Recently, a guest entered an audacious request in the special request box when booking a room at The Woodlands Resort in The Woodlands, TX: three red M&Ms on the counter and a picture of bacon on the bed. He did it as a joke and thought nothing of it after that. Well guess what? The hotel staff got a kick out of the request and fulfilled it. The guest shared his story on Reddit and it went viral.

I love the story, but as a planner, the actions of The Woodlands Resorts left me with mixed feelings. On one hand, I appreciate a brand going above and beyond to satisfy Guests requests; however, on the other hand, doing such and having your brand’s grand actions go viral sets the bar even higher for future Guest interactions. When does a brand’s over-delivery hurt its Brand Promise? Will all Woodland Resorts Guests now expect the same level of satisfaction? Will requests for a “tub full of taco shells” be fulfilled? Or will people get this one-time joke and temper their expectations? I guess the real question is: are you, Woodland Resorts, ready to deliver? – Margaret