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DECEMBER 2017 businesstraveller.comIn pursuit
of the hirsute
Derek Picot encourages hoteliers to move with
the times when it comes to body art, grooming and facial hairDEREK PICOT
A HOTELIER FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS
AND AUTHOR OFHOTEL RESERVATIONSL
astweek,Iwasaskedbya
hotelier to give an opinion on
whether it was discriminatory
to insist that hotel staff appear
smartly dressed and clean
shaven, have no visible tattoos, and wear
no veils or burkas.
On the discrimination point I deferred
to the lawyers, but the advice I gave was
that staff who are in direct contact with
guests should always dress one level above.
What I meant by that was if the guests in an
establishment typically wore T-shirts, then
staff should wear open-collared shirts. If the
guests wore open shirts, staff should wear
ties. If the clients start wearing ties then put
the personnel in suits, and so on. This is how
Beverley Griffin, one-time general manager
of the Savoy in London, ended up wearing a
long-tailed morning suit in a desire to out-
dress his customers. Mind you, wearing one
presumably allowed him the afternoon off.
Providing uniforms is one way to sort
out problems with scruffy staff, but
facial hair presents a slightly more bristly
problem. Still, if the guests are doing it,
and increasingly these hipsters are, then it
should be fine for the hotel team too – and,
hopefully, with even more style.MAKING A STATEMENT
All this might smack of grooming snobbery
and, of course, the danger is that a sort of
reverse effect causes hoteliers to dictate
how their staff should look and then in turn
require standards from their paying guests.
This “golf club” mentality still permeates
those luxury hotels where you are asked to
wear a jacket in the restaurant. (These same
restaurants are often empty, I might add.)Tattoos are another matter. At a
restaurant in Paris last week I spotted
a tall waitress with a fine example of
one. Just above her knee and below the
hemline of her skirt, there was the tail end
of a python that wrapped itself elegantly
around her long leg before disappearing
upwards.IhavetosayasIgetolderIfind
myself rather drawn to this type of imagery
and, in my defence, I’m not alone.
Snakeshavealwayshadanappeal,and
thereisnoclassdistinctionhere–high
society has been doing body art for years.
The Victorian British-
American socialite Lady
Randolph Churchill had
asnaketattooedaround
her wrist. Our present
royals may, for all I know,
be following the lead of
Edward VII and George
V who both had tattoos.
So it begs the question:
why shouldn’t hotel staff be able to display
their favoured designs?
“Because...” my favourite
Hong Kong general
manager tells me when
I ask, “...the guests don’t
like it.” Well, I think they
do and, as with facial hair,
it’s all about how much, where and how
attractive it is. As usual, hotel managers
appeartobethelasttofaceup(pun
intended) to the changing attitudes of
their customers.
Unfortunately, hotels can still dictate
what their staff wear and how they are
groomed, provided that they apply
their dress code rules to all and makesure their policy is asexual and uniform.
Challenges with Islamic dress at the
reception desk and in public areas of the
hotel have been overcome, with hotel
groups stipulating that women may
cover their hair, but may not wear a veil
or indeed a burka. This has allowed the
reintroduction of crucifixes which, for
a time, were not allowed if any religious
identification was prohibited under
house rules. The point hotel managers
seem to generally agree on is that guests
like to see faces and want more than just
eye contact. This seems to
me to be reasonable.
After several decades
working in hotels, I’m afraid
I can’t quite subscribe to
theadage:“Thecustomer
is always right.” I’ve met
too many who were clearly
wrong. Nevertheless, in
general, it’s the customer that
should dictate the product
and services not vice versa,
andifweattemptsomething
different, they will walk across
the road to our competitors where
they feel more comfortable.
Hotels that ignore trends do so at
their peril. Projecting their own conception
ofdresscodeisarroganceandanintrusion
on their clients who pay the bill. Hotel staff
should be allowed to ref lect the style of
the guests and wear their art and hair with
pride. It is not compulsory, however.
There are now more moustaches than
there have been since the 1970s. Should
I grow one myself? My wife advises not.
“You’ll look like Basil Fawlty,” she says.ILLUSTRATION: BENJAMIN SOUTHANOPINION
Hotelstaffshouldbe
allowed to reflect the
style of the guests
and wear their art
and hair with pride