The Ritz-Carlton Naples

But behind the scenes inside the 463-room resort, there's a different feeling, an entirely different culture of waiters and waitresses, pool attendants and lobby front desk personnel. It's an unmistakable undercurrent of energy seen in a group of nearly 950 quick-moving and highly trained employees. The mission is clear: provide the very best of service.

Leading the Way

William Hall, general manager at the Ritz-Carlton Naples, is a very busy man.

Between overseeing one of Collier County's largest companies, serving more than

1200 guests on a 24-hour basis and planning a new 295-room Ritz facility, Hall manages to squeeze in media interviews and take part in local organizations. It appears to be a staggering pace. Even his well-organized executive assistant has an assistant.

Hall has worked within the hotel industry for 38 years, 26 years as a manager. Educated in business at the College of Marin and in hotel

and restaurant management at City College of San Francisco, he began his career in San Francisco at the Saint Francis Hotel. "I've worked in

every department in a hotel," he says. "There isn't a job I haven't done."

He has been a general manager at hotels in California, Arizona and North and South Carolina. Before arriving at the Ritz Naples in 1996,

he was general manager at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington in Pasadena, Calif.

He, his wife of 27 years and a high-school-aged daughter live in Naples, not too far away from the hotel. Two sons are in college. Hall says

the family truly enjoys Naples and has readily become an active part of the community -- he sits upon the board of directors at the Naples Area

Chamber of Commerce and on the Collier County Tourist Development Council, while his wife is active in the Collier Educational Foundation.

The sense of community seems to continue on to the Ritz staff, who gather during break time in the employee cafeteria and have a meal

from a free employee buffet of both hot and cold fare. And the Ritz

keeps careful watch over its own -- Hall says he's looking into ways the company can assist a laundry room staff member whose son was

recently paralyzed in a football accident.

It all comes down to protecting the hotel's most valuable asset--the employees. "I believe the employees at the Ritz make it what it is."

The Luxury Business

For above average prices, the Ritz-Carlton claims to give guests an

experience above what an average hotel can offer. For a minimum holiday rate of $550 per night, a guest can expect to receive an impeccably clean room, twice-daily maid service, marble bathrooms stocked

with personal toiletries, a fully-stocked honor bar, a plush terry bath robe, a color television, a dual-line telephone with private in-room messaging, in-room fax and computer capabilities and a view of the Gulf of Mexico.

On the 14th floor Ritz Club Level. where holiday prices begin at $895 and rise to $4,645 for a two-bedroom Presidential Suite, guests can

expect more personalized service, a private concierge, five daily light food and beverage presentations, an open bar and private key access to the level.

What the Ritz-Carlton organization is really selling, however, is a spotless approach to making guests comfortable -- a meticulous, carefully-planned way to anticipate what customers want through careful observation and research. "The challenge is to make our guests feel as

individuals," says Marvin Perez, Ritz Naples hotel manager. "We can not be successful in our business unless we are constantly looking at our guests' needs."

The result has been a five-star rating from the American Automobile Association and a five-diamond rating from the Mobil Travel Guide -- the highest possible marks. The Breakers in Palm Beach is the only other hotel in Florida to be designated as such.

And then there are the awards -- dozens of them including the Pinnacle Award for successful meetings, the 1988-1997 Paragon Award of Excellence for Corporate and Incentive Travel, the 1992 Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award (the Ritz was the first hotel company to win this award) and the 1997

Zagat Award for Best Resort both in Florida and nationally.

And as of August of this year, Travel & Leisure Magazine named the Naples Ritz the

"Best Hotel in the Continental U.S & Canada"

and number four in the world based on a survey

of 9,000 well-traveled readers of the travel magazine.

The 13-year-old hotel is constantly changing to keep up with its reputation, Perez says.

"That's the only way to be competitive in the

marketplace," he says. "We have to continue to improve."

For example, Perez recently saw the completion of the first phase of major renovations to hotel rooms and the swimming pool, as well

as the conversion of the cafe restaurant and bar into the casual, three-meal-a-day Terrace Restaurant. And just off the main dining room, a new private 20-seat dining room has been added for intimate parties. For the second phase, Perez says the hotel will be adding a second pool where one of the side tennis courts is now located.

Relaxed Yet Refined

The hotel is clearly a resort, but it is also

clearly a traditional, formalized establishment.

The main focal point of the u-shaped Mediterranean-style building, for example, is the center court garden, not a boisterous swimming

pool. The hotel's pool and activity centers are

instead located to the side of the building, connected to guest rooms through a side entrance and elevators, preventing half-clad hotel guests from walking through the main lobby with flip

flop sandals or dripping towels.

There is an unassuming air of respect that

the Ritz quietly maintains despite the crowds

that travel in and out on a daily basis. The

mood is further reflected in the Ritz motto:

"We are Ladies and Gentlemen Serving Ladies and Gentlemen."

Brian Bennett, director of quality at the

hotel, explains the motto calls for both a commitment to guests and a respect for employees.

"Our guests are ladies and gentlemen," he says,

"and we [employees] are not servants."

It is also a call for employees to take a personal

stake in Ritz service. "It connotes a code of behavior," says Bennett. "It reflects the appearance,

grooming and dress code."

Bennett explains the "gold standard" by which

employees are trained through 20 "Ritz-Carlton

Basics." The steps, written on a pocket-sized laminated card, mandate that employees "know their

internal and external customers, "be" knowledgeable about hotel information" and maintain

"uncompromising levels of cleanliness" among

other duties.

Steps eight through 10 o