Here we are at the end of another year in the School of Tourism and Hospitality at Royal Roads! It’s been an extremely intense and eventful fall term, with our incoming  class in the BA International Hotel Management in a newly redesigned classroom, Margaret Doyle taking on an expanded role for industry liaison and  internship coordination for the whole Faculty of Management, and Geoffrey Bird becoming Dr Geoffrey Bird. Geoff is presently leading a team of our MA students in a Parks Canada project in Quebec- a first for the School. Our diploma program in Jinhua, China, got off to a great start with Dr Nancy Chesworth teaching our first cohort of 85 students, and Adjunct Professor Rod Harris was inducted into the Canadian Tourism Hall of Fame. We’re looking forward to welcoming Rebecca Wilson-Mah who starts with us in January. She will be the program lead for the BA International Hotel Management.

We are presently posting the new BA Global Tourism Management curriculum for provincial review and the on-campus, full-time  MA Tourism Management  has been forwarded for Academic Council review. The Study Group two-year on campus curriculum has been approved and development work on courses starts in the new year. Already we have several Study Group students who have declared their intensions of enrolling in our undergraduate programs. I’ll be going to China and India in February 2012 to build more international programming , and Ted Wykes will be continuing his excellent work across Canada in college recruitment. A big thank you to all our Associate Faculty, who contribute so much to the success of our School, and to our great staff- Tanya Aindow, our Manager, Melody Andersson, MA Tourism program, and Kate Egan, BA Hotel Management program.

Finally- thanks to an outstanding group of BA and MA students and Alumni! You’re why we’re here, and your success makes all of us in the School really proud!

Very best wishes to all for the for the New Year–please stay in touch with us, we love to hear about your travels!

Brian White, Director, School of Tourism and Hospitality Management

Front Desk & Company Logo

China has long been a popular tourist destination thanks to its rich historical and cultural attractions, as well as its breathtaking natural landscape. China’s economic development and reform has helped the nation become the second largest economy in the world as measured by GDP. Domestic Chinese travel is no longer the high growth segment it used to be within the travel industry, rather there is more emphasis being placed on exciting, exotic outbound travel. Many more Chinese can afford expensive outbound travel in order to experience different lifestyles and environments. With rising living standards, China’s outbound tourism has been developing fast. In 2011, outbound travelers reached 47 million (that number is more than the total population of Canada) to more than 130 travel destinations around the world. In spite of my major in hospitality, I decided to do an internship with Tui China, one of the premier international tour service agents in China. Due to the Germany-based company background, our clients are mainly from automotive industry like BMW, Porsche, VW…

The transition from academic to professional life is not easy. It requires learning a great deal of soft and hard skills. I am trying my best to manage daily business. I have learned a great deal and believe my experience as an intern will be highly beneficial to my future career.

Office Building on Chang'an Avenue, Beijing

My daily work schedule:

I wake up around 6:30 am with a 10 to 15 minute “cooling period” to allow my sleepy eyes to open. My morning routine lasts about an hour. Soon after that is completed, I enjoy my mom’s home-made breakfast and I let myself enjoy “my day of appreciation”. My journey is started at 8:00 am sharp and of course it is always enjoyable and exciting.

Traffic jam on the way to office

Driving in a big city like Beijing is not easy. You have to be very astute in selecting the most efficient route without getting trampled by the daily rush hour. It is really hard to comprehend a city like Beijing which has over 20 million residents and over 8 million vehicles. Thank god, I always manage my time fairly well.

My day is about to start at 9:00 am, but before that I need a little boost; a grand sized iced latte; always my favorite.

Iced Latte, my favorite

Walking toward my office and waving hello to my colleagues, I have just a few chats to bring myself closer to the working environment. I thought the transition would be difficult at the very beginning, but when the time came to work I was proved wrong. It takes just a matter of time for me to get used to my new situation.

