On their online “Customer Compliments and Complaints” form, I wrote this:
My stay of three nights earlier this week was fabulous. Nothing could have been better. Staff – front desk, housekeeping, buffet service – were welcoming and accommodating. There was something about the stay that spoke “home” and “family.” I remember thinking to myself, “These people know how to hire good staff.”
Wanting to get away for a couple days before Christmas, I decided to head up toward Deerfield Village and what I call Arab-Dearborn. When wondering about a place to stay, I thought “Drury Inn” because of a previous good experience, and I remembered the proud “family-owned” comment of a staff person in Indianapolis on a previous stay. Sure enough, I found one in Troy.
I just figured out what has drawn me to Drury Inns. Unbeknownst to me, I was being drawn to a business founded on faith. I just read an article on the website of the Catholic News Agency, entitled, “Drury Hotel founder says faith, family shape business decisions.” My reactions was, “That’s it!”
Please give my greeting and my gratitude to Mr. Charles Drury.
Knowing what I know now, I will always look for the nearest Drury Inn when I am on the road, and I will say “Drury Inn” to anyone in earshot who will be travelling.
Oh, by the way, I am a Catholic priest.
Read this paragraph written about the grounded farmer turned grounded hotel entrepreneur:
“In addition, a strong faith continued to influence the Drurys’ business decisions. Whenever there was a dispute that could not be resolved – sometimes thousands of dollars – they would settle it by offering to give the disputed sum to the Church and allow the other party to take the deduction for it, a practice that he continues today.”
WOW! I will always look for a Drury Inn whenever I travel from now on! I just read the article. The two points I put at the top of the list are:
“We would go to confession every Saturday night to prepare for Sunday morning Mass,” he added.
Drury also discussed the importance of family meals. He remembered how all 11 members of the family would come together to eat and how they would pray before and after every meal.
“I think family life is one thing that we’re eliminating today,” he said, lamenting that family meals are today too often replaced with eating alone in front of a television.