Six Lessons from The Grand Budapest Hotel

I don’t usually write movie reviews, but I’m so enthusiastic about The Grand Budapest Hotel, I would be remiss in not recommending it. It’s a beautiful, delightfully entertaining caper—often zany and hilarious and sometimes utterly ridiculous.  But beyond the fun, the colorful scenes, engaging characters and intrigue, the movie also tips its hat to the real-life nobility of luxury hotels at their very best, their concierges and service to others in general.

The Grand Budapest Hotel and its protagonist, concierge Gustave H., illustrate powerful lessons—not only for staff members who serve guests in hotels, but also for anyone who serves customers or clients in any endeavor. As a former concierge and now customer-service consultant, I was thrilled to discover these lessons as the plot unfolded. Here are six of the gems I saw in the film.

Make it Personal:  Gustave, always the ultimate concierge, knows all his guests’ names and remembers them for decades after their visits. He makes it his responsibility to know what they want and when they want it, often before the guests even know themselves. It’s little wonder that repeat guests keep coming back to the property for the express purpose of seeing Gustave.

Take pride in representing your organization and embody its values. For many guests, Gustave is the hotel, and for him, working there is a dream come true—a  noble ambition and something to be proud of and cherished. He embodies the spirit of the hotel to the extent that he demonstrates the same caring, diligence and graciousness when off-duty and outside of the hotel, as he does performing his duties within it. Who he is at least partly a function of what he does and vice-versa. Even when facing personal difficulties, unable to get to the hotel, he continues to concern himself with the hotel and its guests.

Relationships are our power and our responsibility. Instead of conducting transactions, Gustave forges relationships. In his role of concierge, he was kind to a child, whom, as an adult, later saves his life. Wrongly imprisoned, he is able to turn a conflicted relationship into a friendship that ultimately results in his freedom. In fact, the relationships he creates—with his colleagues and all the people he meets along the way—are at the heart of the movie. In fact, without them there would be no story.

Upholding honor and trust. Gustave promises to light a candle at the local sacristy for a deceased guest. The request couldn’t have come at a worse time, and no one would’ve been the wiser if he “forgot” to fulfill his commitment. But, he kept his promise, delegated the task to a trusted colleague and followed up to ensure it was accomplished.

Foster resourcefulness and creativity: One of the funniest scenes involves Gustave the inmate solving the problem of finding digging tools for an escape effort. Using eating utensils he has accessed from his meal-serving detail, he and his fellow prisoners, patiently chink away to create the passageway to freedom. (This is also a lesson in the power of teamwork, accomplishing the seemingly impossible with help from others.)

Exhibit grace under fire when coping with difficult people and situations in any context. Much of the fun of the movie is watching Gustave navigate difficult situations and contend with difficult people, while maintaining the style and unremitting grace that reflects his hotel. In prison, he continues to serve others by giving his fellow prisoners their meals. “May I offer a plate of mush, and would you care for salt?” he asks, as if it were offering heads of state fine caviar. As for dealing with difficult people, he gives his staff this most excellent insight:  “Rudeness is an expression of fear, which only needs to be loved.”

Like real, live human beings, Gustave wasn’t perfect. However, he did do his best to practice honorable principles and pass along his knowledge, passion and commitment to those whose lives he touched.  He created a legacy, and regardless of the fate of the Grand Budapest, the spirit of its concierge will live forever.