Creating extraordinary experiences is what it is all about for the new guest recognition manager at the Elbow Beach Hotel.

Kijean Dill, 24, began working at Elbow Beach in the summer of 2003, returning on each holiday until his graduation with a degree in Hospitality Management from the University of New Brunswick.

During this time, he was named the “Most Promising Young Bermudian in the Hospitality Industry” at the VIP Excellence Awards.

He began his career as a front desk clerk and, in the three years he has worked for the resort, has received two promotions, first to acting front desk supervisor and now to guest recognition manager.

In his new role, he will be responsible for VIP gifts and requests, management of the hotel’s guest history database, promoting the importance of guest history collection throughout the hotel and co-ordinating with all departments to meet the needs of any special guests.

Mr. Dill will ensure all special requirements are attended to — such as obtaining a particular brand of fine Venezuelan chocolates for the wife of a celebrity or that artwork in a room is changed to suit the preferences of a guest that might require a natural, soothing environment in green tones to reflect a Zen-like setting for meditation and harmony.

Mr. Dill told The Royal Gazette that he is incredibly excited about his new role, and looking forward to being the one who takes a guest’s experience from satisfying to delightful.

“And I am loving every minute of it so far,” he said. “It is a really interesting job....

“It is really exciting because it is about providing those unique experiences, but along with that it is about providing wow experiences. What is interesting about my job is that some wow factors that were really great in the past, have become the standard of today. For instance, providing a unique experience consistently to constantly surpass our guests’ expectations.”

He added: “In my role, I deal with our VIP and return guests.

“They could be a celebrity, or in a high political position, or a guest that has stayed with us for a number of times over a number of years.”

Requests can be relatively simple or relatively odd.

“There was a situation where I had to get an oxygen tank for a guest staying with us, so I had to call around to different places,” he said. “Apart from that I haven’t really had too much, but I am sure that as the season begins to pick up, I’ll have a lot more personal preferences coming my way.”

Guests’ food preferences are also his business, explained Mr. Dill. “If I am going through my arrival report and I see a vegetarian, I would contact our head chef and get a standard vegetarian menu put together in the room. And we would say, should they wish to personalise the menu, then we can sit down together to do it.”

Relating to guests by name is another nicety the resort is encouraging staff to embrace.

“My responsibility is to take it one step further, it is not just name recognition, it is their personal preferences, likes and dislikes,” Mr. Dill said.

“It is fun when you are able to delight a guest and hear them say, ‘wow, how did you know that?’, or ‘I had such a good time, we’ll be back’.”