Opus Hotel’s Blog

Written by Daniel Edward Craig

The Olympics come to a city only once in a lifetime, and Vancouver was lucky to enjoy a perfect confluence of spring-like weather, an unexpected surge in patriotism and enough gold medals for Canada to break the world record.

About 250,000 people visited the city during the Games, and judging by the herds that streamed past Opus day and night, every one of them made it into Yaletown. The hotel was a hotbed of activity, enjoying a full house of awesome guests from Alberta to Australia.

The hotel kicked festivities off early with the Podium Party on February 9 co-hosted by Tourism Vancouver. Among the media personalities, celebrities and athletes in attendance were Olympic gold medal pairs figure skaters Jamie Salé and David Pelletier and gold medal rowers Jake Wetzel and Ben Rutledge. Making a rare appearance were the fictional characters that inspired Opus Hotel’s lifestyle décor schemes—Mike, Billy, Susan and Pierre—who performed slice-of-life scenes to showcase our stylish guestrooms. (In typical fashion, diva Dede was a no-show). 

Gold medalist Jake Wetzel tests bounciness of Opus beds with 24 Hours reporter Michael Schratter and virtual resident Billy

Friday, March 5, 2010 | Comments (0)

Written by Daniel Edward Craig

With the 2010 Winter Olympic Games due to start in Vancouver this Friday, I decided to pay a surprise visit to Opus Hotel to check in on frantic last-minute preparations. I didn’t exactly find what I expected!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010 | Comments (2)

Written by Daniel Edward Craig

People often corner me at social functions to tell me about a problem they’ve had in a hotel. It doesn’t matter if I’ve never worked for the hotel or the incident occurred seventeen years ago; apparently, it’s my duty to listen. Sometimes I get the impression they think I’m somehow to blame.

I don’t mind, though. Bad service stories are fascinating. But often, as I hear the teller describe how the entire hotel staff conspired to ruin her stay, I see a different side. I see employees trying to help, and I see guests getting in the way. And I can’t help but think that if travelers had a bit more insight into how hotels worked, they’d have more time to enjoy their trips. And I’d have more fun at cocktail parties.

To that end, I thought I’d share a few insider tips on what to do when things go wrong in a hotel.  

Should you complain? Probably. Hotels need to know if you’re dissatisfied; it gives us a chance to turn things around for you and to fix things for future guests. But if you set expectations the hotel can’t meet, such as a harbor view in a prairie hotel, resist the temptation to shift the blame. The best way to avoid unpleasant surprises is to check out online reviews before you book. They’ll give you the real story, warts and all. (more…)

Wednesday, February 3, 2010 | Comments (5)

Written by Daniel Edward Craig

After a sleepy year, the hotel industry in Vancouver and Whistler is about to get a blaring wakeup call. From February 12 to 28, the 2010 Winter Olympics are expected to draw 250,000 spectators, plus top athletes, foreign dignitaries and international media. Hotels are now sold-out for sixteen consecutive nights.

Given the sheer volume and related security concerns, suppliers to the Games will face a number of logistical challenges. Hotels have the added stress of being a twenty-four-hour operation. That means long days and lots of overtime for staff, who may be reluctant to waste what little downtime they have battling traffic to get home and back again.

Typically, when employees work back-to-back shifts hotels put them up in a guestroom for the night to ensure they’re perky for guests in the morning. But with visitors now fighting over scraps of private homes, campgrounds and RV parks, that won’t be an option during the Olympics. Nor will crashing at a friend’s place. Spare rooms, sofas and inflatable mattresses will be taken by out-of-town friends and relatives. Or paying strangers. The demand for accommodation has brought new meaning to the term “Go for the gold!” Employees who do make it home might discover that their enterprising spouse has rented out their side of the bed to a small Norwegian family. (more…)

Thursday, December 31, 2009 | Comments (1)

Written by Daniel Edward Craig

In 2007, a traveler wrote the following review of Opus Hotel Vancouver on TripAdvisor: “The GM who thought he was Ian Fleming was a real detriment to a great trip. Shame – let’s hope the hotel sees sense and releases Daniel to make another movie.”

Ouch. The comment was a reference to my James Bond namesake and my secondary career as a mystery novelist, but nonetheless I was baffled by it, having no recollection of any guest encounter that would have provoked a public cry for my dismissal. Since the review was anonymous, we had no way of contacting the guest to find out what went wrong. Because it was a personal attack that offered little useful information, we asked TripAdvisor to remove it. But they refused, and it remains there today. Sometimes we hoteliers have to set aside our professionalism and say, “Whatever”.

In my last post I wrote about online travel reviews from a hotelier’s perspective. This time I take off my hotelier’s hat to poke some fun at online reviews from a traveler’s perspective. (more…)

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 | Comments (3)

Written by Daniel Edward Craig

A few years ago at Opus Hotel Vancouver we relocated a couple who had driven up from Washington state to celebrate the husband’s fiftieth birthday. It was a nasty thing to do, but it happens in the hotel business, more frequently than most travelers think. Like the airlines, hotels overbook when demand is high, banking on a few no-shows, and occasionally we get caught with our pants down. Unlike the airlines, however, we don’t broadcast an oversold situation to a holding lounge full of travelers. We handle relocate situations discreetly, one-on-one with travelers, and typically no one is the wiser.

Or so that used to be the case. Social media networking has brought issues that used to be handled quietly between hotel and guest out into the open for the scrutiny of all. In this case, the couple retaliated by posting a bitter review on TripAdvisor and two other travel review sites. Their account of the incident was mostly accurate, something we hoteliers appreciate, although they declined to mention our many efforts to make amends. We would have preferred they hadn’t taken their grievance public, but we screwed up, so fair game. (more…)

Tuesday, October 20, 2009 | Comments (7)