C H A P TE R 2
The Essence of Hospitality
and Service
GIUSEPPE PEZZOTTI
When you think of the term hos-
pitality, many things might come to mind. Perhaps you might think of the
famous pineapple, the legendary symbol of hospitality. Some sources trace
the pineapple’s symbolism to Christopher Columbus, who introduced them
to Europe when he returned from the Americas. Another source says the
native Caribs used pineapples as a sign of welcome in their villages. Most
sources agree that colonial-era sea captains would put out pineapples—a
rare fruit at the time—when they returned from voyages, to share with visitors. This practice established the connection between the pineapple and
hospitality.
Here at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, this symbol embodies the concept of hospitality, as we study and teach the many functions that
go into our industry. In the spirit of hospitality, we have made every effort in
this book to distill what we have learned and what we teach. But before we
focus on what research and practical experience tells us regarding the practice of hospitality, let’s take a moment to reflect on the fundamental purpose
of this industry: providing hospitality.
Let’s start this chapter by considering the meaning of hospitality. I want
to distinguish hospitality from service, even though they are closely related.
Along the way, I also provide quotes showing how many people in our
industry—people who know how to provide great hospitality and service—
think about these terms. Although I draw a distinction between hospitality
and service, I also want to emphasize that the two must go together. To be
successful in this industry you must successfully provide both hospitality and
service.
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The Meaning of Hospitality
Hospitality and service are both distinct and interrelated. Hospitality is like
strategy, whereas service is its tactics. I believe that they both are integral to
every business, and they are fundamental to our industry.
Let’s look at hospitality. The Latin words hospitalitem, hospes, and hostis
(“friendliness to guests”) mean to welcome with warmth and care. Hospital also
comes from that stem, with the concept of caring about human beings who
are ill and in need of support, caring, and love. When I talk about hospitality, I talk about guests, and purposely do not use the word customers. I believe
that the word customer is a less welcoming word than guest, because customer
focuses us on the financial transaction, while guest brings out the full dimensions
of hospitality. Hospitality is an essential value in most of the world’s cultures.
Here in North America, we have formalized the essence of hospitality in the
Thanksgiving holiday, which is based on the concept of caring and appreciation.
The word customer derives from the word customary, and may imply taking
the client for granted. In the hospitality industry, however, we need to greet
our guests or clients with a warm, genuine welcome. Under this circumstance,
we can see that we create an environment that reduces stress and is completely
different from the outside world. Here, we expect a warm and hospitable surrounding with a prompt, proper, expedient, and professionally delivered service.
What Is Hospitality?
“To me, hospitality is the art of making someone feel welcomed, appreciated, and important. It’s conveyed by words, facial expressions, and
body language. During that person’s visit, the art of hospitality is continually reinforced. It’s not a one-time thing. It’s an experience that lasts
the entire course of the visit. I mentioned to you that several decades
ago, one of the restaurant trade magazines asked their readers why their
favorite restaurant was their favorite restaurant. The answers were: hospitality, atmosphere, service, food, and price.”
—Burton “Skip” Sack, chairman and partner,
Classic Restaurant Concept
“Hospitality: We are in the hospitality business. The first thing I tell
people when I define hospitality is that you must be friendly, professional, and be ready to help the guests with whatever it might be.”
—Wolfgang Puck, chef-owner
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“Hospitality is welcoming a person into your environment, such as
your hotel or restaurant, your home, or even your office, and making
them feel warm and secure and that they will be cared for.”
—John Sharpe, former president and CEO of the
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
“Hospitality: To go above and beyond for the guest and be pleasant.”
—Nealy Warfe, waitress (Statler Hotel, Ithaca, New York)
“Hospitality: Graciousness; the art of making people feel welcomed,
comfortable, and at ease, preferably in a seemingly effortless manner.”
—Abigail Charpentier, human resources VP, ARAMARK
Sports, Entertainment & Conventions
“Hospitality: It can be summed up in one word: trust. I trust that you
care about me. I trust that I will be welcome at your hotel (or home
or restaurant). I trust that my experience will be rich and rewarding.
This all leads to me, the guest, being loyal and faithful to you (and your
“brand”). This can only be measured in qualitative terms. I “feel”
your hospitality and measure it with my heart, not my brain.”
