Le Meridien Sunny Isles Beach/Integrated and Award Winning Service

Located midway between Ft. Lauderdale and Miami, LeMeridien Sunny Isles Beach is a 26-floor hotel and residence offering upscale luxury. The beachside property features an array of onsite amenities including a full-service spa, fitness center, pool, business center as well as a restaurant and is both a residence and a vacation destination. Each of the resort’s 210 units are individually owned but rented out while the owners are away. Le Meridien is part of the Starwood Hotel and Resort family, meaning customer service must meet Starwood’s top-notch expectations as well as the Owners Association Expectation.

Since September of 2006, Securitas has been the resort’s contract service provider, says Jose Bermudez, Director of Security at Le Meridien Sunny Isles Beach.  An original staff of 12 but presently a staff of 8 officers, performs duties including responding to calls, unlocking doors, issuing keys and providing access to guest/owners and completing incident reports and controlling access to the parking garage. Officers monitor the nearly 50 security cameras on-site and are the first responders to all property emergencies.

While all officers arrive with CPR and First Aid certification before they start, they receive additional training per Starwood initiative on Occupational Safety Health Administration (OSHA) regulations.  These range from handling blood-born pathogens to emergency communication protocols to the proper handling of chemicals.  In addition, extensive internal security manual details standard operating procedures designed to help direct the officers to the hotels policies and procedures.

But security concerns are only part of the job.  Officers at Le Meridien are the day-to-day contact for the property’s residents and guests and must provide customer service suitable to Starwood’s expectations.  To this end, officers attend a one course in hotel training and receive four days of instruction on the Le Meridien brand. “Though they’re certified by the state of Florida in Security, “they have to know the hospitality end of it,” notes Bermudez.  “It is all about responding to a guest request within ten minutes, and being knowledgeable of the actual guest request. These are critical things that they don’t learn outside of the hotel realm.” 

One of the most obvious symbols of this dual duty is the different uniform appearance.  Instead, the officers are in what Bermudez calls “resort wear,” their security duties indicated only by their Securitas IDs.   “It changes the image and the interaction between the officers and the guests.  They aren’t just Securitas employees, but associates of the hotel representing Le Meridien Brand; there are not Officers but Security Agents”. Jose adds “That one of my Supervisors – Fuad (Nico) Morales was employee of the year because the guests and the hotel staff saw him in a different light and his dedication to his job was and still is exemplary.”

Given the emphasis on customer service, Bermudez was looking for some very specific traits in his officers: security professionals who are flexible, responsive and personable.  He praises his Securitas management teams both for finding the right people and for the responsive service he receives from his account manager and the area vice president. 

His Securitas officers have recently earned some very public praise of their own.  Out of over 420 Starwood properties in North America, the security at Le Meridien was voted “Best in Class 2008”.

 

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