Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Fall 2013 - (Page 84)

behind the scenes The Locked SuiTcaSe caper I n w h I c h a s u I t c a s e I s c a l a m I t o u s ly s e a l e d s h u t; a f r o n t- d e s k m a n a g e r I s p u t t h r o u g h h I s pa c e s ; a g l o b a l phone chase Is enjoIned; and a happy endIng ensues By An drew SeSSA The Challenge IlluStrAtI onS By GrAnt ShAffer B.L. arrived at The Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common about 8 on a dark winter’s night last year with a serious problem. When the 40-something, Nashville-based businessman retrieved his suitcase at Logan International Airport’s baggage claim an hour or so earlier, he’d found it locked tight, and his three-digit combination mysteriously no longer working. He was due to give a major presentation the following morning, and now his luggage was holding his materials for that meeting hostage — suit and tie, laptop and notes, too. Late for a working dinner nearby, Mr. L quickly checked in and offloaded the offending bag to Alexander Perch, the on-duty front-desk manager. Perch, an affable man in his late 20s, had been on the job three years, having joined the hotel after an early career running restaurants. During his time at The Ritz-Carlton, he had battled language barriers by brandishing an iPad, bypassed UPS and FedEx snafus with a private never-say-no courier service, and run around Boston at odd hours looking for a working fax machine capable of sending a guest’s job contract to Switzerland. Lock-picking, however, was still outside of his skill set, but he was a master of the first rule of guest relations: Don’t let the client see you nonplussed. As Mr. L ran out the door to dinner, Alex remembers him saying, “I can’t get into this for the life of me, but we have to get into it one way or another. I’m leaving it with you.” 84 w w w. r i t z c a r lt o n . c o m http://WWW.RITZCARLTON.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Fall 2013

Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Fall 2013
Contents
Contributors
Editor’s Letter
President’s Letter
Falling in Love With ... Barcelona
Design
Shopping
Beauty
Gifts
Jewelry
Watches
Behind the Scenes
Family
Local Knowledge
Outdoors
As It Was
Culinary
Let Us Stay With You
Heritage

Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Fall 2013