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The Mandarin Oriental has begun hiring in preparation for a planned opening in December. The top manager will personally interview everyone on staff.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Sun Archives
- CityCenter hotel begins search for 500 workers (7-20-2009)
- CityCenter: ‘Only in Vegas’ works for the art world, too (3-10-2008)
- Rich and famous towering above the masses (2-25-2007)
Sun Coverage
Beyond the Sun
Employees at the Mandarin Oriental hotel, which opens Dec. 4 at CityCenter, are not allowed to point. They must escort guests to their destination rather than simply signaling or telling them how to get there.
This small detail is one of many that Mandarin Oriental executives hope will set a new standard for service in Las Vegas.
Customers who walk into the receiving lobby off the Strip will be escorted to the main lobby on the 23rd floor, where they will be greeted by name. By the time guests have ascended to the 12,000 square-foot “sky lobby,” their cumulative requests and preferences from previous visits will have been retrieved and scanned by the receptionist as well as other employees who can begin preparing for their stay.
Customers who like their shoes polished, clothes pressed and bed linens turned down in a particular fashion can rely on employees knowing that without being asked.
Such standards might sound typical in Las Vegas, which was built on treating the masses — but especially the gambling masses — like royalty. In reality, such personalized service is often reserved for high rollers. The vast majority who stay on the Strip do not visit often enough or spend enough to warrant much special treatment.
All Las Vegas hotels pride themselves on customer service. But that reputation is slipping in the recession as hotels tighten their belts by reducing staff and cutting perks.
For Rajesh Jhingon, who ran the Mandarin Oriental in Singapore before becoming general manager of the Las Vegas property a year ago, customer service is more than an oft-repeated phrase.
“That is the be-all and end-all of our existence,” he said. “It’s about acknowledging and anticipating what your guests want. It is the key to our success.”
In some respects, the Mandarin Oriental has a leg up on the competition.
With only 392 rooms, the hotel will become the smallest luxury property with no casino on the Strip. The Mandarin Oriental, with a center Strip location, will also be more prominent than the Four Seasons hotel next to Mandalay Bay, which has 424 rooms.
The hotel is expected to compete directly with the Four Seasons for guests but might also lure a few customers from the big casino hotels at the high end, said Bill Lerner, a gaming consultant and principal with Union Gaming Group in Las Vegas.
The property may also draw Mandarin Oriental fans who have never been to Las Vegas, he said.
Customers who want easy access to a casino probably won’t stay at the Mandarin or Four Seasons, though it will attract people who seek a hushed sanctuary from the bustle of the Strip, he added.
Mandarin Oriental will also differ from its Strip neighbors in that it will be managed by a global hotel company but owned by CityCenter — a partnership between MGM Mirage and investor Dubai World.
As the landlord and developer, MGM Mirage will not funnel customers to Mandarin. But Mandarin will benefit from the gaming giant’s purchasing power and the balance of CityCenter amenities. In other words, MGM Mirage is expected to spend the money needed for Mandarin Oriental to operate and maintain the property to a high standard but otherwise stay out of the way.
Jhingon declined to comment on specifics of the company’s management contract as well as potential hotel room rates, which are “under consideration.”
The real customer service effort, Jhingon said, happens during the hiring and training process.
Jhingon will meet and interview each of the 600 to 700 people hired to staff the hotel. Hiring began a few weeks ago and will continue into September.
The hotel company’s standards, imposingly collected in a binder titled “Legendary Quality Experiences” and given to every employee, from executive to bellhop, are both concrete and abstract.
Phones must be picked up before the third ring. The hotel must deliver a customer’s bags to his room within 10 minutes and handle guest complaints and requests within 10 minutes.
“There is no 11th minute,” Jhingon says. “We are fanatical about these things.”
Guests also must be pleasantly surprised by some aspect of their stay. Every room service order, even a lowly cup of coffee, must come delivered with some perk — perhaps a giant cookie or a croissant, for example.
“There is no cut-and-dried formula,” Jhingon said. “They are small things and easy for our colleagues to do.”
Like its much larger competitors among the luxury resorts, Mandarin Oriental will have an upscale spa and gourmet restaurants. Each of the company’s 23 hotels borrow some design elements from Asia — where Mandarin hotels originated — as well as the local culture.
(Unique elements in Las Vegas include a pastry shop on the ground floor, a lobby tea lounge, convention space and a spa with Chinese-influenced foot treatments.)
Other aspects of the hotel will be different from the mass-marketed properties along Las Vegas Boulevard.