—Jim Joseph, President & Chief Executive Officer,
Oneida Ltd.
“Hospitality: The ability to make people feel comfortable in their
surroundings and to connect with them in a genuine and personable
manner. Being courteous and smiling are among the hallmarks of hospitality, as is being genuinely concerned for your guest’s experience and
thinking one step ahead of them at all times.”
—Shane O’Flaherty, president and CEO,
Forbes Travel Guide
“To me, hospitality is to give our guests a sincere and warm welcome;
make them feel important, confident, happy, and comfortable; and let
them share a privileged moment around the table.”
— Chef Daniel Boulud (New York City)
“When I think of hospitality, I think of providing warm, caring, genuine service. I think we need to take care of our guests in a thoughtful,
caring way as if we were welcoming them into our homes. If ever we
come across as aloof, I think we have failed as a hotel.”
—Maria Razumich-Zec, general manager, regional vice president,
USA East Coast, The Peninsula (Chicago)
(continued)
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(continued)
“Hospitality: We strive to consistently deliver a Bloomingdale’s experience
that is both personal and engaging. We want our customers to feel a sense
of community, where fashion and style are always made easy to navigate.”
— Tony Spring, president and chief operating officer, Bloomingdale’s
“Hospitality: Welcoming people, and the customer is always the boss.”
—Greg Suresi, manager of Delta Sonic Carwash
(Rochester, New York)
“Hospitality is foremost the application of the golden rule or treating
others as you would expect to be treated yourself. While largely universal, every country and culture has its own unique expectations as to
how to provide a friendly, welcoming and generous treatment of visitors, which is the essence of hospitality.”
—Michael D. Johnson, Dean, E. M. Statler Professor,
Cornell University School of Hotel Administration
“Hospitality: To make someone feel welcome or providing a warm and
inviting experience to someone.”
—Stephen Weisz, president, Marriott Vacation Club Int’l.
“Hospitality is an extension of the Golden Rule, where you offer whatever is needed for another person, expecting nothing in return.”
—Glenn Withiam, executive editor, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly,
Cornell Center for Hospitality Research
“Hospitality is the art and service is the act of giving. Hospitality is a
sincere and selfless relationship, connection between a host and a guest.
Service is the way the host builds and demonstrates that connection.”
—Deniz Omurgonulsen, vice president, membership,
Leading Hotels of the World
“Hospitality is service with heart.”
—Staci Chen, assistant director of private dining,
Restaurant Daniel (New York City)
“Hospitality: Try to make the guest to be as comfortable as possible.”
—John Hornbrook, dishwasher machine operator
(Statler Hotel, Ithaca, New York)
“Hospitality is the broad concept of making one feel welcome that often
includes all or most of the following: a state of mind, a place, actions,
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environment, expectations including the generation of emotions that
are done in concert and is measured both by delivering the intended
experience and the level of appreciation by the recipient.”
—Arthur L. Buser, president and CEO, Sunstone Hotel Investors
“Hospitality: Try to be the best for the people who come to your restaurant hoping they will come back. You always want to leave a good
impression so they will never forget your place.”
—Sirio Maccioni, Le Cirque (New York City)
“When our team, led by the incomparable impresario Joe Baum,
opened Windows on the World 35 years ago in 1976, we said that our
job was providing legitimate pleasure to people. But in truth it is even
more than that; it is making people feel that you really are bringing
them into your own home and treating them like family.”
—Dennis J. Sweeney, vice president, operations (1976),
INHILCO (World Trade Center Restaurants)
The Meaning of Service
Now, let’s look at service, which has the concepts of being helpful or to be of
use, or offering a favor or kindness. The Latin word servitium, meaning “act
of serving,” demonstrates a creative and encompassing function with many
nuances and subtleties. The result is attention to details, small and large.
When we analyze the words hospitality and service, we can see that they are
interwoven into each other. Under certain aspects, hospitality is the totality
and service is a part of it. Let me share three examples of hospitality, connected with excellent service.
