. Very friendly staff (I attribute that to us being in Canada as much as anything else) and a clean, quiet room as expected. We were were off the following morning to explore Fundy National Park after pretty much nothing of importance happening. It was the stay in Moncton that was special, and for possibly the most ridiculously simple reason.
It was not because we were upgraded upon arrival. Actually the room was exactly what we booked and not a bit more. Sufficient but not special. But upon returning to the room after a day spent paddling around Hopewell Rocks I was greeted with a surprise from the housekeeping staff:
Hello, fellow guest. I have noticed youre toothpaste getting low. No need to worry; I’ll take care of you. Here’s a gift from me to you.Hope you have a wonderfull stay.
Sincerly, Jessica 🙂
So, putting aside the need for a bit of spelling and grammar help, this was great customer service delivered just about perfectly. And, no, there is probably no reason that this should make me loyal to Delta as a hotel brand. I’m actually pretty sure it won’t. But it does give me a bit of confidence that the staff there knows what it means to make a guest feel welcome and comfortable while staying. And, as an added bonus, they’re encouraged to act on that where they can.
Yes, it is just a $1 tube of toothpaste. But it is also much more than that.
Every had a similar, unsolicited experience at a hotel which made you a believer in their service approach?
Read more from our New Brunswick adventures here.
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Nice! I can honestly say I’ve never had a toiletry item like that left by housekeeping that wasn’t part of the standard stuff they stock the room with every day, much less with a personal note. The room doesn’t look bad at all, either.
I was a big fan of the chain when I was traveling frequently to Toronto/Ottawa/Montreal. Great elite benefits like food credits and suite upgrades back then (I haven’t checked lately).
I made the mistake of staying at the dump that was the Delta in Quebec City in 2006.
I switched to Starwood/Hilton after that.
They’re still doing the food credits and upgrades. Neat.
The other Delta I stayed at was the Vancouver Pinnacle, but it’s now flying the Marriott banner.
What I remember most: their pools. They had deep ends (unlike most hotels) and some had cool features like steam rooms, saltwater, or the slide at Delta Meadowvale.
Love the “wonder full stay” wish!
Stayed in one in Guelph for a few days. Nice large rooms, good service, and a decent bar. I was a fan.