All summer I knew September would be an exciting month of travel, and after 3 straight weeks in the office I was ready to get back On The Road, especially since my first trip of the month represented my long-awaited Honeymoon with Cathy, who I married on May 20.  Granted we’d already had a mini-honeymoon to Key West (see On The Road, July), but this was to be the official celebration of our wedding vows.

After saying goodbye to Adam and Julia at 7:30am, we headed to the airport for our 9:30am flights.  It’s still no small miracle to me that one can board a plane that late in the morning, and yet arrive in Honolulu before Happy Hour!  Since we had been to Honolulu before we were smart enough not to get a rental car and hassle with directions, traffic, and parking, and instead headed straight into a taxi to be whisked away directly to our hotel.  Thanks to my dear friend Elizabeth Cambra at Outrigger Hotels, we were staying at one of the best locations on the beach – the Ohana Beachcomber.  Upon arrival, we were both thrilled to see the view from our balcony.

You can see Diamond Head to the left.  On the right side of the street you see what I think are arguably one of the most beautiful and elegant hotels in the world, the Sheraton Mona Surfrider.  We had a great time in Waikiki.  The great thing about this visit was that it was Cathy’s second time, and my um-teenth time, so we had no agenda other than to work on our tans and enjoy great walks on Waikiki beach for sunsets.

On Sunday night it was time for a very special treat.  It was only after Elizabeth had offered-up the Beachcomber so generously for us that I realized it was the historic home of the Don Ho Show!  I quickly called the concierge and found out that Don is indeed still performing there despite being in his late 70’s, and that although he only does one show a week we happened to be there on that night (Sunday). So we booked two tickets right away to see this Icon of the International music world.  What an incredibly positive experience it was!  I have never seen an entertainer who was more appreciative of nor giving to his audience.  Not only did Don Ho make himself available before the show for pictures, but also after the show for autographs.  Below are the pictures to prove it:  

After a long Labor Day weekend it was time for the one-day of work I had scheduled for this trip, which was to conduct the first of my 13-city area-wide Reservation SAILS Seminar series on Tuesday.  We’d set-up this seminar for the Ohana Honolulu Airport Hotel, which offered the perfect location since most of the participants had to fly in-and-out from neighboring islands, and selfishly since Cathy and I were flying out ourselves afterwards to Maui to continue our journey.  I really liked having Cathy working my registration table and handling the meeting room set-up, although it is ironic because she was as well-qualified as I am to lead this program, being a 17 year veteran of Marriott – with the last 7 in their corporate training division – not to mention being a Level Three Toastmaster!  (I’m sure I’m the only professional speaker with a wife who has better credentials.)

This workshop was such a pleasure to facilitate.  With the wealth of talent and experience in the room I’m certain I learned as much about Aloha Hospitality as they did about reservations sales techniques.  How impressive it was that our sell-out crowd of 30 participants included no less than 5 company-owners, each of which brought their entire reservations team personally.  (Nancy – we missed you but know you will be there with us next year!)   You can see a picture of me with this group at the top of this September entry.  With all of the wonderful people in the room it’s hard to single-out anyone, but I have to send a special Doug Kennedy Mahalo to my dear friend Lucy Kawaihalau from Kauai Vacation Rentals.  Not only did she help me promote the workshop to her colleagues and piers in the industry, and then personally escort her entire staff of 8 reservations agents to the seminar, but she also greeted Cathy and I with special Leis which you can see us wearing here in a picture that Lucy took:

After the seminar, and okay a couple of the best Bloody Mary’s every at Stinger Ray’s bar at the HNL airport with participants we bumped into, Cathy and I headed to Kehei, Maui.  Thanks to my dear entrepreneur friend Zoya Smithton from AMSI in San Francisco we had the complimentary use of her personal condominium at the Luana Kai.  While there we did our usual stuff, like a visit to laceName w:st="on">McKennalaceName> laceType w:st="on">BeachlaceType> (guess which one) and Lahaina.  But the most incredible new thing we did was to take the road to Hana, which is a 36-mile trek through tropical rainforests and one of the most beautiful drives in the world.  After an exquisite dinner and drinks at the luxurious Hotel Hana, we returned to our bare-bones cabin at Waianapana State Partk.  Good thing I married a farmer’s daughter who’s used to roughing it, as when we checked into the cabin we realized that while sheets and blankets were provided, there were no pillows!  Good thing also I knew how to use a percolator coffee pot the next morning, although we both equally enjoyed the view from our porch that morning:

                              

After one more night in Maui we returned to Waikiki, where Cathy got us the Associate Rate at the Marriott Waikiki, and we once again had a marvelous view of Diamond Head and another wonderful afternoon on the beach before heading home.  

Instead of taking the red-eye flight back all the way to Florida, we opted to stay over one night in Los Angeles.  Thanks to my good buddy Tim Wiersma, Vice President of Revenue Management for Host Hotels Corporation, we had a great deal at the Westin LAX.  Upon arrival the front desk associate must have been a little surprised to find that a couple of beach bums (as we were dressed as) would be set for an upgrade to their top-level “Spa Suite.”  Too bad we didn’t have time to use the Jacuzzi on the balcony, but we did find time to consume the amenity and most of the fruit basket, the rest of which we packed for our full-day flight LAX – FLL. 

After a short pit-stop of 3 days at home spent mostly with the kids, Cathy went back to work and I headed out on the road again.  This time to Naples, FL where I was to conduct the second in my series of area-wide seminars.  It was great not having to board an airplane for this gig, as Naples is basically a suburb of Fort Lauderdale, albeit on the other side of the FL coast   Thankfully the Hawthorne Suites I’d picked was a great little property to work with and before long I was in my room checking e-mail and watching nice boring John Wayne in an old Civil War movie before catching a full night’s sleep.