Great Service Means Being Personal
I still vividly remember this encounter. It was August 3, 2009, at 7:30 pm, and
I was traveling on the New York Thruway, I-90. I reached the Seneca rest
stop, not far from Rochester, New York, and I purchased a package of PB&J
sandwich crackers, which cost $1.29. Since I was out of cash, I paid with my
credit card. The cashier took my card and without hesitation said, “Good
evening, Mr. Pezzotti, and welcome.” She then thanked me for my patronage
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and asked if there was anything else she could help me with. Moreover, she
made the point to ask me the spelling of my first name. After such an example
of hospitality and service, she gave me the receipt with her name on the top. I
made a point of thanking her by name ( Judy). What was amazing to watch is
that she similarly thanked all patrons using their credit cards, addressing them
with their last name, and for the people paying cash, she would address them
using Sir or Ma’am. This was quite shocking and special, as I would expect
such treatment at the world’s finest hotels or restaurants, but not at a thruway
stop in the middle of nowhere, for a packet of $1.29 crackers.
Great Service Means Providing Extra Value in Unexpected Ways
A few years ago, I took a group of restaurateurs and hoteliers to visit a
number of restaurants in Rochester, New York. At our first stop, a Burger
King restaurant, members of our group were pleasantly surprised to find a
vase with a bouquet of flowers in the ladies’ washroom, and a small plant
in the men’s room. We had 35 people in our group, but as we ordered our
food, the staff remained polite and welcoming, took the food order expediently, and put up the orders promptly, with no mistakes. All of the group
members were surprised to see such service and hospitality. Though we
never met him, this restaurant owner expressed hospitality and service to us.
No corporate policy required plants and flowers in the washrooms. Instead,
the independent franchisee personally saw to it that this particular Burger
King was memorable.
Great Service Means Having a Personal Touch
In January 1991, I was visiting The Classics Restaurant at the Cleveland
Clinic in Ohio. As I was paying the check after having enjoyed an excellent
meal, I noticed that the maître d’ made a point to call valet parking for my
What Is Service?
“Service: The art of catering to the wants and needs of an individual and
going so far as anticipating those wants and needs. Excellent service is
friendly, helpful, prompt and anticipatory. It exudes warmth and caring
and concern. Sometimes, in high-priced restaurants, service is efficacious
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and professional but lacks warmth and caring. It’s more robotic than
meaningful. Excellent service happens when the customer’s expectations
are exceeded by the experience.”
—Skip Sack, chairman and partner, Classic Restaurant Concept
“Service: Our guests expect great service, which should not be overly
formal or stiff. I like when the service staff is friendly, knowledgeable,
knows the ins and outs of the menu and wine list, and is not intrusive but always with an eye on the table so that before the customer
has a chance to raise his hand, the staff should already be at the table.
Anticipation is important.”
—Wolfgang Puck, chef-owner
“Service is placing yourself at the disposition of others, anticipating
their reasonable needs and freely offering the meeting of these needs,
with integrity and caring, to the best of your ability.”
—John Sharpe, former president and CEO of the Four Seasons
Hotels and Resorts
“Service: Giving guests what they desire.”
—Nealy Warfe, waitress (Statler Hotel, Ithaca, New York)
“Service: To take care of another’s needs; best when anticipated not
asked for.”
—Abigail Charpentier, human resources VP, ARAMARK Sports,
Entertainment & Conventions
“Service: The execution of hospitality. It too can be summed up in
one word: time. If I deliver what I say I’m going to deliver with speed
and accuracy and ease-of-doing-business, I demonstrate that the guest’s
time is precious. Service is measured quantitatively (with my brain).”
—Jim Joseph, president and chief executive officer, Oneida Ltd.
“Service: The ability to engage with guests in a discreet, professional, and
warm manner, to take advantage of each moment one has with a guest,
to interact with them as individuals, and to put the guest before all else.”
—Shane O’Flaherty, president and CEO, Forbes Travel Guide
“When I think of Service, I think of going above and beyond the
expectations of our guests.”
—Maria Razumich-Zec, general manager, regional vice president,
USA East Coast, The Peninsula (Chicago)
(continued)
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(continued)
“Service: Relationships are the cornerstone of our model. Customers
are looking for great merchandise but many times will return because
of great service. Our associates are expected to build their business
through loyal clients who will reward personalized care.”
