Freelance writer Gordon Sumner stepped off the elevator at the Gladstone hotel and glanced at his watch. It was 10:00 a.m. on a Thursday and he was grateful to have had the chance to sleep in late after his 11:30 p.m. arrival the night before. Now the only thing he needed to start the day off right was a hearty breakfast. He headed to the front desk for directions to the hotel restaurant.

"Good morning," the man behind the desk said. "How can I help you?"

"You have a restaurant here, don't you?"

"Yes, we do. In fact, it just received a Golden Palate award from our city magazine."

"Well, I don't know if I'd recognize award-winning food if I ate it, but I would like a good breakfast," Gordon said.

"Then we have just the place for you, sir."

Gordon got directions from the agent and within two minutes he was sitting at a table in a bright, well-decorated restaurant. Looking around, he noticed half-a-dozen other people lingering over breakfast and coffee at nearby tables. From what he could see, the food did look appetizing.

After several minutes passed without a visit from a server, Gordon finally noticed a server walking across the other side of the room. He caught her attention and asked to see a menu. Ten minutes later, he had to flag her down again. Goodness, he thought, the food must be spectacular if this place can win awards despite such poor service.

"Can I help you, sir?" she said as she approached his table.

"I'd like to order breakfast. Could I get a"

"I'm sorry, sir, but we stopped serving breakfast at 9:45."

"Well, then, I guess an early lunch would be all right. I'm starving."

The waitress bit her lip. "Actually, we don't begin serving lunch until 11:15. That's about another hour from now."

It was frustrating to see people still enjoying their meals and to realize he wouldn't be able to join them. "All right," he said without enthusiasm, "could I get some coffee to go, then? Maybe I'll grab a newspaper from the gift shop and just"

She was shaking her head. "I'm sorry, but the register is locked until lunch. We can't handle take-out orders."

"I see," he said, wondering why the man at the front desk hadn't bothered to explain any of this. "So, tell me: where can a guy get something to eat around here?"

"You know, if I were you, I'd take the walkway over to the mall across the street. They have a pretty good food court. "Twenty minutes later, Gordon passed through the lobby on his way back from the mall and his fast-food meal.The front desk agent called out to him, "And was your breakfast award-winning, sir? "No, I can't say that it was," Gordon replied icily as he walked by. The agent looked stricken. "Oh! I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you'll give us the chance to serve you again. "Not likely," Gordon said under his breath as he stepped into the elevator.

QUESTIONS:

1. What actions did the front desk agent take that negatively impacted Mr. Sumner's Stay?
2. How should the front desk agent have handled Mr. Sumner's enquiry about breakfast?
3. What gaps in service occurred in the restaurant on Mr. Sumner's arrival?
4. How should this interaction have taken place in the restaurant?
5. What is guest recovery and how could this situation have been recovered once Mr. Sumner had returned to the hotel and advised the desk agent of his concerns?