Jeric Sayno: The Art of Service

MANILA, Philippines — Diamond Hotel Philippines’ guest services officer Jeric Sayno was recently recognized as a winner of the 22nd Mabuhay Awards in the Rank and File-Front of House Category. No doubt, Sayno has shown exceptional service as butler to the hotel’s VIP guests, what really sets his brand of service apart is the creativity that he puts into everything he does, often going above and beyond his duties to make each guest feel special.

Sayno, born and raised in Camarines Norte in Bicol, started as an on-the-job trainee with the Diamond Hotel’s public relations team. After he graduated, however, there were no open positions at the hotel, so he had to find work elsewhere. Later, he found his way back to Diamond as a waiter in Corniche and eventually became a guest relations manager and a butler.

One fateful day in 2015, Sayno remembers that he was still a casual butler back then and he had just finished his 6-to-6 duty, which had extended to 8 p.m., and he decided to stay at the hotel a little longer to have dinner. That’s when the F&B manager approached him with a problem – they were getting ready for the grand opening of the Filipino food festival the next day but the general manager had not approved the decorations from their suppliers. “Pinatanggal niya lahat (GM had them all removed)!” he relates.

“Where will I buy materials in the middle of the night?” Sanyo recalls asking, and the manager answered simply, “We trust you, you can do it.”

So Sayno resumed his already extended shift. He raided every office in the hotel, gathering scrap paper and any supplies he could get his hands on. He ended up taking apart brown envelopes and cutting them into giant doilies with very intricate patterns.

When he came back for his shift the next day, the GM asked him if he was the one who made the decorations. Sayno remembers being certain that his boss would reprimand him – after all, if the professional decorations of their supplier were not up to par, what more his own, made from recycled materials? But, the GM told him, “Very good! Thank you so much.”

“That was the start of my ‘career’,” Sayno jokes. True enough, since that day, he has been in charge of designing the decor for all of Corniche’s food festivals – everything from Filipino to Spanish to Mexican.

“GM challenged me to do my very first project, which was the Chinese New Year decorations in the lobby,” Sayno says on another assignment given to him shortly after his initiation into the creative side. Again using recycled materials, he came up with a prosperity tree and a golden dragon for the hotel lobby.

One month later, Sayno was tasked to create his first Easter display, where he again collected materials from various departments around the hotel, getting spare plywood and insulators from the engineering department, used paper from the offices and old linens to create an Easter Candy Wonderland. He was even able to transform simple bilao (woven trays) into giant lollipops.

Sayno gets his resourcefulness from his experiences as a young artist. Coming from a simple life in the province, Sayno shares that he grew up in a bahay kubo (nipa hut) and they didn’t even have electricity when he was younger. He discovered his love for drawing from copying his older brother, who would often represent the school in art competitions. Inspired to do the same, Sayno joined and won his first art competition in kindergarten. He recalls he was up against many private school students who were using oil pastels (“ako crayons lang”), but the six-year-old drew what was close to his heart – his family’s rural life – and took the top prize.

Throughout grade school, he would earn extra money by doing his classmates’ drawing assignments for ten pesos each. In Grade 5, he represented his school at a poster-making competition and won the district level first prize. And, he finally got to use oil pastels.

Sayno’s school years are filled with stories like these – arts and crafts competitions, editorial cartoon competitions, poster making competitions… He even ended up creating his classmate’s pageant costume using an old curtain, dried leaves, corn and coconut husks, and other natural materials.

Another older brother, this one a dancer, inspired Sayno to explore the performing arts. Sayno also became the go-to guy at school to choreograph all of the batch’s cheer dance competitions. Today, he continues to return to the province during fiestas to choreograph thousands of participants in his hometown’s street dance competition entry. Of course, he also makes all the props and costumes.

Aside from the grand decorations in the lobby and the over-the-top Christmas production numbers (with themes including Harry Potter and Moana) that have given his team the championship for several consecutive years, Sayno’s artistic touch figures into his day-to-day tasks too.

As a butler catering to the needs of the hotel’s most high profile guests, Sayno has served presidents and prime ministers of several countries who had made the Diamond Hotel their home during their visits here.

He is in charge of wrapping the hotel’s gifts for the visiting diplomats and Sayno always makes sure to do these artfully, making a simple gift extra special.

He also makes it a point to share Filipino culture with his foreign guests. He remembers when one president came down with a cough and was drinking tea. Sayno offered him some salabat, which the leader liked so much, he ordered it again the next day.

When he learned that the president of an Asian country loves soup, he suggested the Filipino specialty sinigang, which the president devoured happily.

When the deputy prime minister of that country ordered a latte, Sayno made it extra special by doing coffee art on the foam – a cartoon rendition of the deputy prime minister’s face. Delighted, his wife also ordered a latte and Sayno drew her face in the milky foam as well. For their three-day stay, the couple ordered lattes every day and Sayno challenged himself to come up with a new design every morning. When they checked out, they gave Sayno a pack of coffee from their country, he shares.

“I see myself in the future still working in the hospitality industry, with a higher position, hopefully,” says Sayno. He looks forward to continuing to use his strengths as an artist to delight guests. Sayno adds, it’s his training as an artist that gives him not only a creative way or service, but also a diligent work ethic. “When you are an artist, you have to finish your artwork no matter what… kahit hindi ka kumain o magpahinga, matapos mo lang ang ginagawa mo (even if you don’t get to eat or rest, you just have to finish what you’re doing).” In the same way, he applies this to his personal brand of service – he won’t rest until his guests receive the best and most creative service that he can offer.

On his well-deserved Mabuhay Award, Sayno says, “This award is the realization of my purpose and a testament of my hard work. To be able to create an impact, to serve and inspire other people, to express my love for art and most especially to represent the Filipino hospitality industry, has always been my passion. Indeed with this award, I am refueled to continue pursuing my dreams while upholding excellence at all times.”