—Tony Spring, president and chief operating officer, Bloomingdale’s
“Service: Making the guest happy and make sure their experience is a
memorable one.”
—John Hornbrook, dishwasher machine operator
(Statler Hotel, Ithaca, New York)
“Service: The washing of the car and the proper follow-up if the customer
is not satisfied with our service.”
—Greg Suresi, manager of Delta Sonic Carwash
(Rochester, New York)
“Ultimately, service is the ability to deliver a great customer experience either as a solution to a customer problem or to provide an unmet
need. Very few services are new to the world, just new to the company
providing them; otherwise, customers would provide the service themselves. An outstanding service provider allows customers to trade off
money for time or time for money.”
—Michael D. Johnson, Dean, E. M. Statler Professor,
Cornell University School of Hotel Administration
“For if the success of a hotel is dependent upon its kitchens and its table—
as it is—the kitchens and the restaurant in their turn are dependent upon
the hotel management . . . and what is good food if it is not finely served?”
—Cesar Ritz, host to the world
“Service: Doing something for someone else, providing a good, providing an activity.”
—Stephen Weisz, president, Marriott Vacation Club Int’l.
“When it comes to good service, my philosophy is simple: Treat the customer the way you would like to be treated. That means your servers have
to understand what it means to be a customer. In our training, we insist that
all the servers we hire eat in the restaurant they’ll be working in. It’s elementary. The success of our hirees is inherent in their personalities. We can train
someone until they’re blue in the face, but a candidate has to be genuinely
sensitive and caring. Perhaps the distillation of hospitality is ‘caring.’ ”
—Drew Nieporent, owner, Myriad Restaurant Group
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“There is no ‘definition’ for service. No customer is the same, and each
has their preferences of the type of service they want. For example, a firsttime flier appreciates constant attention from our flight attendants. But
the frequent flier prefers to be left alone. Korean Air has a high standard of customer service because we train our employees to adapt to each
individual rather than become a smiling robot. This is not an easy task
because we are not mind readers and the world is our customer. But our
belief in Service Excellence and the confidence and professionalism of our
employees enables us to touch the hearts of our customers every day.”
—Yang Ho Cho, Korean Air chairman and chief
executive officer
“Service: an act of providing a valued need.”
—Arthur L. Buser, president and CEO,
Sunstone Hotel Investors
“Service: All you can do is try your best and put the customer first.”
—Sirio Maccioni, Le Cirque (New York City)
“Service is anticipation, knowing what a guest needs even before he or
she has that thought. Service is not just folding the toilet paper roll into
a neat triangle or asking the diner, “Is everything all right?,” but it is
the sensitive application of attitude and product knowledge being done
in a one-on-one setting, that makes a guest feel informed, comfortable,
and important at the same time.”
—Dennis J. Sweeney, vice president, operations (1976),
INHILCO (World Trade Center Restaurants)
vehicle. As the valet attendant seated me, to my pleasant surprise the car was
already warmed up, and—here’s the thing—my seat position was as I left
it. I still recall that I felt well cared for on that cold winter day. This was an
example of hospitality and service that still remains indelible in my memory.
The Intersection of Hospitality
and Service
I’m sure that you have had experiences like the ones I just described. Clearly,
hospitality and service are not descriptions of a business, so much as they
are innate qualities and special attributes that a person possesses. You cannot
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buy them. You either possess them or you do not. You cannot invent them.
Hospitality comes from inside a human being. In each of these three examples, we see that what makes the difference is the person—and it is the person who has the power to deliver hospitality and service.
My own approach to hospitality includes something I have done since I
started teaching at Cornell University. I have always tried to learn the names
of my students, including their middle name and the city or town they came
from. I see this to be an effort that includes hospitality and service because it
is an expression of warmth, welcome, caring, and service. I consider learning
their names as an expression of this hospitality and service. As human beings,
we place high value and importance to our name. So I feel that it is important for students not to have to repeat their names.
In the sidebars accompanying this chapter, I have shared quotes from people at all levels and in diverse segments of the hospitality and service industries. Most are leaders, but some are simply line staff. From them, we can
learn a lot about their approach to hospitality and service.
