When you ask a guest their preference you get one of two answers: 1. I don't know or 2. I am open to anything.
In my entire career as a concierge this was the one thing that always both baffled me and annoyed me. How can you not have an opinion either way? Why don't you know? Do you ever make decisions? Please come back when you have more information. These are all things that go through my head when I get a guest of this type.
Let me give you an example:
Me: What type of cuisine are you looking for?
Guest: I don't know, something good. We like everything.
That is not an answer! It gets worse though.
Me: There is a great seafood restaurant at XYZ Hotel, they have excellent service and ambiance, would you like me to book a reservation for you?
Guest: I don't like seafood. What else?
Me: Okay, there is also a great steakhouse located at the same hotel.
Guest: We had steak last night.
ARE YOU SERIOUS? You said you like everything and you wanted food that tastes good. Maybe I should start asking what type of cuisine AREN'T you looking for? Let's just cut to the chase.
Moral of this story is, guests will never know what they want so it is important to ask probing questions. Example:
Me: What type of cuisine are you looking for? Steak, seafood, Italian....?
Guest: Well, I don't like seafood and we had steak last night. Italian sounds good.
Me: Excellent, there is a great Italian restaurant at ABC Hotel, they are known for having an excellent lasagna. May I make a reservation for you?
Saves a lot of trouble to make suggestions first instead of asking the guest. In the end it is the concierge who makes decisions for the guest while making the guest feel that they made the decisions on their own.
