The job title is ”doorman,” but the role is pure public relations.
”They`re the most important people in the hotel industry,” says Hans Willimann, general manager of the Four Seasons Hotel, 120 E. Delaware Pl.
”They have the first and last contact with the guest, and the first and last impressions are the most important with anyone who comes into any hotel.”
Joann Bongiorno, director of public relations at the Drake, 140 E. Walton St., agrees, adding that Chicago is blessed with the best in the business.
”Chicago`s doormen are the most polite and best informed of any city I`ve been to,” she says. ”They consider their job a career, not a stepping stone.”
On the job 23 years, the Drake`s own Phil Lunceford is a case in point.
”I like working with people,” he says, ”and I`ve met lots of nice ones.”
How does he deal with the other kind? ”Never let them know they`re not nice-just keep treating them as if they are. Most of them come around.”
At the other end of the seniority scale, John Howard, a 1 1/2-year veteran at the Chicago Hilton and Towers, 720 S. Michigan Ave., says he got into the business because he, too, likes people, wanted outdoor work-”and I don`t mind being dressed up on the job. Guests love the style. I think it gives them a real good impression of the hotel to see a person in a long coat, top hat and white gloves.”
