Company: Wyndham International, Inc.
Company Description: Based in Dallas, Wyndham International, Inc. offers upscale and luxury hotel and resort accommodations. Wyndham owns, leases, manages and franchises hotels and resorts in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe, and guarantees that the best rates for its properties will be found on its Web site.
Nomination Category: Organization Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Customer Service Organization

Nomination Title: Wyndham ByRequest Program, Wyndham International

   1. Tell the story about what this nominated functional organization achieved in 2004 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

Listening and responding to the needs of customers is at the core of Wyndham
International, Inc.’s brand philosophy and embodied through its guest recognition
program, Wyndham ByRequest®.  Launched in March 2000, ByRequest is a
brand-wide initiative that focuses on empowering guests to customize their hotel
experience by specifying the preferences that will make their room “just right.” 
Created with the input of travelers, Wyndham ByRequest is the industry’s only
guest recognition program that is based on personalized service rather than
points.  Once a guest registers as a Wyndham ByRequest member, they have
access to more than 300 options to customize their guest room, including
welcome snack and beverage, favorite magazine and preferred pillow type.
Members also have access to a Wyndham ByRequest Manager, a full time
employee who is dedicated to fulfilling member requests.

In 2003 and 2004, Wyndham’s ByRequest program took its service to the next
level with mini-bar price reductions and continued delivery on Wyndham’s
pioneering free long distance program – offering free local and long distance
telephone calls, high-speed Internet access, copies and faxes as an immediate
benefit for all Wyndham ByRequest members. The free long distance program
continues to revolutionize the industry while setting a standard in hospitality.

By eliminating these charges, Wyndham also set a new standard in added value
for corporate travelers. For example, a corporate client that books approximately
300,000 transient room nights per year and spends about $40 per person during
the course of a two-night stay on hotel phone charges, can expect to save
approximately $6.75 million over a year, or $67 million over ten years.
Additionally, since the offer launched, Wyndham estimates that guests have placed an average of 157,000 calls per month free of charge, which has saved approximately 40 million cell phone minutes.

In 2004, Wyndham joined forces with Medallia, Inc., becoming the first hotel
company to implement online customer satisfaction tracking technology brand-
wide.  The new program, which launched on August 5, allows Wyndham to gain
rapid and efficient insight into its customers and convert those insights into
increased revenue and applicable marketing campaigns.  It has helped Wyndham
differentiate itself in the upscale and luxury categories as a brand that
listens to its guests and implements programs that cater to their needs.  Medallia’s technology allows Wyndham to get immediate feedback from its guests, creating more opportunities to communicate with them to hear their opinions and ideas.

   2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: List each link on a separate line, begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.website.com]:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30916FB355C0C778CDDAE0894DC404482&incamp=archive:search

   3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of this nominated functional organization:

Kathi Kulesza, vice president of Wyndham ByRequest, joined Wyndham in 1994
as a hotel manager and has served in numerous operational and general manager
roles throughout the Wyndham chain, including property ByRequest manager and
regional director of operations for Wyndham Garden Hotels, managing seven
Midwest properties.  Kulesza directs all Wyndham ByRequest managers and
oversees the ByRequest guest information network, which tracks personal profiles
of all members.