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
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