the hotelier

Robert Thrailkill
The Voice of the Customer

Fall 2011

ROBERT THRAILKILL is general manager of the Hilton Palacio del Rio Hotel in San Antonio, Texas.

MPG : What attracted you to the hospitality industry?
Robert: My mother worked for an airline in San Antonio for nearly 40 years. When I was young, we traveled extensively throughout Mexico and I had the chance to see a lot of hotels, visit a lot of cool places and I caught the travel bug.

One day a friend mentioned that the University of Houston had started a new hotel management program so I registered. I started my career as a front desk clerk at the Hilton Southwest when it first opened and I’ve worked in eight different destinations from Boston and New York City to San Antonio, Houston and Dallas. It’s been a wonderful industry.

Tell us a few things about the Hilton Palacio del Rio that our readers may not know.
Most people who have seen the hotel consider it an icon of the San Antonio skyline. Its modular construction was unique when the hotel was built in 1967 for the 1968 World’s Fair. The owner devised the construction technique to complete the building in only 200 working days. It opened on time and is the best example of this type of construction anywhere in the US. I’ve had numerous writers call and ask about how the building was assembled and how it works.

The other thing that people don’t realize is that we operate a small bar on the Riverwalk called Durty Nelly’s. It doesn’t have anything with the Hilton logo on it. Bill Hunter, the hotel’s GM in the ‘70s, wanted the bar to reflect the feeling of a typical Irish pub so, in 1975, Durty Nelly’s was born and has been a popular watering hole at the corner of our hotel for nearly 40 years.

I heard that one of your passions is “The Voice of the Customer.” Tell us more.
It means everything for us.

We look at any and all information that we can get our hands on to see what our customers are telling us about our product. The best example of hearing the voice of
the customer is with our current $27 million room renovation.

Our customers told us that our bathrooms were way too small and, if we were going to spend money, spend it on the bathrooms. It’s easier said than done to change the footprint of our guestrooms because, due to our modular construction, the walls are solid concrete and can’t be moved. We made the decision to gut the entire room, start from scratch and created a larger bathroom, a different type of closet and made the space much more efficient. The outcome has been truly remarkable. Customers who have seen the transformation told us that we
hit a home run.

Another example is an investment we put into the guest room media hubs. With today’s mobile technology, we wanted to do everything we could to maximize its usefulness. You can plug in your iPod and listen to music through the TV speakers and use your smart phone to watch a video on the HDTV.

What comes to mind when you think of “trust” as it relates to business relationships?
Trust is obviously one of the most important ingredients in any successful operation and it all starts with the brand.

Hilton is a name that creates a certain expectation. The brand has done a lot of research that determined that there are basically five pillars of success for any hotel in delivering on their brand promise. One of those pillars is “nourishing” - delivering great food and beverage at a reasonable price. One is about respecting the value of the customer. On every survey, Hilton measures the impressions we are leaving with our customers as valued guests – were they respected, did they feel genuinely cared for.

Trust starts with the brand and then works into the hotel operation. After 43 years of service, our hotel’s reputation is our most important asset. We must deliver every day on the Hilton brand promise and our promise to our customers. If they are meeting planners, are we delivering on the food and beverage experience and ensuring that every facet of their meeting goes flawlessly.

The bottom line is when our customers check out, do they feel that they made the right choice and that we delivered on our promise. That builds trust.

What advice would you like to share with meeting planners that might help them ensure the success of their future meetings?
I have worked in almost every type of hotel and the experience of the meeting starts with the meeting rooms themselves – the quality of the tables, the seating, the lighting – it’s all important. Right now we are designing our future meeting space for 2012. I have been looking at all the criteria – the Hilton criteria and the International Association of Conference Center criteria – to develop what I believe may be the very best meeting rooms in San Antonio.

Planners need to know that they will have meeting space that is focused on the customer experience including the seating, lighting, power outlets for laptops and adequate bandwidth for the Internet. We let the meeting planner take care of the content – the guest experience is our responsibility.

What are your thoughts about the state of the hotel industry and what are you forecasting for 2012?
I’m old fashioned and I believe people want to have meetings and I also believe there are companies out there that are growing. It’s our job to identify those companies and get their business.

I think that 2012 will be pretty flat. We don’t anticipate much growth in San Antonio but election years usually have a positive impact on the economy so hopefully 2012 will be better.

At the end of the day, I think people want to get together to talk about future endeavors. Meetings and travel is something that is somewhat ingrained in who we are. Of course, technology will change the way we meet and the way we promote our businesses, but I believe the future of face-to-face meetings is good.   

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