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This evening, I attended a BASES mentorship banquet at the W Silicon Valley hotel in Newark. The W is Starwood’s contemporary, youth-focused brand; the atmosphere in the hotel was trendy and chic.

Despite the yuppie overtones, I had a fantastic experience in this hotel. It may seem silly to praise it when I didn’t actually stay the night there, but I am a firm believer in first impressions, and these were praiseworthy indeed.

The event began with appetizers; fruit and cheese plates were laid out, and the banquet service staff circulated throughout the room bearing hors d’oeuvres. As one server offered me ceviche, crab cakes, and chicken saté, I had to decline repeatedly; as most of you know, I am a fairly strict vegetarian. I was more or less resigned, therefore, to filling up on fruit, cheese, and bread.

Moments later, however, the same server returned with a new plate, tapped me on the shoulder, and said, “Sir, you’re vegetarian, right? Here we have some spanakopita you might like.”

I was shocked. At no time had I ever expressed any specific dietary preference to this woman; I had simply declined each of the items she presented. She guessed from my choices, my continued consumption of other items, and probably my ethnicity that I was likely to be a vegetarian. While this may not seem to be an extraordinary logical leap, the fact that this server made the effort to deduce my preference and came and found me in a crowded room was extraordinary indeed.

Not much later, we discovered that they were serving Chinese food for our group in the next room. Though there were no formal place settings, it seemed to be dinner, so I decided to check it out. I asked the sous chef, Adam: “could you tell me which items here are vegetarian?” Predictably, he pointed to the spring rolls…and only the spring rolls.

What happened next surprised me. “I’m sorry about that,” Adam offered. “But you know what? I’ve got a fresh pan down here that hasn’t touched any meat, some veggies and some sauce — I can sauté them up for you in just a minute.” I was very impressed by his offer and graciously accepted, pledging to return in a few minutes.

That alone would have been enough, but this thoughtful sous chef had more in store for me. I came back as promised, and he said to me, “I have a surprise for you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I went in the back and pan-fried some tofu for you. I’ll throw that in with the veggies and you’ll have a nice, hot dinner.”

I thanked Adam multiple times, and I meant it. In twenty-one years I have never once encountered people who were so eager to accommodate my dietary preferences. The W staff really outdid themselves.
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In a business, culture is everything. I don’t have to stay the night at this hotel to know that it would be a phenomenal experience (assuming I could afford it). I feel confident in saying that the courtesy and go-the-extra-mile attitude of the staff members I interacted with today were indicative of a pervasive approach to running this hotel shared by all employees. Their creativity and proactivity are worthy of emulation by any customer-facing business.

The people I met understood that finding any way possible to make the customer happy isn’t just being nice, it’s forming a lasting relationship that has real economic value. Kudos to the W Silicon Valley for remembering that service really does matter.