Georgetown Microtel wins international recognition

Among 4,500 hotels in the multinational Wyndham Hotels chain, the top hotel can be found off Route 113 in Georgetown.

The Georgetown Microtel became the first Microtel in the company’s 30-year history to be awarded Wyndham Hotels’ Hotel of the Year.

The Georgetown hotel was also awarded Microtel of the year, surpassing 400 other properties.

Topping it all off, Georgetown Microtel employee Alex Willette was selected from 100,000 employees as Front Office Employee of the Year, announced at Wyndham Hotels’ global conference in Las Vegas in September.

“It’s nice to bring that type of recognition back to Sussex County,” said General Manager Benjamin Gray of the meteoric rise of Georgetown Microtel, entering only its second year of operation.

“For us, it’s one word: people,” Gray said. “The people that we surround ourselves with are absolutely incredible.”

He said the staff was selected from a pool of 300 applicants, and rooms are subject to rigorous cleaning and inspection. Every guest is given a handwritten note when they check in, Gray said.

“Our motto here since Day 1 has been we do not aim to meet your expectations; our goal is to consistently exceed your expectations. Any hotel can meet your expectations. Frankly, that’s what your guests deserve. You want them to feel like they are at home,” Gray said.

That motto is encapsulated by Willette, a front desk employee who in July went above and beyond the call of duty to find a guest who had a flat tire 15 miles away. The call came just before his shift was scheduled to end, and Willette broke his finger trying to change the flat tire, but he succeeded and then accompanied the guests back to the hotel.

Gray nominated Willette for Wyndham Hotels employee of the month award for July and his efforts would receive further recognition with the employee of the year honors.

“He was a member of our staff for three months before he won that award,” Gray said. “It’s the great people that you surround yourself with that help you succeed.”

Aly El-Bassuni, vice president of brand operations for Microtel Inn and Suites, said, “It’s a special group. I think it takes hiring the right people, getting them in the right job, training and developing and giving them the opportunity to give the best guest experience. For Ben and his team to earn the distinction of being the best of the best is something we’re very proud of.”

Gray said he had been eyeing the awards as a goal for the hotel four months into its existence. Hotels in the chain must be open for a year to be eligible, and even he was surprised at being a finalist, much less winning.
“It was just complete and utter shock when we won Wyndham Hotel of the Year. I had texted Aly before we went to the ceremony and said, ‘Has a Microtel ever won a Wyndham Hotel of the Year?’ And he said, ‘In 30 years, no.’ All along he knew, but he wasn’t giving that up. So when they called our name it was unreal,” Gray said.  

The Georgetown Microtel is owned by Chad Moore and the Moore family, owners of the Bellmoor Inn and Hotel Admiral in Rehoboth Beach. Gray is a native Sussex Countian, graduating from Seaford High School. He previously worked for Hilton Hotels and managed properties in Florida and New York.

Construction of the Georgetown Microtel was delayed for nearly a year by permitting and weather issues.

“It seemed to always rain on a Monday. That’s terrible when you work in construction because you lose the rest of the week. We were originally slated for a summer 2014 opening, and then we got into the offseason, and once the snow started coming, that made things even worse. We finally opened in December 2014,” Gray said.

Despite the rocky takeoff, Gray and the Georgetown Microtel have had a very safe landing.

“It’s absolutely incredible to see what this brand can do on a performance level,” Gray said. “We had a guest that told us, my most favorite comment since we opened. She came to the desk on checkout and she said, ‘Where’s your general manager?’ I’m like, ‘Oh shoot.’ I hear it in the back office and think, ‘Oh man, here’s a complaint.’ I come out and she says, ‘I just want to tell you we received better service and better accommodations here than we did at the Ritz-Carlton last week.’”

“I said, ‘OK, we’ve done it.’ To be compared to something like that has been extraordinary, and to see what this team of people can do in such a short amount of time is nothing short of spectacular,” he said.