The pool, for example, will be available only to guests and condominium residents. Guests will not have to pay for the privilege of having a fresh towel placed in their chaise longue if they leave their chair. (The Mandarin Oriental is hiring an employee whose primary job will be to wipe the sunglasses of lounging guests.)
Also, rooms also will feature valet cupboards that will eliminate the need for customers to open their doors to receive newspapers, polished shoes and other items.
“The way we interact with our customers is not defined by a training program. It’s a constant ritual,” Jhingon said.
He then presented a business card to a visitor with two hands, as if showing off a piece of expensive jewelry.
It was a small gesture, but one that might be long remembered.
Another towel at the pool, wiping off sunglasses, providing a guest service card with two hands, calling someone by their name (after you know it), all of this is really eye-popping, cutting edge material.
But, it makes a good point.
MGM Mirage doesn't get it, still, since bundling the strip early under Bush 43. The company wants so bad to establish a brand and identity for itself like Ritz-Carlton in markets abroad, but they want to do it in Vegas with the Las Vegas customer base.
Most people, and "most people" would be the "target market", travel to Las Vegas for a different experience than NYC, or a boutique hotel.
Bacarrat VIPS have special requests, sure. Vegas responds with experienced casino hosts, butlers and concierges that see to those. That's their job, intuitively, because they become familiar with their customer. Most high end guests enjoy seeing the same faces and names among staff with each visit, to build bonds and occasional rapport.
The other 43-44 million (or 36.5 million in 2009)visitors to Vegas don't want overbearing service, they just want what they want when they want it, which is no ritual either. Maybe they don't want a $30.00 buffet (!), or additional charges at the front desk beyond the room rate. They want a room that's been renovated since their last trip in 2000, or 2002.
But, they don't want to be catered up to, they come here to relax, meet other people, and catch the vibe of something much different than back home. If everything in their guest experience looks and feels like work and formality, they are no better off than home.
Bill Hornbuckle put it best in years past, have fun on the job. Vegas is supposed to be a fun place.
And yes, Mandarin is not operated by MGM Mirage, I know. But, their is shared synergy they want to build on, going forward in other markets.
MGM Mirage is trying to carve a niche it doesn't own, and never will in Vegas. The company hires online, has severely stretched departments for cost containment in several properties, turnover doesn't seem to bother them, or laying people off, or hardballing them on things like workers comp, then they roll out the early City Center message about "raising the bar on customer service" to local media four months before opening. Beyond the rolling of the logs....
I am more interested in their next quarterly revpar reporting, which states a lot more about the TOP of the company, not the 23rd floor.
Are they going to be able to provide the same level of "acknowledgement" and "anticipation" in the conference room meetings with City Center condo buyers who have put up escrow.
The employees have been doing their jobs and working hard to provide customer service all along, since January 1994. Their bar has always been high.
Obviously, MGM is pandering to one specific group that has a gambling problem. So the question is whether the whale gamblers will bypass closer areas, like Macau, and will fly all the way to Vegas. Doubtful in the long run. Customer service means nothing if there are no customers....
I'd like to see if this one is as fabulous as the one here in NY. The one here at Columbus Circle has a simply amazing view from the 35th floor lobby lounge, where they charge 17 dollars for a martini, and the check comes on a silver tray. I've always wanted to stay here at this one, but 700 is the cheap night last time I checked. I'm sure Vegas would have to be cheaper these days.
Something tells me that I will never hang out at this place because:
A. I can't afford it.
B. Every employee is going to be stressed out from a phone book sized manual on "Customer Service" which sounds like the perfect way to destroy morale at any business.
C. I can't afford it.
D. I don't own any Armani suits. Or an Aston-Martin.
E. I like pizza and beer.
F. I can't afford it.
G. I know how to have fun, I can even spell Lynyrd Skynyrd. I doubt "classic rock" is an option at an upscale place like this. I doubt "silly fun" is an option at this place. The only laughing you will hear is from the host standing next to a whale and the canned laughter will be flying on every $10,000 hand of blackjack.
H. Did I mention that I can't afford it?
I. Secretly, deep down, I wish I could afford it. But I never will and I won't get a chance to see the place unless it's in a James Bond movie.
J. Screw it. Where's the pizza and beer?
I have stayed at the Mandarin Oriental in San Fransisco and it is service a cut above the rest. It starts with the reservation phone call. On a weekend when business travelers are absent the rates are quite reasonable in comparison to other city hotels.
I stayed at the Mandarin in Hong Kong. All guests were treated like royalty. A large fruit basket in evey room. Complimentary designer soaps, afternoon tea and complimentary cocktails!
I look forward to staying at the new Las Vegas Mandarin!
