Last month four women from our team spent two days driving Orange County on a sales trip. Sixteen great venues. A lot of tours, a ton of warm welcomes, a truly punishing amount of walking.
And then there was The Waterfront Beach Resort.
I’m going to let HCTG staffer, Lauren, tell you, because I can’t improve on how she said it:
“I have NEVER experienced a site tour that was even close to this level of hospitality. When we first arrived, they were all waiting for us in the lobby, and as we walked through our tour, they had their sales gals waiting for us in various locations with a glass of champagne.”
Champagne. Stationed along the route. Like aid stations at a marathon, except the marathon is a site tour and the Gatorade is Veuve.
But that’s not the part that got me.
At the end of the tour, the team brought everyone up to the rooftop bar. Waiting there was a personalized cocktail for each woman. Not a signature cocktail. Not “our house drink.” A drink built for that specific person.
Here’s how they did it: They used AI to read each of our team members’ bios on the Here Comes The Guide About Us page, had it write up a short profile based on her background and personality, and then they built a cocktail to match her.
One of the cards read:
The Perfectly Imperfect
Bourbon · Blackberry · Lemon · Honey · Lavender · Sparkling Wine
Why it fits you:
- The bourbon is the Kentucky roots and farm girl.
- The blackberry + lavender bring the girly side.
- The lemon gives it that bright, energetic personality.
- The sparkling wine is the wedding/jazz-band celebration.
And the slight saltiness is the “it rained on my wedding day and we got wet anyway” perfectly-imperfect attitude.
The card was co-branded. Their logo and ours, side by side, on a piece of cardstock that existed for about forty-five minutes.
There was also a gift bag. Inside the gift bag was a custom Here Comes The Guide bomber jacket.
When our team asked how they think about this stuff, the answer was simple: they had read Unreasonable Hospitality and they build these moments into their guest experience on purpose.
Now here’s the part I actually want you to hear:
I’d bet, and I could be wrong, that The Waterfront is not doing bespoke bomber jackets for every couple who walks through the door on a Saturday.
That’s fine. That’s not the lesson.
Here’s what I know for sure: a venue that does this for us treats their couples really well on a site tour. You don’t build this muscle overnight, and you can’t switch it on for visitors and switch it off for Tuesday’s 2pm site tour. The instinct is either baked in or it isn’t. What they did for four women from a wedding venue directory is just the version of themselves they’ve already practiced.
And that instinct does two things.
It opens wallets. A couple who feels genuinely seen on a tour stops thinking only about their budget. The conversation moves off price and onto whether this is the place.
It opens mouths. This is the one people underestimate. To whit: I am writing an email to seven thousand venues about a custom cocktail. Lauren told the whole company. HCTG staffer Marie said it took everything in her not to text me from the rooftop about how far off their socks were knocked. Nobody was asked to do any of that.
People love talking about Unreasonable Hospitality. They love it about a thousand times more when it happens to them.
To-Do For You
- Read Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara if you haven’t. It’s about a restaurant, not a venue, and that turns out not to matter at all. This is a must-read in our industry.
- Come up with ONE surprising thing you can do for this week’s site tours.
One. Not a program, not a rollout, not a line item you have to get approved. One surprising thing that makes the couple in front of you feel like you were expecting them specifically.
It does not have to cost what a rooftop cocktail costs. Know the dog’s name before they arrive. Have the playlist from their inquiry form already playing when they walk in. Put their names on something. Hand them the umbrella before they ask.
The Waterfront’s version involved AI, a bartender and custom cardstock. Yours might involve a Sharpie. The couple will not be grading you on budget. They’ll be grading you on whether you were paying attention.
So inspired by The Waterfront today.
Go be unreasonable this week,
Meredith
