Picture the scene: You've been travelling all day from South America to Vancouver and you're exhausted, hungry and cold. However, the worst part is your husband was robbed and beaten while on holiday.
That's what happened to a Kelowna couple. The tired travellers arrived at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel with $20 to their name and no credit card.
What they encountered from hotel staff renewed their faith in the kindness of strangers.
This is the story they penned to Tourism Richmond about their positive experience:
"We arrived at the Fairmont on the evening of March 2, 2011 after having travelled all day from Nicaragua. The young lady at the desk checked us in telling us our room was prepaid, but asked for a credit card for incidentals. I told her we didn't have one as we had been robbed and my husband had been quite badly beaten in Nicaragua. We had only enough money for breakfast.
"My husband asked if there was a restaurant open where we could get a small snack. By the time we reached our room, the phone was ringing. We were asked what we would like to eat and it was on the house! We enjoyed our hot chocolate, toast and muffins."
The couple then wrote about their encounter with Melina Dimitriadis, this year's Tourism Richmond Service Award winner in the accommodations category. They spoke about Dimitriadis to the hotel, lauding her for her friendliness and professionalism during their time of need.
The couple went on to say, "The next morning, Melina was at the desk. She read the note on our file and asked if we would like to order breakfast - again compliments of the hotel. We declined as we had $20 and saved it to use before our flight to Kelowna. My husband, Gord, and I thank the hotel and the caring staff.
"If there is one thing we learned from this experience, it's that there are a lot of good, caring people who focus on the good and not the bad."
The 25-year-old Dimitriadis shrugged off the accolades saying, "I love people and I love my job. I want to make all of our guests feel special and that means taking the time to speak to them and getting to know them a little bit."
"Obviously, I could tell they were shaken up, and I just wanted to make them feel welcomed and taken care of," said the self-described people-person.
"I get a kick out of making people feel good."
As a Fairmont Gold supervisor (Gold level service is the height of customer service for the luxury hotel chain), Dimitriadis has honed her skills in customer service, but even her boss, Craig Reaume, general manager at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport, said she went above and beyond what's expected of her.
"Melina has an innate ability to win others over, make connections quickly with anyone she meets and have them respond to her genuine warmth," said Reaume.
"Melina also has a strong sense of responsibility that displays itself with Melina feeling emotionally bound to following through on anything she commits to."
"She, like many of her colleagues, displays a true sense of empowerment, and respond to unique situations in a manner that is always appropriate and meaningful."
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