Chapter 4: Trip to Vegas

“Dennis!” yelled Sarah from her office.

“Just a sec, please,” came the response from the desk just outside her door. Dennis was Sarah’s executive assistant and was working on scheduling a flight to Vegas for Sarah and others from the office.

A few minutes later a diminutive man with a balding head in his forties burst into Sarah’s office.

“Finally,” he exclaimed. “I found a flight that seemed like it had enough seats for everyone, but the travel department was balking at putting us all on the same flight. I don’t get it? It’s not like we’re the president and vice president of the United States!”

“It’s OK. You just answered my first question. What about the hotel?”

“I know you prefer the Deermont, but the executive suite is booked. A shiek, I think, is in town for the week. The executive floor at The Five Peaks was free. It’s newer, and after they botched your last stay, I think they are eager to have you back to prove they’ve got their shit together.”

“You’d think as the President of Hotels they would have figured out how to perform a simple turn down service when the guest, me, was not in the shower. I can’t help but wonder how other guests are treated?”

Dennis’ lips curled in a smile even though he tried to hide his reaction.

“We’ve seen the guest ratings on checkout continue to improve each month for the past two quarters. I think it is safe to say your experience was an honest mistake.”

Sarah was not convinced. “Aren’t staff that work the executive floors supposed to have a minimum of five years experience? How does that kind of ‘honest mistake’ happen?”

“Even the most polished and seasoned employees can have a bad day. I think the daughter of the gentleman in question was in a car accident that morning and he was a bit scatter brained. Remember, he did send a handwritten letter of apology.”

“I know,” Sarah said, resigned. She changed topics, “When is our flight?”

“Tomorrow morning. 7:02 AM. A car will be at your door by 4:30.”

“Really, that early?”

“Afraid so. It will take almost thirty minutes to get to the airport, and then you have to get through security. Even with a first class ticket it can take over half an hour. Luckily, the first class lounge is only two gates away. You’ll be able to wait there until boarding begins.”

“Got it, thanks. Great job, Dennis, on pulling this together at the last minute.”

“Of course, anything else?”

Sarah said, “Yes. Touch base with Elaine. Tell her to take out the slides regarding the extra benefits we’re proposing. She can talk about them verbally, but let’s not put it in writing just yet. If there is push back, or we need to modify them, we can say it was a verbal miscommunication without having it documented in a presentation.”

“Anything for Clarence?”

“No, I just spoke with him earlier this afternoon.”

Dennis nodded. “OK, then get out of here before too long. It will be a short night. We’ll see you at the airport tomorrow morning.”

“Yep,” said Sarah as she returned her attention to the handful of emails that had arrived in the few minutes she spoke with Dennis.

The trip to Las Vegas was uneventful. One of the limos used to transport VIPs to and from the Argonne hotels was waiting for them at the airport. It collected and delivered them to The Five Peaks where waiting valets collected their luggage and whisked it off to their rooms without instruction. The manager of reception waited inside and personally checked in Sarah.

“I’m glad you chose to stay with us on this trip, Mrs. Ooverest. Please let me know if you need anything during your stay.”

“Of course, thank you,” Sarah peered at the name tag, “Lindsey. It’s quick trip, but I’ll let you know.”

A man in a lightweight sports coat with a bright green tie appeared to Sarah’s left. He was the executive manager of The Five Peaks.

“Sarah! Other than having to get up at the butt-crack of dawn, how was the flight?”

Sarah turned and smiled. “Evan, good to see you. The flight was early morning, yes, but it was on time and there were smooth skies. Pretty much all you can ask for these days.”

Evan saw her eyeing his tie. He shrugged. “A gift from my daughter. She just turned thirteen and wanted to give me something I could use at work.”

“Understood,” said Sarah, “but you may want to have a couple alternatives stashed in your desk, depending on who you are meeting.”

“Got it,” Evan said with a grin. “The others arrived about twenty minutes ago. I told them you may want to go to your room for a quick refresh before meeting. Top of the hour work for you?”