Turning on my computer and checking my emails is always the first thing to do. A routine morning meeting hosted by the division manager is very important. He assigns every single task to fellow division members and discusses various issues relating to Chinese Outbound Tour Groups, such as travel itinerary, visas, accommodation, transportation, and so on. I normally have a small coaching session with the division manager right after the meeting in order for me to have a better understanding of the company’s operations as well as for my division of the daily business. Around 10:30 am, I start discussing issues with my co-worker on an outbound tour itinerary. There are lots of detailed issues that need to be ironed out in regards to selecting locations, suitable accommodation, dining, and transportation. After the discussion, we go online and browse location information, check hotel prices, and talk to embassy people in regards to visa applications.

The sea of cubicles~~

There is 6 hours difference between China and Europe. I communicate with prospective clients in Europe to confirm our tour itinerary with them. Cross border communication is very interesting. I find it a useful position filling the gap between Chinese and European clients and gaining first-hand information. I then confirm the itinerary schedule and determine whether or not it is viable for our client’s budget. I have a final talk with my coworkers on the tour itinerary and report to my manager. What intense and fast-paced work.

My little cubicle~~

Suddenly, my cell phone is ringing. My mom is asking me what I want to eat. It is almost 6:10pm. Let’s call it a day so I can set myself free.

On the way home~!

Here are two links that you can look at in order to get more details about Tui China:

Tui China  http://tui.cn/en/

Tui China press conference video http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/UIF_96xh1I0/

This is about Beijing, the Capital city of China:

Visiting Beijing http://english.visitbeijing.com.cn/

Here are links that you can look at in order to get more details about the projects that I participated during the internship:

BMW Mission 3 http://www.bmw.com.cn/cn/zh/insights/events/pool/mission3/2011/overview.html

BMW: The M festival, 24H RACE NÜRBURGRING.  http://www.m-power.com/_open/b/varlink2.jsp?lang=en

“This is my favourite place in the world…can we come back every year!?”

Four Seasons Maui

Photograph retrieved at http://www.fourseasons.com/maui/photos_and_videos/#image-maui-resort-MAU_686

Today, as I complete my Bachelor of Arts in International Hotel Management at Royal Roads University   (@Royalroads), that vivid but distant memory has stuck with me. I believe that particular day was the defining moment of my passion for hotels and in a way, marked the beginning of my ‘career’ in the hospitality industry. It had always been a dream for me to work with Four Seasons and when the opportunity came up I was thrilled to be able to intern with Four Seasons Toronto.

Royal Roads University

Friday June 17^th- 2:30 pm

Excited, intimidated and anxious would only begin to describe how I felt as I stepped off the airplane. A blanket of warm air swept over my body as I walked through the glass doors of the Pearson International Airport

Toronto.

I sat on the airport shuttle, staring eagerly out the window en route to downtown. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the CN tower for the first time! A quick 45 minutes ride, and I arrived at The Best Western hotel downtown, http://www.torontoprimrosehotel.com; my new home for the summer.

Over the next few days I spent some time exploring Toronto, learning the subway system and enjoying the beautiful weather.  Toronto surprised me. The city was packed with ethnicity, beautiful architecture, extensive cuisine, high fashion, arts and most importantly, opportunity. I found myself quickly adapting to the Toronto life style and gaining a rather high appreciation for the city, even the sporting events!

My first Toronto Jays Game

I eagerly awaited my first day of my internship at Four Seasons Hotel Toronto

Monday Morning…

As I set out onto the bustling streets that Monday morning on my way to work, I felt oddly at ease considering the long journey ahead of me. My previous hospitality experience allowed me to feel fairly confident with the new role I was undertaking. Upon arriving at Four Seasons Toronto, my new boss Angela, Marketing Manager, greeted me in the lobby of the hotel; she was fantastic! Angela showed me around the beautiful property and introduced me to the rest of the team. Shortly after, we sat down and discussed a brief framework of what I could expect for my internship this summer. It sounded almost too good to be true!
It didn’t take long for me to recognize that all my previous assumptions of the Four Seasons brand were very accurate, and my distant childhood memories were confirmed. The company itself was extremely well structured, service was consistent, and what impressed me the most was Four Seasons seemed to always be one step above other leading chains and competitors.  Outstanding colleagues, exceptional amenities, and fantastic service, it was no wonder Four Seasons was a global hospitality leader in luxury.  I knew very early on, this internship would be one of the most valuable experiences for me both professionally and personally.

