According to professionally administered surveys, 96 percent of all PCC guests rated their overall satisfaction with the PCC experience either “excellent” or “very good.” For example, one guest from Arizona recently wrote:

Tala was our host, and she was great. My nine-year-old daughter was not feeling well, and Tala went above and beyond the call of duty to exceed our expectations, and create a wonderful memory my family will never forget. My six-year-old daughter wanted to take her home. Tala entertained the children — something you can’t train someone to have. Congratulations on hiring her, and please recognize her for her special guest service today. My family and I had a wonderful day, and we will visit again and recommend the PCC to our friends and family.

The “Tala” referred to is Josephine Tala Peseta, a sophomore math major at BYU-Hawaii from Samauga, Savaii, Samoa, who has worked at the PCC for about a year-and-a-half. Like Marcia Perret above, Peseta is a work-scholarship student.

“I enjoy the fact we meet a lot of people,” she said. “When I was a tour guide, I looked forward to it every day. I also liked sharing the culture and talking about different things that happen back home.”

Peseta said she actually has learned quite a bit about her Samoan and other Polynesian cultures since coming here. “I first started working in the Samoan village, and that helped a lot, then when I started working as a tour guide, I learned even more. Now I’m proud to answer the questions people ask.”

“I really like helping them, and I like the spirit of hospitality at PCC,” she said.