I'm AP and visit at least twice a year! I've never had a room upgrade. Or the best server at Strongwater.
I think your Loews Gold Medallion status is something I need to look into...
Strongwater task is easy. Just ask for 'Maggie' as your server. She works Monday through Friday. Mention you're a friend of the guy that wrote a letter to the Loews CEO about the great service she and Carlos provided. She'll know...and appreciate......
This is probably a good time to repeat a story I told in the past. And it's a reflection of how strongly Loews regards their guests' experiences. Most corporations put a lot of weight into customer feedback through things like letters and phone calls, much more than surveys even, since it takes effort for a customer to do that. Often promotions and pay raises (and the opposite) are strongly influenced by positive, or negative, personal feedback initiated by a happy, or unhappy, customer, and the response from the manager/executive/employee.......So, yes, customers make more of a difference than some would expect in the business world........A few months after Strongwater opened, we stayed at Sapphire, and ended up eating at Sapphire three times on that trip. The first two times we had Maggie as our server, and to be completely honest, we received the very best service I've ever experienced in a restaurant anywhere....and I'm fairly old, so I've been around. The third time in, Maggie was so enthused to see us again, she said she wanted us to meet someone. She left and brought Carlos (Manager/Chef) over to table. He sat down with us and spent more than 15 minutes talking to us about what his plans were for the restaurant/bar/food. He kept thanking us for the repeated visits. After we finished the meal, we went out and sat on the outside deck with our Tavern Grogs. Soon, Carlos and Maggie approached. He had whipped up a special complimentary dessert for the two of us, Banana's Foster, that was not even on the menu. That was so refreshing to get such sincere service from the two of them.....When I arrived home, I looked up the name of the CEO, Mr. Tisch, and sent him a nice letter about the great service, and the new bar/restaurant. He had been in retirement as CEO, but came back because his successor had pursued a profit only guest be damned policy that was ruining the company's bottom line and hurting the image the Tisch family had made over the years. Well, he answered my letter, not with a standard secretary typed letter, but a 'handwritten (cursive of course) letter thanking me for my response. He added that that's the way he wanted his executives/managers/employees to treat Loews guests. He stated that he was going to distribute my letter to all of his executives and hotel managers telling them that is the way they were to treat Loews guests, and he was directing that the letter be read at all employee staff meetings. .....The next vacation we stopped at Strongwater. Maggie and Catrlos came over to us and thanked us for the letter. Maggie had been named 'Loews Employee of the Month' and the letter was read at their employee meeting......Now, that's the way a corporation should be run. He has since retired as CEO, but one of his family members is the new CEO.
.....One of the many reasons I have the highest respect for the Loews signature and managed hotels.....and probably the prime reason I still visit
Universal often.
Lesson: People, as a guest at most businesses, can make a difference if you make a special effort (not just an easy survey) to contact the top executives/managers and make your experience known with a phone call or letter.