Conrad Hilton Quotes

1. Charity is a supreme virtue, and the great channel through which the mercy of God is passed on to mankind. It is the virtue that unites men and inspires their noblest efforts.

2. There is a natural law, a Divine law, that obliges you and me to relieve the suffering, the distressed and the destitute.

3. The practice of charity will bind us.. will bind all men in one great brotherhood.

4. Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit.

5. As the funds you will expend have come from many places in the world, so let there be no territorial, religious, or color restrictions on your benefactions, but beware of organized, professional charities with high-salaried executives and a heavy ratio of expense.

On the qualities of a hotelier -

A hotelier is a person made up of the usual chemical compounds ordained by nature, but most have a personality and many virtues the average mortal does not possess. The hotelier must have the diplomacy of a Kissinger, the social grace of the Queen Mother, the speed of a Concorde, the smile of a Greek God, the patience of a saint, the memory of an elephant, the thick skin of a rhinoceros, the strength of an Atlas, the staying-power of a mother-in-law, the fitness of a centre forward, the grooming of a duke, the voice of an Olivier, the eye for profit of a Vestey, and last but not least, the hotelier must have a love for humanity, for humans show their worst side when they are tired and hungry. Being gracious to guests as well as to associates shows a mastery of the art of hospitality.

Albert Elovic

On employee motivation -
In a 1987 survey of the motivational attitudes of hospitality and tourism workers, employees ranked "full appreciation of work done" as most important to them. This was followed by "interesting work", "good wages", "job security" and "promotion and growth within the organisation."

Go et al in "Human Resource Management in the Hospitality Industry", Wiley, 1996

The industry has been criticized for having a high turnover in staff, but this does not imply staff dissatisfaction. Statistics are distorted by the seasonal nature of a lot of our employment.

Lord Charles Forte writing in his Autobiograph

On the perception of value -
We all have lobbies. We all have nice bathrooms. We all give away shampoo. What makes the difference is the perception of value.

Jonathan Tisch, President and CEO
of Loews Hotel

On the customer ...
A customer is not dependent on us ... we are dependent on him. A customer is not an interruption of our work ... he is the purpose of it. We are not doing a favour by serving him ... he is doing us a favour by giving us the opportunity to do so.

excerpt from in-house poster at L.L. Bean, Freeport, Maine