First, Sutro was lost.
Then, he was found.
Next, he was given perhaps the most pampered treatment ever bestowed upon a guest at the Grand Hyatt Resort and Spa.
Quite an adventure for a teddy bear.
“If you have kids, you know how it can devastate their world, to lose their teddy bear,” said Julien Woerpel, Hyatt housekeeping director.
It was this Monday email to the Hyatt that set off a story that’s beginning to gain traction around the nation.
“We just had many tears when we realized my son had left his teddy bear in the pull-out bed in the room,” Ann Pickard wrote. “I realize it’s a slim chance, but if a white polar bear has been found (he answers to “Sutro” 😉 ) can you let us know and we can try and work out how to get him back? Thank you so much!”
The hotel often receives reports of things left behind — phones, chargers, clothes — but they don’t always find them.
This time, they did.
“We were just lucky we found it,” Woerpel said.
Diann Hartman, director of marketing communications, quickly forwarded the email to Woerpel.
The bear and his new companion that joined him on Kauai, a stuffed Hawaiian monk seal, were discovered in the laundry chute, mixed in with the sheets, and turned into lost and found.
That’s where this unusual journey started.
Many hotels would have just mailed the bear back and gone on with their day. But Woepel and staff wanted to do a little something more to comfort Sutro’s owner, a toddler who goes by the nickname of “Doozer.”
So Sutro, with his every movement now being photographed, was spoiled. He was treated to a visit with the laundry crew. And to the spa. And by the pool. Landscaping. And the cabana.
And finally, Sutro and his little seal friend were photographed as they checked out, their stay finally over.
All the pictures were then forwarded to Doozer’s delight mom.
“SO thank you to Julien at @GrandHyattKauai, and his colleagues who are, apparently, just all-round lovely people who legit made me (and several dozen colleagues) cry today. Now I’m going to go and print these out and drip feed them to Doozer until Sutro lands,” she wrote.
Pickard shared the story on her Twitter account.
“Having a crappy Monday? I was too,” she wrote. “Not only is it raining and I was back at work, but we realised last night that Doozer had left his beloved teddy bear at the hotel we stayed at, and that when we had to admit it, he was going to go from being worried (last night) to most upset.”
Others have noticed, too.
The Hyatt has already been contacted by a number of news agencies, including NBC, who want the story, too.
“Way to go Julien, Megan, Hannah, Victor, Elias in landscaping &the laundry team!” wrote Hartman. “You made the mom and her coworkers cry with your kindness and now everyone will know why Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort &Spa is such a special place!”
Woerpel, a father of two young children, said they really wanted to do something for Doozer, especially when his mom mentioned how sad he would be without his best buddy.
Pickard had been friendly, the family loved Kauai and enjoyed their stay at the resort. The Hyatt didn’t want this lost bear to sour things.
“Let’s do something nice,” Woerpel said was the prevailing thought.
The bear and the seal were now a pair, so off they went for pictures around the Hyatt with staff who smiled, laughed and happily posed with their speechless little friends.
“Everybody got a kick out of it,” he said. “It was something very fun and easy to do and made her day.”
Sutro, meantime, should be back in Doozer’s arms soon. He was shipped on his way Monday.
“Sutro &Kauai not home yet but Dooz (my human son, yes, it’s a nickname) is both mystified and completely enthralled,” Pickard wrote.
Woerpel said it was important this story have a happy ending, so the Hyatt team went above and beyond to be sure it did.
“They’ll have good memories, not only from the staff and the hotel, but from the island,” he said.
Kauai, he added, is a place of warm, caring people and that’s what they wanted to share with Doozer.
“I hope they have a good memory of that,” he said.
What a delightful story! Now that is aloha.