The 37-year-old, who joined the hospitality industry after leaving school, has found that it seems customer demands know no boundaries.

And for an aspiring hotel manager it is vital to remain unfailingly polite and generous to meet all demands.

Mr Wood, who began his career at the Peterborough Marriott as a front desk associate, said: "I think customers expectations of the service they should receive are increasing.

"And it can seem that customers' demands are endless.

"For instance, there have been many times when I have agreed to make a midnight trip to Tesco for a customer.

"I have even handed over my tie to a customer who desperately needed one for an event. But I have also lent my shirts and cufflinks to customers. I think a readiness to be flexible is the key to handling these situations."

He added: "You do get bad experiences, but for every one bad situation there are endless amounts of good times which override the bad, and the job is so fast paced that we don't have the time to worry about any one situation."

But it is this focus on the customer that is the driving force of the Marriott, which is part of an international chain of hotels that has its headquarters in Washington, America.

The ethos/value works its way right down into the selection of members of staff. Peterborough Marriott employs 130 people, with the numbers rising at the busier times of the year.

Mr Wood said: "We look to take on people who have a positive attitude, are good with people and want to be part of a team. So long as prospective employees have those qualities then we can teach them the rest to do the job."

The hotel is currently coming to the end of a £3.5 million refurbishment, which has been carried out in three phases. The work began with an upgrade of the 163 bedrooms, before moving on to the leisure areas and finally the lobby and public areas. In addition, a further £1 million has had to be spent on a new sprinkler system to comply with health and safety legislation. More excitingly, plasma TVs are soon to be installed in all the bedrooms.

He said: "We have to keep up with ongoing evolution of the Marriott image. We want to try and make people's stay with us a home from home.

"If we want to run a successful prime hotel, and we are the only four-star hotel in Peterborough, then we have to provide as much value for customers as possible.

"We have also made our public space more inviting and have found this is helping more people, particularly women and single people, to feel more comfortable to relax or to work in these areas instead of feeling they have to remain in their rooms."

And certainly the readiness to listen to customers' needs does seem to be paying dividends for the hotel.

Mr Wood said: "January and February have given us a very strong start to the year, and people are placing bookings for now and the future.