Lunden Desmond on The Magic of Hospitality
The Holbrooke Hotel delivers unreasonable hospitality. In fact, it’s downright memorable. General Manager, Lunden Desmond, whose background in Food and Beverage has established a compelling level of dedication for customer service (you know, they type we all remember––way back when) derives her inspiration from William Guidara’s book, Unreasonable Hospitality, which she shares, “makes her cry just to think about.”
Photos by Nalina Kaufman
There’s a silent confidence in Lunden, a long-time employee of Acme Hospitality, the operating business behind both The Holbrooke and The National Exchange Hotels, which seems to mirror the renovated 28-room stay adorned with exposed wood beams, worn-in leather, cow-hide rugs, and the quiet strength of exposed brick walls. Sitting with her in the underground bar known as The Iron Door, I get a sense she’s capable of a historic amount of patience, and that she, like the 162 year-old hotel, is here to stay. “Working in hospitality is an intense job, and more often we’re working when others are vacationing or celebrating. It’s also such an opportunity, because of those same hours, to get it right, and to create a memorable experience where the guest doesn’t feel the intensity of what’s happening behind the scenes.”
Just a few pages into William Guidara’s book and Lunden’s perspective on service comes clear, happy employees make happy guests, and happy guests give us that cry-worthy inner joy that makes Lunden’s passion for service seem supernatural. “Hospitality is a selfish pleasure,” writes Guidara. “It feels great to make other people feel good.” He then goes on to say, “We have an opportunity––a responsibility––to make magic in a world that desperately needs more of it.”
The title of General Manager is not bestowed lightly, but how many can honestly confess to be driven by the job? “We’re so lucky to do what we do for work,” adds Lunden, “and we invest in our people. We’re even willing to take the risk that because of the training and intention we put into instilling our integrity and core values into those we hire, that they might outgrow their positions. But this belief in our team, it translates into the guest experience, it’s the reason we’ve won the awards we’ve worked so collectively hard to achieve. We want guests to arrive at a hotel where joy and service aren’t parts we play, but qualities inherent to our character. That’s the magic we deliver.”
212 W Main St. Grass Valley, 95945
530-460-4078
info@holbrooke.com