After having read and analyzed all of these quotes from the professionals who
were willing and gracious enough to share with me, I think you will see a thread
or pattern of words and thoughts. Before you read those quotes, I must tell you
that each one said the same thing before they gave their answer about what is hospitality and what is service. Each one said, “Let me think about it.” This is important, because hospitality and service are at the heart of our business. Certain words
were often repeated with regard to hospitality, including warmth, friendly, heart, listening, respect, treatment, security, guest, understanding, sensitivity, genuine, memorable, and
unique. A different set of words described service, however, including mechanical,
measured, efficacious, technical, delivery, products, scripted, standards, and anticipation.
Looking at those descriptions of hospitality, we see innate qualities that
are emotional and that deal more with feelings. Even though I believe the
principles of hospitality can be taught, I also believe that it is almost impossible to teach adults to be hospitable if they do not have an internal force
or push that they internalized while growing up. So, even though we teach
hospitality, it remains abstract because it stems in part from emotions.
If hospitality is heavily qualitative, then service is more quantitative.
Service can be scripted and dictated, mechanical and drilled. You can evaluate service more easily than hospitality. Service is repetitive, efficient, consistent, continuous, tailored, customized, and sustainable. Unlike hospitality,
service is much easier to perfect through training, drill, exercise, and continuous commitment. With such practice, service can be taken to the highest
level of technical perfection. But for true excellence, service and hospitality
must combine. One cannot exist without the other.
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What Is the Difference Between
Hospitality and Service?
“Hospitality is the valued way in which we treat our guests. Hospitality
is all about the small details that turn a guest’s ordinary visit into an
extraordinary stay. Extraordinary service is the vehicle by which we
deliver this incomparable experience to the guest.”
—Elizabeth Blau, CEO, Blau and Associates
“My view is that service comes from thinking of the head. Hospitality
comes from that plus intuition of the gut and emotions from the heart.”
—Ted Teng, president and CEO, Leading
Hotels of the World
“Hospitality: Graciousness. Service: Respect”
—Randy Morton, president and CEO,
Bellagio Resorts/Las Vegas
“I believe that hospitality and service are one and the same . . . both provide an umbrella for treating people first of all with dignity and then
giving them an experience that exceeds their expectations. Those expectations vary dependent on the type of product and level of cost, but in all
cases if a person gives hospitality and service as they would like to receive,
they will understand the correct level to provide to the guest. It is always
better to provide a level extra and to provide it in a consistent way.”
—David Hanlon, former president and CEO,
Rio Casino/Las Vegas
“Hospitality is showing others you are on their side. It builds relationship, has a warm feeling, offers flexibility, understanding and comes
from the heart. Service is the technical procedure of doing our work.
It is the transaction; has trained/industry knowledge; is systematized,
competent, and comes from the intellect. Service defines what we do
and hospitality personalizes how we do it. Success results from the integration of Service and Hospitality. Here is the Success Formula:
Integrity ! Service ^ (Hospitality)
I ! S (to the H degree)
H is exponential thus very powerful!”
—Chick Evans, owner, Maxie’s Supper Club
and Oyster Bar (Ithaca, New York)
(continued)
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(continued)
“Hospitality and Service are two sides of the same coin. One is incomplete without the other. Hospitality and Service can achieve the desired
results only when it is done with your heart.”
—Mohan Nair, maitre d’hotel (Statler Hotel, Ithaca, New York)
“Hospitality is the smell of my food; service is the taste of my food.”
—Hamed Suleiman, street vendor, New York City
“One can be taught how to provide technical service; however, a hospitable disposition is innate and therefore cannot be taught. Service is the
foundational element in each touch point of the guest experience (e.g.,
order taking and food delivery in a dining environment or guest check-in
and check-out in a lodging environment). Service can be conducted in a
mechanical manner by a trained service professional, based on procedures
established by management . . . this is the level at which many establishments deliver service and that most people experience as acceptable but
not memorable—therefore, not necessarily worth a second visit. The
guest experience, however, can be enhanced when delivered by a hospitable service professional. Examples include genuinely engaging the guest
in a conversation to ascertain his/her general expectation of the service
experience, which then enables the service professional to anticipate the
guests’ needs, add extra touches and make the guest feel welcomed—
resulting in a more memorable guest experience and increasing the likelihood of a return visit and positive word-of-mouth endorsements.”
