My family of 45 went to Maui for a reunion and stayed at Honua Kai Resort and Spa where each suite had full kitchens - necessary for the babies as well as our numerous "Iron Cousin" competitions. The resort was nice, new and shiny, but housekeeping was a let down. Upon check-in, we found a ladies thong (not the flip flop kind) hanging on the side of the wall behind the standing lamp, and daily housekeeping was so lousy we asked them to stop coming altogether. I didn't complaint when I was there, but decided to leave a short message for the GM upon check-out simply asking him to take a look at the "gift" that awaited us upon check-in (still hanging on the wall as I wasn't going to touch it and housekeeping never saw it). When I returned to Hong Kong I was pleasantly surprised to find the GM made the effort to look me up, find my workplace and call to apologize in person. When he couldn't reach me, he e-mailed me a letter thanking me for the feedback and a certificate for 2 nights in a 2-bedroom suite. Brilliant. They followed up, apologized, thanked me, and welcomed me back with a USD 1,000 voucher they knew I would never be able to use in one year. And because it isn't transferable, I can't donate it either.

So that's that for service recovery. Go above and beyond, especially when you know it doesn't cost anything more than the effort. I can appreciate that.