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What Hotels Might Gain From Monks-Image Credit Cayuga Hospitality Professionals
A Journey to the Abbey
Somewhere along I-94, just less than two hours northwest of Minneapolis/St. Paul, amid Minnesota’s rolling farmlands, spread out throughout twenty-six acres of land surrounding to Lake Sagatagan, sits St. John’s Abbey.
Getting here in late March with sideways snow, not much, but enough to know you remained in Minnesota– driving into the Abbey along a sweeping drive, the development of the Abbey Church is shocking.
Consideration of brutalist architecture has had a reexamination due to a recent Oscar-winning movie. But nothing could prepare you for the huge cement testimony to faith Marcel Breuer developed in the 1950s.
A “Bell Banner” with lots of bells, peals for prayer three times a day. There is no mistaking it. Stunning, beckoning as its intent and raw in its testament.
A Hotel Hidden Within an Abbey
My mission was to help the Brothers, Benedictine Monks all, improve the hotel’s sales efficiency of a beautiful, extra, thirty space jewel box called, “Guest House”, of St. John’s Abbey.
I am not Catholic. I may best be described as a failed Episcopalian. However none of that matters. What mattered is that my host, Brother Benedict, needed to turn a profit, a minimum of a modest one.
Brother Benedict was my employer, my guide, my motivation. His is an uphill struggle; lead a Benedictine Abbey, curate an exceptional collection of imaginative Monks, and make payroll. Added to this, every day, no matter what befalls him, he stops three formal times a day: and hopes. Every day.
Today there are 90 males who consist of the Monks of St. John’s Abbey, in 1950 there were 450. The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune are well recorded about the Catholic Church. The reality that a Conclave starts tomorrow is no small matter either.
However, back to Brother Benedict. A man with a twinkle in his eye and faith in his heart. The important skills of running a charitable, endowment leveraged, cheerful expression of monastic artists who produce Church pipeline organs, milled from lumber they gather on property constructed over 3 years at a selling price of three million dollars with minimal margin, or pottery that matches the world’s finest in class, or St. John’s Bibles of gigantic size adoringly scripted and illustrated total bibles, or curating a library repository of the worlds Benedictine goals– is no small accomplishment.
He also has to run a hotel.
A Gem Box of Hospitality
With Bro Isidore (A GM we would call him), they do that marvelously. I call it a jewel box because it is. The Guest House is spare in all providing, Scandinavian possibly, however Japanese in its simplicity and accents of glass, carved blocks and windows popular to let all the light refract as it will.
The spaces are spare, designed for privacy and contemplation. No TVs. I didn’t miss it as soon as in my 3 days. And a massive window dominates the wall facing their wonderful lake. After fourteen years of “original devices” (no remodellings), the home is immaculate. This is a residential or commercial property running near to 60% yearly, and 100% in peak season.
The food was tasty. The staff attendant. The authentic hospitality obvious. Yet the world is a challenging location when you minister to the bad, the downtrodden, the seekers, who at times can not pay, who require a hand. It’s a fact of Benedictine service: you give compensations. You need to, it is what you do.
Serving Guests, Serving Souls
The monetary truth says, “Ah, within factor …”
So, on the culminating moment of the last day; six guys, dressed in monastic robes, sat before me and my flip charts. With a little tweaking, it was clear St. John’s Abbey Guest Home will be fine, and rewarding.
Bro Benedict, at my request, on a slick, snowy Minnesota afternoon took the wheel and visited me through St. Jo’s and the regional hotel competition, the surrounding St. John’s University and St. Benedict’s College (for ladies), and a few of the regional fare of restaurants, it looked like Ann Arbor.
With a whimsical smile of a man, “in this world, however not of it”, Br. Benedict would chuckle at my typical routine of getting young desk clerks to tell me more than they should about rates, best clients, and ADR. “You sure see many things I would have no concept to look for!”
I expect so.
Learnings from Monastic Life
What I saw in Br. Benedict was faith in action, monetary realities, and an openness to the world, frequently the cause of his profession. His mild sparkle is that he takes it all in and judges none, chuckles out loud at goofy specialists, and saves souls with nowhere else to turn. I share what hotels can learn:
- Contemplating what is occurring 3 times a day is a good thing.
- Faith is a matter for each to their own.
- Pursuing excellence is a journey, even if never ever reached.
- Making fun of the absurdities of our world, even Monks do it!
- Discipline is its own benefit.
- A revenue, even if a little one, makes the objective– possible.
As I stepped to my rental cars and truck, accompanied by Sibling Benedict, he offered, “Do you think I could call you? Specifically if I get stuck on something about hotels, I just don’t comprehend?”
Sure, anytime. No charge.
About the author
Haydn Kramer is professional in sales & marketing and sales management and member of Cayuga Hospitality Consultants. From “on the ground” direct sales with Residence Inn by Marriott to an Executive VP of Sales, Haydn has experienced a variety of sales tasks across many brand names and all lodging tiers. He was a critical member of Marriott’s “Sales 2000” task force that transformed Marriott’s approach to “Sales” worldwide. Haydn was also delegated with directing the first “Big Market Sales Group,” which cross-sold all Marriott’s brand names for the first time. He is disciplined and forgets no details, but is understood to have fun while assisting teams achieve sales success. He is a professional in the sales call procedure, real sales persistence, and the brand-new arrival of Social network as a vital part of any reliable hotel sales platform. He has actually sought advice from for Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton and several store, independent luxury residential or commercial properties throughout the United States and in Europe.This article
originally appeared on Cayuga Hospitality Consultants.