Concierge Desk: Q&A with Fraser Borthwick

Director, Guarantee Laundries

This September, we sat down with Fraser Borthwick, Director at Guarantee Laundries, about the role guest experience plays behind the scenes of some of the world’s leading hotels, and why getting the smallest details right can make such a difference.

How important is the guest experience to you in your business and why?

As a supplier to luxury hotels, everything within our business is geared towards guest experience and also user experience within the hotels.  When laundry isn’t right, that takes hotel teams away from looking after their guests so our business is all about that ‘right first time’ service.  Plus, the impact of a perfectly made bed, with wonderfully crisp linen and sumptuous fluffy towels are two of the most personal and intimate interactions guests will have with a hotel during their stay.

How do you ensure that your whole team is able to offer the same sense of guest experience to the people they come into contact with while going about your business?

Culture, communication, camaraderie and commitment.  Operating a single location, with a single shift and the management team sat to the side of the factory floor means we are all ‘in the business’ and working with the same team at all times.  This brings us all together and in those rare occasion when there is a customer emergency, there is a no quibble response and that linen is in a van or a car and headed straight to a customer, even if it is one of the Directors taking it on News Year Eve!

What are your insider tips for how to spot well-cared-for linen in a hotel?

Creasing on the sides of duvet covers, edges of pillowcases and a slightly coarse, toasted feel to towels are all signs of rushing the process.  Towels should be dried at a lower temperature for longer to retain fluffiness and high-quality linens should feel organic to touch.