My streak of 6 straight weeks of travel continued this week when I headed back to the Gulf Shores, AL area to conduct another round of training for the reservations and front desk staff of the Spectrum Resorts, which managers The Beach Club, Turquoise Place, and Caribe The Resort.  I was staying at the Beach Club, which is where their call center is located.  Since I had arrived early enough to complete all of my scheduled work in the room I had a couple hours of daylight left, so I headed down to the tiki bar at the pool.  There I met and interacted with several of the families and couples that were enjoying their “Winter Break” from up north.  It was great to see the Gulf Coast beaches looking not only as pristine and beautiful as usual, but also once again packed with tourists even in early season.  Here are some pictures of the view:

The next day was absolutely wonderful, as I had a terrific group of participants in both sessions.  For all of those managers who say it is impossible to find good staff in more sparsely populated areas, they should talk to Michael Booth the reservations manager to find out whatever he is doing.  Every single participant was enthusiastic, energetic, and eager to learn.  Here are pictures of me with the groups that day, and also one of me conducting a training activity with them:

After finishing my session precisely on time and immediately hitting the road with just enough time to make my flight, I glanced at my smartphone to see that my Delta flight had been cancelled.  For just the third time in 22 years of business travel, and the first in over a decade, I did not make it home last night.  However due to the reason, I am very grateful Delta took the financial hit in advance to cancel.  Turns out I was maybe 150 miles from the mail damage area on the way back to Pensacola.  So in that sense the timing was good. 

On the other hand the timing was bad because my son Adam had reminded me before the trip that the next day was “Take  Your Child To Work Day.”  Being in 5^th grade I knew this would be our last such holiday, and I really wanted to be there for him.  Fortunately Delta put me on a 5:30am departure the next day (today) and I was scheduled to get in at 10:30am.  After waking up at 3:45am and heading to the airport I arrived to find that flight was also cancelled, but Delta had backed me up on a flight arriving at 11:55am.  Thanks to some amazing efforts by the Delta Captain to get our plane off the gate in record time, I arrived in Atlanta, made the connection, and made it back in time.  My loyalty to Delta increased ten fold with that pilot’s gesture and I thanked him personally on the way deplaning.  Not only did I make it due to his diligent efforts that included arriving by taxi 10 min’s ahead of his crew to get the flight plan called in, as only frequent travelers like me and possibly other pilots recognize, but I even had time to grab a real breakfast at the concourse. 

It was wonderful to be early to pick up my son Adam from school and then to take him on a tour of a local hotel.  Good thing, since I had forgotten that there was early release and would have been otherwise definitely late but for Delta Airlines’ amazing effort.

 hanks to Joel Darr, GM of the new B Ocean Hotel Ft. Lauderdale, who I phoned at the last minute on my way home today asking for a property tour, the day was very fun after all.  Adam got a chance to learn about the various jobs in a hotel and also the various types of hotels.   He was so impressed by the B Ocean Hotel.  And I have to say so was I, even though I was there only 3 weeks ago to meet Pat Lupsha, COO of Davidson the hotel management company.  Where do you start.  The real estate?  Incredible.  I remember thinking so even when it was a green flag Holiday Inn property in the 1980’s.   The interior design?  Amazing how the view from the same lobby has changed so much.  The food and beverage?  Exemplary even here in the South Florida region of some of the world’s best it still stands out.  But above all this was the team.  Adam and I were first greeted by the best hotel welcoming experience I can remember.   Will, the valet attendant greeted us so warmly, even though I was driving my minivan he offered to park it up front since we were there for a short visit.

 Joel Darr, the GM whom was out for a business meeting that morning and hadn’t pulled my voicemail yet greeted my son Adam and I as if it were planned all along on his busy agenda.  He took time out to walk us out to the lobby, what a host.    I have always believed that if you visited 10 hotels and found the top 3 for hospitality, then walked into a room full of 10 GM’s and had a 5 minute talk with each, you could nearly always pick the GM’s of the top three.  Joel Darr proves that hands down.   Although Adam enjoyed meeting Mr. Darr, I think he was  much more amazed by the coolest touch-screen mapping display that actually texts the directions to wherever you are going instantly to  your cell phone.  Here is a picture of Adam and I at the B Ocean Hotel today: