Since the opening five months ago of the Fairfield Inn & Suites New York Manhattan Central Park − our newest hotel − our sales team has been struck by the number of bookings generated by Mount Sinai West, a full-service medical center at 10^th Avenue and West 58^th Street, less than a block east.

Rooms have been booked by patients receiving care at the hospital, who typically check in either before or following their procedures. Many stay to recuperate past the point when they require frequent medical care. Some are the family members who accompany their loved ones.

For the front desk, housekeeping, bell desk and breakfast teams, serving these guests often requires a special level of sensitivity. Unlike typical leisure or business travelers, who almost always are upbeat and happy to be staying at a lovely new hotel, medical guests understandably are more focused on their personal situations.

Certainly, the needs of these different guests may differ, whether that means special requests at breakfast, additional towels or bath amenities, assistance hailing a taxi or simply providing a sympathetic ear.

I’m proud that our associates respond with kindness and understanding. Indeed, serving these special guests has given new resonance to our goal of providing “hands-on hospitality,” whatever that may entail.