Q: You’ve worked at several Cancun hotels. What makes the Ritz-Carlton different?
A: It’s all about how we treat the guests. Our motto says we are all ladies and gentlemen, and we treat everyone that way. We truly like what we do and give the best of ourselves. Our guests come here because they can tell we put our hearts into everything we do. They feel like someone is taking their hand and saying, “I can really take care of you.”
Q: First-time visitors seem to have a hard time deciding what to do in Cancun. How should they plan their trips so they don’t spend their vacation time making decisions?
A: Most of the time we’re busier helping them before they get here than when they come. We receive a lot of calls and e-mails everyday with gue¬sts asking about activities. We book the tours, transportation, whatever they want. Everything’s arranged before they arrive. We put an itinerary in their rooms when they check in with everything planned.
Q: The food at this hotel is excellent do guests ever go out to eat?
A: If they stay at the Ritz-Carlton, they have to experience Club Grill and the Casitas on the beach. In Cancun, we don’t have a lot of restaurants on the beach, so the Casitas are really unique. We also recommend that they have dinner downtown at least once, at La Habichuela, Labna or La Parrilla. And they have to go downtown during the day to Mercado 28 to shop and eat real taquitos.
Q: What is the most challenging request you’ve had from a guest?
A: It was a rainy day and a couple said if they couldn’t go snorkeling they wanted to go to Cuba. The problem was not what they asked for, but the timing. They said we need an airplane and we want it in 30 minutes. And we got it. We were worried because the pilot wanted them to pay in cash, and it cost thousands of dollars. But they had it, and they went to Havana for half a day.
