When it opened in 2004 in the heart of the capital city, Hotel Providence set out to build a reputation for world-class service and hospitality.
The boutique hotel on Westminster Street proved itself when it received a coveted AAA Four Diamond rating within its first year of operation, an honor bestowed on only 3 percent of all the hotels AAA evaluates.
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Above all, Hotel Providence knows how to make people happy, and it practices that ability with its associates as well as its guests. The hotel goes out of its way to make sure its employees feel valued and taken care of, both personally and financially.
“We don’t wait for opportunities to come up to be hospitable. We look for opportunities,” Hotel Providence General Manager Manish Bhatia said. “It’s the vision that you are going to have the best possible product if your employees delivering the product are satisfied. As long as they believe that, they will do the right thing.”
The manner in which Hotel Providence does right by its employees has resulted in the hotel being named one of Rhode Island’s Best Places to Work.
Hotel Providence’s special relationship with its employees starts as soon as new associates are hired, when they receive a handwritten welcome note. Each birthday and employment anniversary is also recognized with a handwritten card sent to their home.
At Thanksgiving, all of Hotel Providence’s 40 employees receive a $25 gift certificate to a local grocery store. Employees of the hotel are also offered discount parking at less than half the average rate in downtown Providence.
Close relationships between management and staff are developed and nurtured on a weekly basis by a program in which each associate is invited to have breakfast with a manager and a fellow employee from another department. The program, called ‘Breakfast with the Best,’ helps to create friendships that strengthen and transcend the workplace, Bhatia said.
“A manager takes a couple of employees for a break in our restaurant, just to sit and chat,” Bhatia said. “We don’t talk about work, we just get to know them on a personal level. They love it.”
Hotel Providence thanks employees who go out of their way to provide customer service in a manner beyond their job description with a gift. The hotel promotes the program by tracking how many times managers reward their employees with items of appreciation that include gift cards, tickets to shows and even one-night hotel stays.
The hotel also maintains a private library for its employees that includes more than 20 books related to professional and personal development. Suggestions for additions to the library are welcomed, Bhatia said.
Hotel Providence believes in promoting from within its ranks, and employees are provided regular opportunities to cross-train and advance within the company, Bhatia said. As an example, a former room attendant was recently promoted to housekeeping supervisor after gaining customer service experience, he said.
On a financial level, Hotel Providence pays its employees wages that are competitive or higher than the industry standard, and provides employees with a comprehensive 401(k) retirement plan.
Erika Bandy, a front desk supervisor, said the personal interest that hotel owner Stanley Weiss and his top managers take in the lives of their employees is unusual in the hotel industry.
“The connection between the employees and managers is so close, it really gives the employees a feeling of empowerment,” Bandy said. “I’ve worked at other hotels and it just seems the general manager is so far away from you. Here, there is no far away.
Everyone here feels welcome and wanted. I feel that the managers are working for their employees and not the other way around. We know we can count on them.”
