In Pr. George's, Learning to Put Smile in 'Service With a Smile'

Arthur Turner has been to enough restaurants in the Washington region to know good service when he sees it. At most restaurants, the Kettering resident is greeted kindly, seated promptly and a waiter quickly tells him the daily specials.

But, he said, the culture can be a little different in Prince George's County.

"You ask for a table and the host says, 'Okay, hold on.' Then, she'll yell, 'Do we have a table over there?' There is nothing professional about that," he said. "You ask a question about a special, and they say, 'I don't know; I never had that before.'"

Such encounters can be found in any establishment, but even Jack B. Johnson, the county executive, said recently that he was concerned about the quality of service in some Prince George's restaurants. And with upscale eateries and one of the largest hotel and convention centers on the East Coast opening next year at National Harbor, many in the county are hoping that a new program will go a long way toward tackling what Turner called a "longtime source of frustration" -- shoddy customer service.

With a $1 million grant from the developers of the mega resort, Prince George's Community College recently opened a Hospitality and Tourism Institute.

The institute is not a collection of Miss Manners courses. Rather it offers a wide range of credited and non-credited courses on every aspect of the service industry, with classes on hospitality, management and food and beverage service.

The program is designed to prepare students for entry-level and executive positions at hotels, restaurants and other venues.

Students can earn associate degrees in hospitality services management and culinary arts, as well as certificates in other programs.

Some of the classes began in the fall, and summer courses are underway.

Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center is funding the institute over three years. The money pays for the program's start-up costs for faculty, materials and equipment, and $150,000 will be used for scholarships, college officials said.

"Wherever we have opened a hotel we try to contribute to that community," said Sheldon Suga, senior vice president and general manager of Gaylord National. "It's how we feed our future employment opportunities."