Happiness is about smaller and bigger insights to meet - and exceed - customer expectations. This year, Sokos Hotels has been delighting customers for 50 years! Here are a few examples of how happiness has been seen at Break Sokos Hotel Levi.

Guests make a celebration...

..and Maarit takes care of the hungry guests. "A Swiss family of three arrived late at the hotel. All the restaurants in Levi were closed and our coffeeshop display case was empty. I tried to think of a way to get them something to eat. I noticed a bag of croissants on the back table of the coffeeshop. I asked the family if croissants with a ham and cheese filling, for example, would be good for their evening meal. They were delighted to say yes. I went to the kitchen to fill the croissants, grabbed some bananas and a chocolate drink for the kid. The family happily left for their room for the evening."

...and Anne and her team wanted to remember a colleague. "On the morning of June 10th 2024, I left for work with a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates. I had been thinking for many days that I wanted to surprise, congratulate and reward Irmeli, who has worked for us for a long time (15 years). I also had help from Kristiina, who was immediately on board with the plot. Through little messages and phone calls, we got the cleaning team members to a "morning meeting" which we started with a little poem; "A good attitude makes a good mind. A good mind makes a good day. A good day makes a good year. A good year makes a good life and good colleagues." After the poem, I gave flowers, a box of chocolates and a big hug to Irmel and we took a photos. I was left with a good feeling because I had managed to surprise our great Irmel. With tears!"

...and Krys delighted another delighter! "I decided to make my colleague happy with a little gift. As a thank you, for bringing enthusiasm and resilience to the work team every busy working day. From birthdays to team parties, she always creates homemade cakes and it creates joy among us to bring people together to share moments with others. The gift included a few measuring spoons Ronja was missing, a rolling pin, some other baking utensils, sweets and a HelloKitty cotton candy and a soft toy for making cakes. Ronja's reaction was very grateful and full of happiness and appreciation on her last day of work. She ends her first season in Levi with a big smile on his face. Let's remember to make each other happy."

...and Elli is making jam as we speak. "Elli was complimented on how wonderful the homemade apple and sea-buckthorn jam was, which the customer first thought was a store-bought product. At that moment we had blueberry jam on the table. Elli apologised, telling us it was a hit. Elli went to talk to the breakfast manager, Meiju. Without a moment's hesitation, they decided to make her their own jam to take home. Elli went to tell the customer that if you can wait until home time, you can have your own jar of apple and sea-buckthorn jam to take home. The customer was in no hurry, home can wait, in this case, the customer thanked her profusely!"

...and Minttu saves the night walker. An intoxicated outsider walked into the reception at around 7am. He was shaking badly and clearly very cold. All of his clothes were also soaked and snow covered. Minttu (night receptionist) escorted the man to a seat and he was brought a warm drink and blankets and coats to keep him warm. The customer was staying in a rented cottage a few kilometres away, but had apparently passed out in the snow after a trip to the bar. In addition to the security guard, an ambulance was called and as the client appeared hypothermic, it was not known whether there was also a medical condition etc. in the background. Minttu helped the man to the client's sauna to get him out of his wet clothes and into warm clothes. Dry clothes were retrieved and a sauna was turned on to raise the client's body temperature. The client didn't really know where he was and didn't know if he could get home on his own. The paramedics went to check the situation and fortunately everything was fine. The warm sauna and shower helped with the cold and the client clearly perked up. Finally, a taxi was called to his own accommodation. A few days later, the man returned to our hotel and wanted to thank his angel Minttu. He wrote her a thank you note, "THANK YOU SO MUCH! YOU WERE A LIFESAVER. <3 THANK YOU <3

...and Meiju takes care of the sick child. Meiju, the breakfast hostess, heard from Maarit, night receptionist, that the child had fallen ill with stomach flu during the night. Maarit had already given the child banana and yoghurt during the night. Early in the morning, Meiju put together a tray for the child with all sorts of goodies for a difficult day. There were smoothies, snack bars, straw juice, sweets and a little Husky cuddly toy. At the reception they wrote a "get well soon" card. Meiju took a breakfast treat to a little patient. The child and his family were very taken with the attention.

...and Noora and Eerika inspire the little chef. On Sunday evening, a father and 2 boys popped through the doors of Grill It!'s open kitchen. After a moment of watching our chefs Noora and Erika cooking in the kitchen, Noora and Erika started chatting to them. It turned out that the youngest of the family was an enthusiastic home cook. That's where the idea came from, even though it was a busy night at the restaurant. Noora & Erika gave the boy a lesson, preparing a burger he had ordered from start to finish, with the boy acting as his apprentice. He also got to choose some of his own toppings. They explained many things about the burger making process and the boy was excited. When the family left, they were very appreciative and the boy told us he had the best burger in the world. It turned out that the boy dreams of doing his future TET in our restaurant.