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Select Starwood Team Gives U.S. Grant the ‘White Glove’ Test Ahead of Grand Opening

Cost of construction, furniture and fixtures at the newly renovated and refurbished U.S. Grant Hotel: $54 million.

Cost of hiring, training, outfitting staff and making sure everything is running smoothly: $6 million.

Guest satisfaction: worth all the money.

Two weeks before the 270-room historic hotel reopened Oct. 17, some 300 employees began training under the tutelage of Starwood Resorts & Hotels Worldwide’s executives to operate a Luxury Collection brand, including a three-day seminar in the San Diego Convention Center.

While contractors and decorators were putting the finishing touches on the hotel, the new hires, including front desk clerks, chefs, bartenders, waiters, waitresses, chambermaids and bell desk clerks were put through their paces in a variety of simulated events, from teas and meeting breaks to gourmet dinners and banquets for up to 100 people.

They rehearsed for typical and not so typical scenarios, such as the guest who shows up without a reservation on the books, or one who brings a 40-pound dog.

For members of the “pre-opening assistance support team” as they’re called, including Arno Pfeffer, whose regular job is front office manager at the Sheraton New Orleans , one of Starwood’s brands , staying at the U.S. Grant was an opportunity to play tourist. But his role was more work than play.

Pfeffer was one of roughly 70 Starwood managers and executives, including the “new builds and transitions team,” who came and went throughout the two-week period.

His task: give the “white glove” test to the rooms he stayed in , different ones nightly , and fill out a punch list of what needed to be fixed, added or changed, including furniture, artwork and fixtures.


Draining Work

“We check things like the faucets, whether there is running water consistently, if it’s the right temperature and if the drains are draining,” Pfeffer said.

On his first day as a pretend guest, Pfeffer found one potential problem. The numbers for the in-room phones connected to the PBX system had been incorrectly assigned. So if an operator tried to dial his room, the phone in another room would ring. Had the situation not been discovered until opening day, guests could have been incommunicado, as far as the front desk was concerned. Not good.

Although doing punch lists for the U.S. Grant was much the same as a newly built property, Pfeffer noted a few differences. For instance, most modern hotels don’t have large windows in the bathrooms. But the U.S. Grant’s are tinted on the outside and have pull-down shades, so guests aren’t likely to complain about privacy.

The main lobby of the downtown property is also much larger than most modern hotels, and has been redesigned to provide a social atmosphere where drinks can be served. So one wonders what would happen if someone spilled a glass of red wine on the custom-designed, hand-loomed silk and wool carpet imported from Asia by ship because it was too big to haul on a plane and covers most of the area.

“Not to worry,” said Mark Dibella, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing. “Starwood Luxury Collection has a special division to deal with carpet cleaning.”


Fairly Smooth Transition

Eduardo Fernandez, who is based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and director of new builds and transitions, was in town to personally oversee the opening. He said all had gone rather smoothly, save for the fact that the hotel’s parking garage and new exterior sidewalk would not be finished until a day or so ahead of time.

“Two weeks ahead would have been ideal,” he said. The sidewalks were poured and finished just before rains began in downtown the night of Oct. 13.

To the uninitiated, it looked like a daunting, if not impossible task for the U.S. Grant to be up and running by the grand opening.

On Oct. 12, workers were still unloading palates at the porte-cochere since they couldn’t drive up into the unfinished garage.

The elevators were idled while the fire alarm system was being tested throughout the day and the freight elevator, although operational, would kick off when it was overloaded.

Yet furniture and plants were being carried in and placed throughout the lobby. Artwork , some $6 million worth , was being arranged and crews atop tall ladders were hanging crystals from chandeliers, one at a time.


Tough Job

A veteran hotel executive, Fernandez has been in his current position for two years and knows how to troubleshoot.

“Things don’t get easier,” he said. “But you learn how to foresee challenges and that eliminates a lot of headaches.”

Good thing. Starwood has 21 new projects lined up for the next four years.

On Sunday, Oct. 15, about 300 members of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, which acquired the hotel in 2003, assembled in the grand ballroom to say a blessing.

The Sycuan Tribal Development Corp. owns the Sycuan Resort and Casino in East County, as well as what was formerly the Singing Hills Country Club. It was involved in the development of the Hotel Solamar in downtown, which recently changed hands.

Danny Tucker, the tribe’s chairman, said he doubts another corporation would have invested as much as Sycuan in the U.S. Grant, particularly a firm looking for a quick return on investment.

“But we’re looking for a long-term investment, with no plans to sell,” Tucker said.

Would the tribe consider buying another hotel?

“Not now, but we’ll never say never,” he said.

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