Gregory: What they're doing can work with 400 rooms. It wouldn't with 4000. And for the markup they'll get on those 400 rooms + the associated revenue (meaning gambling), it'll probably be worth it. This is not the end of the project that will take a bath (that being the condos).
lvdjlv: They didn't build this for your businees. For you the have the Excaliber or Circus Circus.
I think some people here make a good point.
The hotel is much smaller, and is targeting a very small target audience. I'm sure the company would ideally love to pluck people from the strip and have them stay at low introductory rates when they open, but I don't think the hotel needs to do even that.
Where the company will live and die is through their reputation, and some people have already stated this, by experiences in other cities. If they advertise it and promote it to the right people, be it that they are somewhat affluent, they will also talk to their affluent friends about it and help the business.
If you can't afford it, that's too bad, you've acknowledged it, so don't worry about it.
What should be the highlight of this story is that if and I mean IF the company is profitable with this business model, at least they are finding up ridiculous ways to hire employees. Unemployment is ridiculously high, and here the company is, looking for someone whose sole responsibility it is to the wipe off sunglasses?! See another casino try their hand at that.
The goods and the bads of having a good hotel with no casino.
In the end, I say it creates jobs somewhat and tries to bring something different to the plate.
MGM Mirage is going through their employees to try to shape and create the guest they want in Las Vegas, to cover high cost structures.
The back tracking of this business strategy is best exemplified by Joel Rubechon dinners for $39.00.
Regarding Mandarin, yes, it is a small property within a whole, but there is a greater truth here.
When MGM Grand purchased Mirage Resorts, a small company bought a large company. No consideration was assigned to historical differences in the companies both in culture and stragetic mission. Incoming were many executives and managers who brought the Mirage Resorts business strategy for customer experience.
The problem with that is only one person can create the Mirage Resorts customer experience. That person is Steve Wynn. Someday, Wynn will pass, and Wynn Resorts may continue. But, they will not be the same company without Steve Wynn there as a hands-on operator.
So, bringing the Mirage Resorts business strategy is MGM Mirage, without Steve Wynn, is flawed. Today, the company is led by three types of executive. One, those like the CEO who has been in Vegas about a decade, and never had a hotel job in Las Vegas. Two, former Mirage Resorts executives and managers who bring the Mirage Resorts customer experience to the table. Three, remaining MGM Grand executives, who are the minority.
Employees of both former companies have been adrift for a almost a decade, observing no defined culture and loyalty, only a job with a company which has been spending and buying company profits to attract the high end customer Steve Wynn has accommodated for years.
Well, today Steve Wynn still has about the same number of rooms in Vegas with Wynn and Encore that he had with Mirage, TI and Bellagio in 2000.
But, MGM Mirage has a LOT more rooms that 2000, and is still going after the higher end customer because they spent all that money during the boom trying to create an experience for a large base Las Vegas tourist who is probably not willing to pay more in a sustained way, no matter the contritions and upgrades in service and offerings.
The bottom line is Wynn has customer, and MGM Mirage is now looking hard for theirs, with a high cost structure locking them down.
Great comments regarding Steve Wynn and his ability to create a great hotel culture. If only he stayed away from the tip pooling, the man would be flawless.
I just hope that in a time where Las Vegas needs more business that the LVCVA is not going out to waive the flag that Vegas is a luxury high end town again. Noting the rates already out for Aria and Citycenter, they are not being bashful about their pricing in this down economy.
The property is really great and the brand is outstanding. But, LVCVA please dont go out and brag about Vegas being a luxury destination with these high room rates. The town needs to remain a bargain and this type of publicity reaks of excess and that is what has got us in trouble with obtaining groups during this tough year.
Hopefully after they are done training their staff, they can work on a customer service training program for our cab service at the airport! Anyone want a 30 minute wait for a cab to get the long route through the tunnel to the Mandarin?
talk about service, the Mandarin in Bangkok has their elevator greeters memorize every guests floor number and then press the lifts floor button before the guest goes to his/her room. Las Vegas is lucky to have this world class hotel
To LVDJLV....thank you for the laugh.The funny part?....you're right.
Though their rates are not listed yet for Las Vegas...a standard room in NY runs $600-700 a day.I suspect it will be listed within line as a 5 star hotel. So we can rule out the family,the kids,the average joe into pulling a slot.Something the strip needs,really !
If you are a buyer at the Mandarin, please go register for the unofficial City Center Owner Group
http://www.citycentercondodepositgroup.b...
NO SPEAKING, I think they can improve on this and train employees to use Telepathy powers and along with not pointing they can't speak to their guest with their mind.