Making the DoubleTree by Hilton's CULTURE PORTABLE THE EXPERIENCE Elevation TEAM

Frequently honored by the hotel chain and patrons for their hospitality, the crew at the DoubleTree by Hilton in downtown Reading decided to take their show on the road. In the process, they created a sort of business within a business within a business.

The Experience Elevation Team has one goal, blatantly spelled out in its name. A spinoff of the Catering by DoubleTree Reading offshoot, the group aims to assure events at its homebase and all of the venues where it caters — including Berks Nature, GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Kraras Hall of Wyomissing and the Reading Country Club — meet or exceed the hotel’s standards.

“It’s been in the works for a while, but we didn’t put a name to it until recently,” says Judy Engle, director of Brand Image Standards at the DoubleTree and one of five Experience Elevation Team members. “We were selected because we are a group of people who take culture seriously. If an idea has a benefit or can be expanded to become something greater, it’s given to the Experience Elevation Team to run with it.”

Engle highlighted Berks Nature as an example. The conservationfocused nonprofit’s Reading headquarters are nestled in The Nature Place, a green building that features reclaimed wood and barn stone, recycled carpet, a stormwater collection and many more environmentally friendly features. The picturesque site is popular for business conferences, birthday parties and private events.

It's not all food catering. In other cases, it’s catering to a type of guest.

Whereas catering companies have a reputation for one-size-fitsall service, mainly out of necessity, the Experience Elevation Team’s work with its catering group offers more of a boutique feel, with every detail tailored to the venue.

“It has a persona, and that persona is nature and conservation, and we are leaning into it and honoring it,” she says. “It’s taking an existing culture but honoring the persona of the venue that we’re at. So, we are looking at sustainable items to use as our service items: lightweight, back-to-nature dishes that look appropriate in the environment. It will be something entirely different than what we might have at the hotel or what we may stage at the GoggleWorks.”

The DoubleTree team recently created an area referred to as Paradise on Penn in front of the hotel, featuring smokers and grills, imported palm trees, fire pits, heating lamps and other attentiongrabbing items. The goal is to entice patrons who are attending events at Santander Arena to walk across the street and check out the sights and smells. But it’s also utilized when they want to go the extra mile for their guests.

“If we’ve got a group like a bowling club from some part of the country,” Engle says, “we’ll put things outside like cornhole and say: ‘We’re putting this up for you. We’ll have the grill open for you. We’re taking care of your group.’”

701 Penn St., Reading hilton.com