A special personalized amenity prepared for a little girl staying at the hotel. 

Over the course of the next few months, I was assigned to work on various projects related to public relations and communications. Although the hotel was extremely well structured, my work days were quite the opposite.  Each day was quite different from the last, which made this experience so valuable. Some of my  responsibilities were, answering general inquiries from the public and media, plan coordinate and execute special projects, assist with communication materials such as press releases and social media, coordinating magazine and television interviews with the Concierge,  and capturing photos of new products and promotions to upload to various social media platforms. Although, aside from these tasks, my main focus for the internship was assisting Four Seasons Toronto prepare for the Toronto International Film Festival 2011 in September (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/26/toronto-film-festival-2011_n_909717.html). 

Having never been to Toronto before, this event really sparked my interest and I felt incredibly fortunate to be a part of it. There was a lot of hype around TIFF and Four Seasons Toronto was very much involved in many of the events.

July- Preparation for TIFF

Four Seasons Hotel Toronto hosts a luncheon on the first Saturday of TIFF yearly for George Christy, a former columnist for the Hollywood Reporter, along with several of his guests, close friends and the media.

George Christy- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0160690/

This is the 27^th consecutive year the George Christy Luncheon has taken place at Four Seasons Hotel Toronto and is considered a high profile event for the hotel.  This year, I was Mr. Christy’s “personal assistant” intern. His arrival to the hotel was set for early September however; I was in contact with him in July to being preparing for the event. Prior to his arrival I helped build the guest list, contact guests and potential invites and ensure his upcoming visit to Toronto would be executed flawlessly. During the actual event itself, I would be responsible for the guest list at the door while also assisting George in any way possible.

Aside from assisting with Mr. Christy, I was also able to be very involved in planning for the TIFF events hosted in Avenue Bar, Four Seasons Hotel Toronto’s legendary lounge. I was able to contribute ideas and suggestions for some of the events such as, theme, décor, invitations, wardrobe and cocktail ideas.

Four Seasons Hotel Toronto has been a major player in the Toronto Film Festival for many years, although this year was specifically important. A new Four Seasons Hotel Toronto is currently under construction in the neighbourhood, and in about a year, the team will move to their new home down the street.   http://www.fourseasons.com/toronto-new/.  Therefore this year’s Film Festival is the last TIFF to be celebrated at this property, as next year the new hotel will be open.

The new Four Seasons Hotel Toronto.  Set to open Summer 2012

-Under construction

Urban Toronto’s “Photo of the Day”  Retrieved: http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2011/08/photo-day-lifetime-developments-and-menkes-sexy-four-seasons-hotel-and-private-residenc

In the next few months, I really am looking forward to continuing my journey with Four Seasons Hotel Toronto.  The city of Toronto, specifically the hospitality industry, is constantly evolving however; Four Seasons has consistently maintained their brand integrity and their presence in the market place.  Four Seasons has exceeded my expectations as a company from both a guest and an “employee” perspective. As I look to the future, I hope to continue to develop professionally establish a long term career with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.

A view of Harbourside from the hotel lobby above

A View of the harbour from Harbourside

So, let me show you my day in life as a trainee in Harbourside. I’ll will  be using my afternoon shift that starts at 2:00pm and ends at 11:00pm for this blog as it shows lunch and dinner buffet.

