When Junior Achievement chief executive Robin Halsey Wise dropped her car at the Brown Palace Hotel valet to attend a meeting recently, little did she know she would end up with a different car.
Jake Schwoob, the valet manager, tried to get the car out of park and into drive, but it wouldn’t budge. Without interrupting Wise in her meeting, he called Sill-TerHar Motors in Broomfield.
When she returned to the valet more than an hour later, a loaner car was waiting for her. Not only had the dealer delivered the vehicle, but Schwoob had the smarts to remove all of Wise’s personal belongings and put them in the loaner.
“There was the valet waiting for me with the new keys,” she said. “How seamless was that?”
Marcel Pitton, the Brown’s managing director, said Schwoob demonstrated the level of guest service the hotel instills in its employees.
“We train our staff to anticipate our guests’ needs and react accordingly, and Jake’s actions are a perfect example of exceeding expectations,” Pitton said. “This is the hospitality culture we foster, and we celebrate empowerment demonstrated by employees like Jake.”
Plantation plucked.
The Norfolk Virginian-Pilot newspaper reported Wednesday that Swann’s Point Plantation, a historic fixture on the James River in Surry County, sold at auction this week for $7.1 million to “an individual from Littleton.”
“The plantation was part of a wedding gift to Pocahontas in 1614 from her father, Chief Powhatan, when she married colonist John Rolfe,” according to the story.
The property reportedly was most recently owned by a businessman who died several years ago.
Penrose props.
The Broadmoor, the très chic resort in Colorado Springs, has been given Forbes Travel Guide Five Star Awards for a record 51st consecutive year.
The awards, formerly known as Mobil Five-Star Awards by Mobil Travel Guide, announced the list of Five Star winners for 2011 on Tuesday.
The Broadmoor is the only property to ever achieve this status. The historic resort is Colorado’s only triple Five Star winner, with a second consecutive year of recognition for the Penrose Room restaurant and the Spa at Broadmoor.
Shop and drop.
Shop 2 the 9s is a holiday warehouse sale featuring guest artisans from around the state, with nine shops in one warehouse from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at 389 S. Lipan, Denver.
Featured vendors are Abend Gallery, the Brass Bed, Kjuna, Eron Johnson Antiques, Garbarini, Shaver Ramsey, Trog de Lights, the Vineyard and Wildflowers. Food concession from Okanos Kitchen. More info: .
New chief.
Altitude Sports & Entertainment senior executive Matt Hutchings has been promoted to president and CEO of the Colorado-based regional sports and entertainment network.
Hutchings was also named executive vice president of media for Kroenke Sports Enterprises.
EAVESDROPPING
A woman at Root Down after taking a bit of croissant bread pudding:
“I need a cigarette after that.”
Penny Parker’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Listen to her on the Caplis and Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-630 AM. Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.
