Polle de Maagt 
Polle de Maagt
Story.
The W style might be the closest thing to a hotel style I hate. Flashy, vibrant, a bit too much for a simple guy like me. I prefer hotels like Indigo or Kimpton.
That makes it more credible that I love W’s Whatever/Whenever service.
I was planning my second attempt at the Jordan Trail and would spend one night at the W in Amman to visit a friend. I asked the hotel if they could send part of my food and gear ahead to the Marriott in Petra, so I would not have to carry it for the first two or three days of the hike.
My request went straight to the Whatever/Whenever team. They tried at least three delivery services and asked people in their own team. In the end they could not do it. Shipping food was a clear no for most services.
They still replied in a way I have kept for years (see Automagic). And they added their own tips for buying food along the trail.
What they did.
W made the promise specific. Whatever/Whenever has its own team in every hotel. Guests can reach it by phone, email, social media and a dedicated button on the room phone.
The promise does not say yes to everything. It says: we will try.
Why it works.
Excellent service is the new normal. Saying you have it no longer works. A named promise makes it concrete and easy to test.
It also works when the answer is no. I did not get what I asked for. I got a team that tried hard, told me honestly and helped me anyway. That is what I remember.
Try it yourself.
Give your service promise a name and a way to reach it. Then make sure the people behind it are allowed to try, even for requests nobody planned for.
Take the last request your team said no to. Ask what “we tried” would have looked like, and write that answer down as your new default.
Source: my stay at W Amman in 2020 and my original post of April 2020. Running shoes made with Midjourney.