—Elizabeth Ngonzi, president, Amazing Taste
“Great service can be scripted and measured; true hospitality is innate,
unselfish, and forever memorable.”
—Marc Bruno, president, ARAMARK Stadiums,
Arenas, and Convention Center
“Hospitality: A clean cab, warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
Service: To take the passenger to the right place quickly.”
—Mikhail Grigoriev, cab driver, New York City
“Understanding the distinction between service and hospitality has been
at the foundation of our success. Service is the technical delivery of a
product— or how well you do your job. Hospitality is how the delivery of
that product makes its recipient feel— or who you are while you do your
job. Service is a monologue—we decide how we want to do things and set
our own standards for service. Hospitality, on the other hand, is a dialogue.
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To be on a guest’s side requires listening to that person with every sense,
and following up with a thoughtful, gracious, appropriate response. It takes
both great service and great hospitality to rise to the top.”
—Danny Meyer, owner, Union Square Hospitality Group
“Regarding hospitality and service: I have always viewed service as a key
element of hospitality. In providing great service to a guest or customer,
the customer feels important, comfortable, special, safe. . . . Being hospitable/providing hospitality includes all of those elements, of course, in
addition to the physical product (room, food, beverage, etc.). Thus my
belief that it is a key subset . . . which can more easily offset deficiencies
in the physical product than the other way around. . . .”
—Ed Evans, senior vice president, chief human
resources officer, Univar
So, as I have said, hospitality and service are two critical concepts that are
unavoidably intertwined. Hospitality and service should work in conjunction
and synchronicity, to borrow from the Sting song, so you can provide a total
experience for the guest. As an example of how a guest experience fails when
either service or hospitality is missing, let’s think about a guest going to a restaurant or else checking into a hotel. Say that our guest receives a most hospitable and warm welcome. But then the food takes forever, or the room is
not clean. The warm hospitality is for naught, because the service side of the
equation is missing. Now let us look at that same guest, but this time the guest
receives a poor, careless reception, because the captain or front desk associate is
busy or distracted. But the restaurant’s food and service are sparkling, and the
hotel room is delightful. Even with that superlative service, the experience is
still poor because the hospitality side is lacking. Much of what you will read in
Quotes on Hospitality and Service
“Why is service so important to your company’s success? The most
obvious reason is that services have come to dominate our economies.”
—Michael D. Johnson, Dean, Cornell University School
of Hotel Administration
(continued)
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(continued)
“Every day you can polish or you can tarnish your image.”
—John Sharpe, president and CEO, Four Seasons,
addressing the 2002 graduating class of the School
of Hotel Administration
“Sometimes doing your best is not good enough; sometimes you must
do what is required.”
—Winston Churchill
“They [nurture teamwork] by recruiting people most likely to be team
players, by modeling teamwork in senior management, by establishing
such high performance standards that attainment requires teamwork, by
celebrating group effort and achievement and minimizing any type of
[prima donna or individualistic approach].”
—Leonard L. Berry,
Professor, author, and expert on customer service
this book involves perfecting service and operations, but remember that hospitality is the factor underlying it all. This is nothing new; the world’s great
restaurant and hotel chains are all founded on this principle.
I end this chapter where we began. As expressed in the following quotes,
we are all in the business of hospitality and service. It is my sincere view that
hospitality is a like a religion, and service is its mantra. You can be selling food
or forklifts and you will still need to provide an appropriate level of hospitality
and service.
While I use many quotes throughout this chapter, I would like to end with
the quote by Ellsworth Statler, the hotel industry leader who was the great
benefactor of the School of Hotel Administration. You’ll hear this quote many
times in the School of Hotel Administration’s halls, it is hung in the school’s
entrance, and you will see it from time to time in this book. “Life is service,
the one who progresses is the one who gives his fellow man a little more, a little better, service.” To that I would add, “and hospitality.”
“Customer service is like taking a bath; you have to keep doing it.”
—Fortune Cookie Wisdom
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