It's not just about having skills - it's about attitude!

I booked into a hotel last Thursday in Langkawi, Malaysia and got chatting to the manager (who of course spoke English) and I asked him “what is it like to manage the staff at the hotel”? I was particularly interested in getting this insight as I have just been working with a major hotel group ondeveloping a customer service programme.  His response was “It’s easy”!

He went on to explain how they employed their staff not based on their previous hospitality experience but their employment criteria was largely based on the attitude of the applicant.  He said "I prefer them not to have  any experience at all, and invest in their development up front, because training someone a new skill is so much easier than trying to change an individual’s attitude”.
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At his hotel new employees get 6-weeks training and are assessed before they can be customer facing.  They are also encouraged to never stop learning and have regular training events.

 I know that this is not going to work in every role, but if you had two people in for an interview who would you choose?  Someone with a good attitude or someone with a Fantastic one?