Can High-Touch Hospitality Survive AI? Lessons from a Luxury Hotel Executive

0:00

Welcome back to Under the Brand. I’m your host, Valerie Jennings, and I’m joined by a very special guest today — someone who left a lasting impression on me.

0:08

As we talk about brand experience and luxury brands, and specifically digital experiences, it’s important to remember the human touch of branding, and that is never going to escape us. You might also recall I did an episode about luxury brands that fake it. No joke, you can fake a luxury brand, but you cannot fake a luxury experience.

0:33

Joining me today is Wahi Gurib, who has had an extensive career with luxury hotels and VIP guest experiences. Thank you so much for joining us today.

0:48

Thank you so much, Valerie, for having me, and thank you for the great introduction. And to build on your words at this point: humans are the ones who make hospitality and this industry a success. That’s huge. Thank you.

1:05

It is huge, and luxury guest experiences are even different. Expectations are above and beyond, and probably even more competitive today with social media. Everybody is expecting an elevated guest experience.

1:18

I met you about a year ago, I think, in Napa Valley, a very lovely place. I was attending an exclusive digital AI conference. It was invite-only, with the top CMOs in the country, and you went above and beyond. That’s why I reached out to you for this interview, because not everybody gets it. They don’t understand how to really take care of guests.

1:52

I’m sure this is just a natural human quality that you have, but you also have so much experience. Tell us what makes a VIP guest experience today, and what sets you apart from some of the other luxury hotel experiences in the country.

2:09

I will compare this to when you taste delicious food — what’s behind it is the recipe. What I can say is, I didn’t know you. I didn’t know who you were. I didn’t know you as a person. But what I knew was that you were on my property, and you were walking and looking to go somewhere, or you had a question. The way you looked, it seemed like you wanted directions. If you remember that.

2:33

But I offered right away. As soon as you notice this, don’t put it off, don’t put it away — you need to jump on it and assist that person, whoever they are. You don’t know who they are. Maybe a guest, maybe a visitor of a guest, maybe somebody who is just on my field.

2:56

Right away, I offered the assistance and I offered the help without knowing you. And instead of pointing to where to go, I actually escorted you to where you were going. Because I don’t know how important your time is. I’m not assuming anything — I just jumped in and put myself in your shoes.

3:18

You might be running to a meeting. You might be running late for something. I just need to save your time, and time is valuable in our service.

3:30

Yes, it is valuable, and I greatly appreciated how much you helped me while I was on the property. It was a pretty large property in Napa, and I did have places I needed to go for the conference. And you swept me up in the golf cart. Thank you for that. Saved me on my feet, too.

3:46

So in this era, AI — artificial intelligence — is a big deal. We’re already seeing, at least in real estate, AI robots giving tours. What do you think about that? Do you see that happening in your hotel business in the future?

4:08

Yes, 100%. And it’s happening everywhere. It’s not only in the hotel business, it’s happening everywhere. And we need to adjust ourselves to what is happening around the world and what’s happening around us.

4:23

But the point is, whatever technology is going to do, whatever advanced programs and AI and everything happening around us, at which level are we going to achieve feelings? Feelings. The human being is the one that is always going to be missing.

4:39

Yes, we can work around it. We can work with it. We can take the benefit out of it. For sure it’s helping, and it’s an amazing product and amazing to have. But the human being — the smile, the feeling, the sense, all of that — I don’t think that for many years, no matter how we count the years into the future, you can get that feeling and that humanity from a robot.

5:02

I agree with that. I think, especially in the hospitality industry, I don’t know how you replace it. Maybe for the bad guests you might want the robot — send the robot for the bad guest.

5:10

I watched a video on Instagram this week where robots were actually responding to revenge. A woman was slapping a robot, and the robot was slapping her back. So, not to say we want to assault our guests, but the point is—

5:33

No, no, no. You’re there. Go ahead.

5:35

Sorry, I don’t want to miss this point, because you’re 100% right. There are unexpected reactions from guests. But in hospitality, I personally don’t consider a bad guest and a good guest.

5:51

I consider a guest who follows the policy, and a guest who doesn’t follow the policy. You know what I mean? This is how we can break it down, good and bad. But there is no bad guest. And if you really focus on business and achievements, I love to see this type of guest and turn them around.

6:17

You like a challenging guest?

6:17

I challenge it. Yes. I challenge myself. Okay, he’s upset. He is mad. For sure there is a reason. For sure we did something. For sure something happened.