The next morning I was back in front of another sell-out crowd in my vacation property rental SAILS seminar series, thanks mostly to my friend Hilary Young from Premier Properties.  Despite having just had an on-premise program with me not even a year ago, she bought-out most of my seats and attended personally with her entire reservations team of 18 agents. Thanks also to Royal Shell and Robyn from Sanibel Accommodations for taking the rest of the seats.  Here’s a picture of me with the group:

That evening I also appreciated being so close to home base, as I was able to walk in the door by 7pm Thursday.  Ahh, the feeling of 6 nights in your own bedroom!  After another great weekend with the kids and then two and a half days in the office, I was off again this time to Myrtle Beach for another area-wide seminar.  Thankfully another sell-out, and once again with at least 3 of the many vacation property rental companies in attendance having owners or managers who brought their entire team .  Thanks especially to Scott Erickson from Century 21/Action – Topsail Vacations, who in addition to bringing his entire rental staff to the program even bought me lunch!  The Ocean Creek Resort turned out to be a beautiful location, and with the best DOS anywhere.  Here’s a picture of me with the group:

                            

Thanks to the misfortune of a missed left turn (which I was looking for on the right side) I had to finesse my way to the airport.  My old trick of looking into the sky for the planes as a last resort when desperately lost worked again, except it brought me to the private jet terminal on the back side of the airport.  Thanks to the guy at the desk who told me about a shortcut, and more than a little luck, I had the opportunity to sprint the 500 yards from the car rental return lot to the Delta counter – luggage en tow – in hopes of making the 30-minute cut-off before my 6:25pm flight.  It was with mixed emotions when I finally reached the desk – panting heavily - only to find out that my flight was actually at 6:35pm, so I had 13 minutes not 3 before the cut-off.  (Gosh, I could have stopped for food!)

After Friday in the office to play catch-up, I took Saturday to finish moving into our new offices of KTN, albeit 2 months later than planned.  After having a relaxing Sunday afternoon and evening with the kids, dropping them at their school on Monday and then working in a frenzied and compressed 2/3 day, I somehow managed to make school pick-up on time at 2pm.  After helping with homework, farming out Adam to the neighbor’s house, and watching Julia’s hip-hop class through the one-way mirror at her dance school, I kissed them all goodbye leaving Cathy to do dinner and baths and back to FLL airport for my final September trip.  This time I was headed for one-night to Gatlinburg, TN to conduct training for Mountain Rentals of Gatlinburg.  Good think my buddy Ted Mulkin, Patrick was there to pick me up at 10:30pm in Knoxville and drive me through the back roads directly to my cabin.  It was only while en route that I found out Patrick was from New Orleans, and remembering it the Saints were on Monday Night Football with their first home game at the SuperDome, that I realized what a major sacrifice Patrick had made to be there to greet me personally and to navigate these remote back-country roads. ! 

I don’t remember a more peaceful night of sleep, at least not since I’d stayed in a similar cabin as Ted’s guest two years ago in these Smokey Mountains that I’d visited so often as a child.  Vanessa the reservations manager and Linda the housekeeping manager helped ensure that I’d not go hungry, leaving me a great amenity and then both picking me up at 7am for breakfast at the famous  Pancake Palace in downtown Gatlinburg.  After breakfast we saw the sunrise yawning over the grey misty mountain morning in this familiar village as we were heading back to my cabin to conduct the training right there!  Talk about atmosphere and convenience.  The only distraction for me was the view out the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the woods, but I’m sure they didn’t notice as much as I did since they see it every day.  Here’s a picture of us on the balcony of my 3,000 square foot cabin:
                            

At the end of this busy day Linda also demonstrated her company’s commitment to hospitality by driving me back to the airport for my evening flight.  It sure was nice not to have to worry about getting lost on such a tight schedule, especially after my Myrtle Beach experience. 

Before long I’d left Knoxville for the ever-familiar Charlotte airport, where I seem to be spending more and more time lately.  At least they have a good toy store for my kids’ “Airplane Toys.”  After a little shopping I was onboard my connection to Orlando.  The kids were most excited about this leg of my trip, especially when I told them I’d be staying at their favorite hotel – The Peabody Orlando – also known to them as “The Ducky Hotel.”  Too bad I didn’t get to see the march of the ducks not even once during my stay.  (When they are with me we rarely miss this twice-daily performance even when we stay the whole week in Orlando!)  I did get to do another round of training for their most-excellent call center staff, which handles calls for all of the Peabody hotels these days.   I also got to have dinner with my dear friend Barb Bowden, Corp. Director of Revenue, along with Susan Gilmore their Director of Reservations.   Here’s a picture of me with each of their two groups:

Finally, Thursday September 28 had arrived and it was time for my very last training seminar of the month, which was the 4^th in my vacation rental series, in Orlando at the laceName w:st="on">EmbassylaceName> laceName w:st="on">SuiteslaceName> laceType w:st="on">Convention CenterlaceType>.  This was an excellent hotel to work with, and as readers of my monthly column might recall, working with my catering manager Katie Tran was truly a pleasure, especially when compared with the most of the other hotels I’d contacted in the meeting planning phase.  (Click here to read my article mentioning Katie.) Here is a picture of us in her lobby:

It was still a very engaging audience, including two owners and three managers.  It was also great to meet mostly new pa
rticipants none of which had ever attended one of my seminars and to receive positive feedback from them.  I always tell my audiences that we are only as good as the impression of our last reservations caller or front desk check-in, just as I am only as good as the impression of the participants at my most recent workshops.  Here’s a picture of me with the group: