I want to share with you an experience I had during my recent trip to Los Angeles for Global Traveler‘s GT Tested Awards party. To me it exemplifies truly outstanding service: gracious, generously offered assistance when none was sought but gratefully accepted.

GT‘s senior vice president, Richard Evans, was staying at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills and graciously hosted the magazine’s editorial staff to lunch at the hotel’s open air rooftop restaurant. The hotel opened in June 2017, and everything was bright and lovely. We enjoyed our meal enormously, especially backed by the stunning 12th-floor, 360-degree views over the sunny and warm L.A. basin. After coming back to earth afterwards, literally and figuratively, my colleagues and I stepped outside to await our Uber pick-ups.

We chatted as we checked our phones, and I quickly realized from the map that my driver missed the entrance to the circular courtyard in front of the hotel at least twice. One of the valets nearby heard me note that my driver seemed confused, and he stepped over and asked if I would like him to call my driver and offer tips and landmarks to find his way to us. I gladly accepted his help, and he made contact and gave directions. As he handed my phone back to me, he explained that the hotel’s relative newness and location (at the corner of Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards, with one-way lanes and confusing driveways) made it sometimes difficult for drivers unfamiliar with the site to find their way in.

We continued to chat and check the progress of my ride, and in the process he clued me in to a feature of the Uber app that I was unaware of: the ability to schedule a ride (up to days) in advance. Although he could have stepped aside to assist other guests once he’d communicated with my driver, he stayed nearby and saw me into the car once it (finally) pulled up.

Everything about this interaction left me feeling good, so much so that it stands out even above the lovely views and meal I’d enjoyed. This young man (I’m embarrassed that I didn’t get his name) was alert to the fact that he could offer assistance that would help me (though technically unrelated to the hotel), made the offer and efficiently provided help without fuss, and made me feel that he was truly happy to do so. His gracious and easygoing manner put me at ease, I gained some new and useful information, and I never felt I was a bother or an imposition on his time or duties. That, my friends, is what outstanding service is all about!

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor