Suzanne Lawton-Lewis – striving to take service to the next level

Published August 4, 2010
Hospitality Jamaica

Suzanne Lawton-Lewis’ love for hospitality industry came both as a personal interest and as an inspiration from her father, who managed the Brimmer Hall Plantation Tour in St Mary.

“I grew up watching, admiring and working alongside him in my spare time,” Lawton-Lewis said.

The time spent with her father at an early age left a mark on her. “It made me realize from that I had the same drive and passion he had to make our visitors happy and leave wanting desperately to come back.”

“It is always service with a smile, whatever is at the back of your mind,” she said. “As the first impression lasts, we are pleasant and make the visitors welcome when they come.”

Lawton-Lewis pursued a Bachelor of Science in Hotel Management from the University of the West Indies and had a chance to go to the Bahamas, which further cemented the trait of best practices in service.

“I visited the Atlantis, (Bahamas) it was an out of the world experience,” Lawton-Lewis said. “Every Jamaican should understand the visitors need to be treated good for them to come back.”

Her work is a learning experience each day, “it has taught me to be patient and disciplined,” Lawton-Lewis said. “There are days when one would get demanding guests, but one needs to empathise with them and put an extra effort to make them feel comfortable.”

“When I get a compliment, it makes any day easier,” she added.

Though involved in customer service and married to singer, Renardo Lewis of the reggae group, ‘To-Isis’, she is not a party girl. “I go and watch my husband perform and I watch plays, which I enjoy thoroughly.”

Marriage, she said coyly, is something that she always planned. “It was sort of love at first sight.”

She attends Holy Cross Church at Half Way Tree, whenever time permits. “We live in Greater Portmore and as I keep long working hours, we go to church when we get the opportunity.”

 “I love to stay at home and watch Food Network.” Paula Dean and Iron Chef America are her favourite shows. “It is therapeutic,” she professed, and inspiring, for the guest service agent who wants to be a restaurateur in the future. “I want to open a restaurant that offers multi –cuisine, authentic Jamaican flavours and fine dining.”

 

This youngster is proud to be a Jamaican and very passionate about Jamaica, “I love Jamaica and I would really want to see that we love and care about each other and the visitors.”

amitabh.sharma@hotmail.com