Hospitality Made Easy

Hospitality is much easier than your servers may think. Starting the day with a positive attitude, knowing this will make life easier for others, and smoother for them, is a win-win situation. A smile is contagious even to people who think they have nothing to smile about today.

On a daily basis the dining room is the most important part of the residents’ day. So this is the best place to start practicing hospitality. Kind Dining teaches how easy this can be and the positive results that will make your community successful.

A woman friend of mine who likes to travel solo says that when she is in Europe, she prefers staying at B & Bs rather than hotels. The hospitality of someone who invites you into their home is like being hugged by your favorite aunt, the one who always ‘got’ you when Mom didn’t have a clue. One time she stayed in the Town of Books, Hay-on-Wye, Wales. That night the host sat on the chintz covered sofa in the living room and brought out his guitar inviting us, three guests, all strangers to each other from the States, to sing along. The next morning there were two more strangers at the large dining room table. They were brothers-in-law who arrived late the night before after walking all day. A walk is a popular activity in the United Kingdom. They just go out and walk for 20 miles, or more on public pathways through private fields and forests and stay overnight at a B & B before walking home.

The hospitality can be the same in your community dining room where newcomers are strangers who are seeking a welcome feeling at the table in their new home. Your servers can mimic my friend’s hosts that put them all at ease with a few casual questions.  She felt like family 3,000 miles from home!

When your servers give thought to who they are serving and the problems they may be facing on a given day, they will want to give a warm sincere greeting to each diner as they arrive. This is step one in developing a genuine feeling of hospitality. They can help someone overcome a sense of loneliness or isolation. Kind Dining will teach about the power of making eye contact and how to draw people out with casual questions giving them a feeling of inclusion.

B♥ Kind® Tip: Don’t act hospitable; have a genuine attitude of hospitality. After all, you are in your residents’ home