By Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC
April 8, 2013

1.  Hotel History: The Magic of 800-325-3535
In 1968, after ITT acquired the Sheraton Corporation of America, Sheraton needed a new advertising program after the highly-successful "Keyed-up Executives Unwind at Sheraton" campaign.  In the spring of 1969, ITT President Harold Geneen was touring the Sheraton Boston Hotel when Sheraton executive Dave Turner began to describe the Sheraton new Reservatron system.  Geneen thought that ITT could create a national single number watts line to replace the 200 phone numbers that Sheraton listed nationwide.  With the help of ITT's telephone technicians, the new system was created.  Perhaps the greatest problem facing Sheraton's Marketing Director William Morton was picking one unforgettable number.  With the advice of telephone company psychologists, Morton settled on the number 800-325-3535.  Why? Because it was easy to dial.  When area codes were introduced to speed the calling of long-distance numbers, telephones had rotary dials.  The nearest digit to the dialing stopper, and thus the digit that could be dialed the quickest was 1.  Next came 2 and then 3. The psychologist selected 2, 3 and 5 because they were the quickest to dial and in a sequence that was easy to remember.
 
By the winter of 1970, the new 800 number was on-line and the new advertising campaign broke with saturation TV, full-page magazine ads and incessant repetition of "eight, oh, oh, three-two-five, three-five, three-five." The number was set to a catchy tune which was recorded by the Boston Pops. A singing dog performed it on Johnny Carson's show, it was cocktail-lounge background music in a TV drama and it was played at skating rinks.  The reservations flowed into Sheraton in ever-increasing numbers, breaking records every month.
 
At one of ITT's General Managers Meetings (GMM) in New York where 80 executives gathered monthly to report on the performance of ITT's many companies, I reported about the extraordinary success of the ever-increasing number of reservations pouring into the Sheraton central Reservation offices. ITT President Harold Geneen responded, "I don't think that anyone will remember that number.  I can't ever remember it."  I responded, "Mr. Geneen, How many secretary's do you have?"  "Nine".  When was the last time you made a hotel reservation for yourself?" "I can't recall" "No wonder you can't remember 800-325-3535.  You never use it yourself.  Thank goodness, the rest of the business world needs to call it themselves." The GMM attendees cracked up and gave me an ovation.
 
If  you wonder how such an exchange could take place without losing my job, don't forget that I was the Product Line Manager (PLM) for Hotel Operations, an invention of Geneen.  The concept was brilliant in several ways.  Since PLM's had no P&L responsibility, we could not issue orders to the line.  Nevertheless, we were empowered to go anywhere, look at anything, speak to anyone and compel answers.  And we relayed our recommendations to the President office where Harold Geneen would review them.  One thing you learned fast was that he hated "Yes-Men".  He thrived on cheerful conflict.
 
2. Protect Yourself Against Hotel Fires
My 50+ year experience as a hotel manager, corporate executive and hotel consultant leads me to make the following hotel recommendations:

• Never accept a guestroom above the seventh floor.  Fire department equipment does not extend higher
• Make sure your guestroom has an automatic sprinkler system with a sprinkler head in each room
• Every guestroom should have a hard-wired, single-station smoke detector
• Check the exits in the corridor outside your room.  Count the number of doors between your room and the exits.  Remember that smoke rises and, in the event of a fire, will likely obliterate the exit signs which are, unfortunately, located near the ceiling.
• Keep your room key card and small flashlight in your shoes near the bed.  Remember where they are in case you have to make a quick escape.

3. Litigation Support Services
Since 1992, I have provided litigation support services and have served as an expert consultant/ witness in numerous hotel-related cases.  As you know, a knowledgeable expert witness provides thorough research, expert report writing, thoughtful testimony and indispensable litigation support assistance.  Don't hesitate to contact me for any hotel-related litigation:

• Hurricane damage and/or business interruption cases
• Franchisee/franchisor disputes
• Management contract disagreements
• Wrongful deaths
• Fire and other catastrophes
• Slip and fall accidents

4. My New Book
I am just submitting the finished manuscript of "Built To Last: 100+ Year-Old Hotels East of the Mississippi" to the publisher.  It is a sequel to my well-received 2011 book, "Built To Last: 100+ Year-Old Hotels in New York" which the New York Times book review called "passionate and informative".
 
My new book has 88 chapters, one for each 100+ year-old hotel (of 50 rooms or more) east of the Mississippi River.  Each of these hotels will be illustrated by an antique postcard.  Many of these rare postcards come from the collection of Kathe Nylen, ISHC, CRE, Certified General Appraiser, PBTK Consulting ([email protected]). Thank you, Kathe!
 
This book has a foreword written by Joseph McInerney, former President, American Hotel & Lodging Association and has been accepted for promotion, distribution and sale by the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute.

5. Quote of the Month
Mistakes are a facet of business and should be treated as such.  The important thing is to face up to one's mistakes, examine them, learn from them and go on about one's business.  The only real mistake is being afraid to make a mistake.

                                                                        Harold Geneen
                                                                        President and Chairman
                                                                        International Telephone & Telegraph Company

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