Treatment of Guests.

agree with you that the guest host relationship in the Odyssey is very interesting. I did not grow up in a small foreign town but I did grow up in the rural south and i can remember a time when we did not worry about locking our doors at night. We knew all of our neighbors and it was nothing to invite in a traveling salesman or mormons for tea or coffee. I miss the casual nature of the way things have been in the past. Today there is so much violence that people dont stop to help their fellow man for fear of cosequences to themselves. In that respect the Greek world had a hand up on us. My question is in our modern world did we change safety for technology? It seems that with every new convience there is a new way for thieves to come in to our lives. On example is with the advent of the internet there is an easier way to get credit information or even driving directions to someones house right to thier frount door. Did the Greeks have it right? Respect thy neighbor and inreturn you hopfully get the same in return weather or not you know the person

One of the oldest cannons of business is to know your customer - The hotel industry has taken this piece of advice and made a science out of it. Endless surveys and studies tell us that the majority of guests are male corporate clients whose main expectations are a quick check-in, a clean room, and a quick check-out. We have had these facts drilled into all of our heads so much that these three aspects of a guest's stay have become almost a religion. We have even trained our guests to judge hotel experiences by the industry's "national" standards. This is fine for guests whose needs and preferences are identical to the majority. However, I believe that while concentrating only on cleanliness and speedy procedures we have forgotten to meet the many other needs of our corporate and leisure guests.This emphasis on check-in, check-out, and cleanliness are truly the basis for a satisfied guest, but these aspects of the hotel experience are not exclusive in their importance. We need to get back to basics. We need to remember that each and every one of our guests is a unique person and has different needs and expectations for their stay.