6:29

Maybe it’s related to the property, maybe it’s not. Maybe he heard something, maybe he got a phone call about his business and he lost something. Things happen. Maybe this attitude doesn’t come from nothing.

6:43

But I tweak it, and I love to challenge this. This is one of the most important pieces, and I love to challenge it and tweak it and turn it around and get to the point. You don’t need to share your personal life with me. I don’t need that. That’s not the point.

6:58

The point is that yes, it’s a challenge, and I take care of you as much as I take care of somebody who is calm and fine and having fun and has no issues. But I challenge them. And I turn them around.

7:16

Yeah. So you’re talking about empathy and intuition, right? And also common sense and years of experience. Back to AI and the robots — they’re not going to be able to do that and respond that way. Even ChatGPT, it is a machine. We can’t expect any empathy or sympathy. It can only give us data-driven feedback.

7:40

Is this years of training and experience? It’s also just your talent. Speaking of which, your attitude is so genuine and sincere. Did you learn this skill? Talk a little bit about your background and how you’ve come up the ladder, if you will.

8:04

Absolutely. I graduated from college in something completely unrelated to hospitality. It was physical education, for four years. After high school I was an athlete, and I was a coach for a team.

8:20

And I got a random call from one of my friends, and he said, “This luxury hotel is going to open, and I know you have time. Would you like to get a part-time job?” That was in 1998. And I said, “Yeah, absolutely, let me try it. Why not? Let’s fill up some time and make some money,” right, at my age.

8:37

And I got hired, and one of the biggest hotels in the Middle East opened. I was a personal trainer. I love sports. I had my team.

8:59

And I learned that I don’t achieve my goal through you — I assist you to achieve your goal with me. It is completely different. Yes, I have goals for myself, but those are for myself. With you, I focus on your goals.

9:13

I had a team, and I learned it from 25 players on my team. I came up with something and thought, oh my gosh, all 25 players, I want them to do the same exact thing, right?

9:29

But it is not the same exact way to teach, because every single person has a fingerprint, and no fingerprints match. Every single person has his own personality, his own way. I need to tweak myself to bring success to every single person. That’s how I get it. That’s how I do it.

9:51

Don’t judge the situation by yourself. Judge the situation by the person in front of you and how he’s feeling — even if it’s small to you or big to you.

9:57

But back to how I started. I started as a personal trainer, then I learned how to be a massage therapist. I came up in management, being a supervisor, being a spa manager, a spa director.

10:13

Then I moved into the field and became the duty manager. And when they changed my role to take me out of the spa and the fitness center to be the duty manager, I learned more. I learned more about front office. I learned more about housekeeping. I learned more about food and beverage. I learned more about restaurants and coffee shops, here and there.

10:39

And then I loved it. I love helping people. This is how it came to me. I love assisting people. I love to challenge myself.

10:48

When I go to bed, I have a couple of minutes to review my day. What happened in my day? What did I do wrong? What did I do right? Was I a little aggressive with one of my co-workers? Oh, I owe an apology. I have to go tomorrow and correct it. Or, no, I was too nice, or I was this, or I was that.

11:04

Always walk with a mirror in your mind, and look at yourself and see the reflection on your life.

11:15

Yeah, you’ve literally started from scratch and worked your way all the way up to the top in this business. What advice do you have for other people who maybe want to enter your field today?

11:29

There’s one huge piece of advice. Right now I’m sitting here in my home. I am the dad, the husband, the father. That’s my personality here. I can go shopping, I can go out, I can go there.

11:43

But right now it’s about 12:00 noon. If I have to work at 3:00, I get in my car and I drive. As soon as I step out of my car and I get to my field, I am the one who represents this company, who works for this company. This is my work family. This is my people.

11:58

Take off all the problems. We all have debts. We all have problems with money. Even if I don’t have a problem with money, maybe my son is sick. Maybe my daughter is upset. Maybe something happened at her college. Maybe something happened between me and my wife. Maybe my dad is upset with me. Maybe I am upset with my brother. Leave all this behind when you go to work.

12:26

Yeah, that’s so hard.

12:26

But that’s the advice. You can start with 2%. Leave it behind by 2%. Then start with 5%. It’s going to improve.

12:38

But keep focusing on this: when you leave work and go home, leave work behind. When you leave home and go to work, try to leave home behind. This one is harder than leaving work behind. But if you consider that your co-workers are your family, it’s going to be equal.