Sarah looked at her watch, then at the others that flew in with her, “You guys good starting at 10:00?”

Everyone agreed. Sarah told Evan, “Let’s plan on 10:00. Are we in The Alps again?” The business side of the hotel named their conference rooms after various peaks or mountain ranges.

“Yes. I’ll tell everyone you’ll be ready in about forty minutes.”

Sarah and her small entourage found the elevator that would take them to the executive suites. They found their luggage already in their rooms and spent a few minutes making calls and checking email. A few donned fresh shirts. Everyone met at the elevator to find The Alps together.

When Dennis opened the door to The Alps everyone stood and welcomed Sarah with handshakes or waves. She took her place at the head of the table and surveyed the room. The executive manager from each of Argonne’s five hotels in Vegas sat around the table. Executive assistants and assistant managers sat in chairs around the perimeter of the room. In total, there were over thirty people in the room.

Sarah started, “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for making the time to meet on such short notice. I know how much of a hassle a last-minute schedule change can be and appreciate the effort it took.”

“As many of you know, I was in a review with Richard last week. He explicitly asked about our progress in restaffing the hotels after the pandemic. I explained what actions we have taken, and what results we have obtained, and not surprisingly, he wants more.”

There were blank stares from everyone around the table. In reply, Sarah picked a manager.

“Ken, your hotel was called out in the latest edition of Around Town that was published last week. There were suggestions of an unclean, and even unsafe, work environment. What’s going on that the author would walk a dangerous line of getting sued if there wasn’t some truth to the allegation?”

Ken stopped fidgeting with his pencil and sat upright in his chair. He put his elbows on the table and practically yelled, “I have NO FUCKING CLUE as to why that fucking reporter has it out for The Kingsman. I run a tight ship and there are no unclean or unsafe conditions in my hotel.”

There was a stunned silence around the table. One of the other managers eventually said in a quiet voice, “Come on, Ken, Sarah doesn’t curse or yell at us. Show her the same courtesy.”

Ken muttered an unfelt apology and did not break his stare. He finally sat back in his chair and took a deep breath, followed by a long sigh.

“I don’t know. The author of that article is new to town. He clearly doesn’t know my family’s connections to Old Vegas. I don’t think an old-timer would risk alienating my family in that way, even now that we are owned by Argonne.”

Sarah shifted her gaze. “Jill, your hotel has also received bad press recently. Same thing?”

“Similar,” answered Jill. “It is online, the web only, and not printed, and a different author, but on a well-known website that tourists tend to find when looking for things to do and places to stay in Vegas. Skirts the edge of defamation, but gets across his belief that there are issues at the hotel.”

Sarah looked at each in turn. No one offered any further commentary.

“Everyone knows the score. Overall, our occupancy rates are on the rise. The customer satisfaction numbers are high across the properties. The value per dollar ratings are high from ratings of guests in the past twelve months. The biggest drag is from Ken and Jill’s properties.”

Before either could protest Sarah held up her hand.

“My guess is that the issues are not of their making. There seems to be an external source publishing negative facts to bring down their image.”

“So what do we do?” asked the manager who corrected Ken’s earlier outburst.

“First, find the source of these author’s articles. Ken, you have connections in town. Use them. Find out where this is coming from.”

“Second, our signing bonus program helped in the short term. Let’s reevaluate it. Make it a bigger overall bonus, but base it on longevity. Give a new hire a couple thousand dollars. Half is given after three months, then the other half after six. To further incentivize new hires, let’s look at a program that gives a new hire three thousand dollars after their first year. They can cash it out, or leave it in the bank and after two years it is five thousand. Let it grow each year until it caps out at twenty-k in fifteen or twenty years. Each year they have a one week window to cash it or leave it. If they don’t make it to the next year, they get nothing.”

Heads were beginning to nod from each manager around the table.

“And third, if I remember correctly, in our last meeting there was talk about a mid-level staffing manager at a competitor getting screwed by her boss?”