Each year, as summer gives way to fall, I find myself in a place that seems perpetually hot, Phoenix. No complaints: The Lodging Conference is one of the “must-be” stops on the hotel industry conference circuit. And while I always soak in the sun and knowledge, this year, the two biggest things I learned came outside the confines of the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge.
Introvert or extrovert is not always a binary choice. One can occupy that liminal space between “Hi, let’s talk!” and “Where’s the nearest escape route?” This is a tale of the two.
Upon arriving at Phoenix Sky Harbor, after a five-hour, middle-seat flight, I did what many do: tapped the Lyft app. But at the arrivals curb, people seemed more interested in something other than their ride. Waymo, the Alphabet-owned robotaxis, is ubiquitous in cities including Phoenix, L.A. and San Francisco and just closed a $5.6-billion funding round to expand beyond.
For the uninitiated, these are driverless cars, like a player piano, if you will. It must take a modicum of moxie to climb into the backseat of one of these, but for the intrepid, the idea of a ride without idle chit-chat may just outweigh the risk! Here’s the catch: sometimes having a human around isn’t all that bad. In this instance, the gentleman who booked the Waymo was having trouble accessing the car. It turns out, the trunk—despite him slamming it repeatedly—wasn’t closing properly, which meant the doors would not open. Finally, after repeated attempts against ogling bystander eyes, the robot was satisfied and the doors opened. Off he went, but I couldn’t help but think: A human driver would have just saved him 10 minutes of time and consternation.
Meanwhile, a reminder that humans (in hospitality) still matter. There’s a restaurant called Culinary Dropout, which, despite the name, has good food and drink. Close to where I stayed, I dropped in one evening for a bite and beverage. Of the latter, I take pride in being a refined tequila drinker, not a rah-rah Jose Cuervo guzzler.
On occasion, asking the waiter or bartender for a list or recommendation of an additive-free tequila is met with bewilderment and a response of: “We have Casamigos,” which, apologies to George Clooney, is swill, at best. Imagine, then, my astonishment when at the bar I not only was given a rundown of all their tequilas but also the ones that were additive-free. After she ticked them all off, I said: “Wow, most can’t do that.” Her response: “I’m the bar manager; I better be able to.”
The person who might not care what tequila he or she drinks could be Waymo’s target market; the person who prefers a taxi or Uber, he or she might be a Culinary Dropout customer. Reductive, certainly, but pushes my point: In the realm of hospitality, there is room for “human touch” and there is space for “do-it-yourself.” In our business, the hotels that can cater to both seamlessly will be the ones that ingratiate a loyal, happy customer.
I’ll drink to that.