13:01

That’s a really good point. We spend a lot of time with our co-workers, and they are an extension of our family. This advice is perfect — it applies to everybody in every discipline.

13:09

But as the hotel business is evolving, is it more competitive today? Do you feel like there’s a saturation of hotel choices for consumers? And in what you’re talking about, you really are personally invested in the brand. What I’m hearing from you is that you look at yourself as a reflection of the brand.

13:48

Yes.

13:49

And that is such an excellent point, because not everybody thinks about their job that way. Some people say, “Oh, it just pays the bills,” or, “I don’t like the leadership,” or whatever, “and I’m just showing up.”

14:03

But what you’re talking about is what employers really value — when somebody says, “I’m an extension of the brand, and I represent this brand, and I’m going to do the best job because of it.” How do we get that type of feeling? Is that an internal belief that you have, or is that something you’ve been taught?

14:29

We can do this with the secret word of our business: consistency.

14:36

What happens in businesses is that yes, you spend so much money on trainings, you spend so much money and so much time. But I train you on this, and then I leave it and move up. No. Why don’t you go back again? Why don’t you go back to the same point, and then jump up?

14:51

Now it’s like one, two, three. I have three trainings. I train you on one, then I train you on two. But before I’m done with two, I need to go back to one to remind you. Then I jump to three. Then I need to go back to two and one. Then when I’m done with three, I need to always remind you and always be on top: three, two, one.

15:13

How does this happen? Get out of your office. Get on your feet. Stand on your feet. Show them. I cannot teach you what I don’t have.

15:27

I need to show them, right there in person, how I smile, how I greet, how I interact with the guest, what I can say and what I cannot say, what words to use and what words not to use. Because at the end, it is not a friendship.

15:43

At the end it is not a friendship. I cannot say everything, I cannot do everything. But I can be friendly, I can be nice, I can be welcoming. It’s the same thing.

15:51

Imagine I come to your house today and knock on the door, and you open the door for me. You have your hair done, you’re looking so nice, and you open the door and you look so nice. The house is clean, you’re smiling, you’re welcoming me. What is my feeling? I want to step into this house. I want to spend time. I want to stay. I want to come back.

16:14

But if you don’t have your makeup on and your hair looks like you just woke up, and you’re not dressed nicely — my gosh, what am I stepping into? I wish my 30-minute meeting would be done in five minutes, and I don’t want to come back. Does that make sense?

16:36

Yes, it does. It makes a lot of sense.

16:39

Based on what you’ve said, I’m just curious what your answer is going to be: are people the brand, or is the brand the people?

16:47

It is a combination. The brand brought the rules and brought the strategy and the way. But it’s the people who make the brand successful, by following this and by being consistent with it, by doing it, by learning it, by everything.

17:04

Let’s say it’s the same brand in California, and I’m a traveler and I travel overseas and I’m going to Singapore, and I stay at the same brand because I’m a member. What is the expectation? I speak English here. They need to speak English to welcome me, because my only language is English, and they need to welcome me and treat me the same way.

17:33

If they smile in California, they need to smile in Singapore. If they give me eye contact 10 feet away in California, they need to give me eye contact 10 feet away in Singapore. If they start to interact with me five feet away in California, that is the standard.

17:52

This is how I feel that I am in a different country, but I’m in the same place. That’s the brand. Who does it is the people.

18:04

Yeah, the brand cannot succeed without the people, and the people cannot succeed without the brand. Great answer. I agree.

18:11

It was such a pleasure to have you on the show today. I’m so flattered that you made time. I know you’re a busy man, and I’m sure our audience will really appreciate your insights, because it is this human interaction that sets brands apart, and your employer is so lucky to have you.

18:27

Thank you again for all of the VIP treatment that I got when I was a guest on your property. Any final thoughts before we wrap up?

18:43

Yes. Every single guest who steps onto your property is your VIP. Not the VIP investor, not the VIP shareholder, not the CEO of your brand. Every single guest who pays a dollar to stay with you is your VIP. Treat everybody equally, put yourself in the guest’s shoes, and always value their requests.

19:09

Excellent advice. Thank you for that. Well, everybody, you’ve been watching Under the Brand. I’m your host, Valerie Jennings. Thank you so much, and we’ll see you again very soon.

19:22

I appreciate it, and it was nice to meet you, Valerie. We’ll stay in touch. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.