Getting to work

One would imagine all the tall buildings and skyscrapers when I mention I live in Hong Kong but it has a fair share of rural places too and that’s where I live. (With my sister and her two dogs, the only reason she is living so far out from the city center) I live pretty far from hotel and usually take me about 1.5 hours to get to work so I would leave my house around 12 in the afternoon. To get to the hotel, I would need to take a bus to the Light Rail station. From there it would take me to the MTR(Mass Transit Railway) station which would take me all the way a station very close to my hotel.

A = My house, B = InterContinental Hong Kong

Roles

Before I go on, I should really talk about some of the positions that I have been trained.

There are five positions that I have been trained in at the restaurant and they are Front Server, Back of House, Hostess, Bartender and Manager.

Front Servers – Take food and drinks orders, serve food and drinks, make drinks (ex: Ice Lemon Tea, Hot Cappuccino), Collect empty plates for buffet guests, clear tables, place table settings

Back of House – Buffet table setup and maintenance during meal periods, Checking stocks, picking up linens

Reception Hostess – Lead guests to assigned tables, replying guest inquiry, answering phone calls

Bartender – bar operation, cocktail mixing, wine cellar control, checking inventory.

Manager – Supervising staffs, checking buffet tables, handling guest comments and complains, prepare the daily F&B log

Afternoon Shift

When I start my work at 2:00pm, the lunch buffet would almost be finish as it ends at 2:30pm so the first thing I do is to check which section of the restaurant I have been assigned to and go to help out at that section. My position at this time is a front server and I would clear empty plates off tables and take and make drink orders. Speed is everything in every Hong Kong job so everyone is in a rush at this time (even the guests) when guests starts to order their complementary drinks that comes with the buffet. Once the guests start to leave, I would start clearing tables and put dinner table settings down for the night buffet bookings.

By 3:30pm, most guests would be gone except the chatty people who can chat for hours and new guest would arrive for our afternoon tea set. Since there is significantly less guest during this time, I would use this time to fill up my section (Cups, plates, utensils and towel) and check to see if the table settings are in the correct order.

Today is a little special because there is a wine tasting class at 4:00pm. This class is provided by InterContinental to give the employees knowledge about the upcoming promotion wines.

A Picture with the wine trainer and my colleagues

Around 5:00pm, it’s lunch/dinner time! The staff canteen “Chopsticks” is very close to the restaurant so it is very convenient for me and my colleagues. Sometimes I might see fellow classmate Vicky Chan and RRU Alumni Sara Ngai eating as well but I only see them mostly during my morning shifts.

Everyone enjoyed their lunch

My break ends an hour later at 6:00pm which is just before start of the dinner buffet at 6:30. At this time, I will help out the reception hostess and lead guests to their assigned table. Once most guests have arrived, which would be around 7:00, I will go back to my assigned section to help out. As I help emptying plates of guests’ table, I will also need to check up on other servers as well as the buffet table to see if everything is in order. This is part of what being a manager is about and also the role I am training today.

mmmm...lobsters.... Too bad I can't have them

Colorful and tasty, what more can you ask for?

At 8:00pm, most guests attention will be directed towards the outside view as it is the time for the “A Symphony of Lights” which is the World’s Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show. Other notable scenery include various boat tours with some awesome looking sail boats

This boat attracts many cameras including mine

Around 8:00 to 9:00, as people start to settle in and had a few plates of food in their stomach, I will check up on the guests to see if they enjoy their meal and if there are any problems. As 10:00 approaches and the dinner buffet ends, it is time for me to start clearing tables, put down morning table settings and help with closing the buffet.

At 11:00pm, my day is finally over but not everyone else as the restaurant is still open until 12:30pm. I sign out, get changed and make my way home.

A picture taken just before I leave

Going home is a bit faster at night as there are fewer people (although it is still much more than Victoria in day time) so I get would get home around 12:30pm. After the daily hygiene activities, email checking and some internet surfing. I finally get on the bed around 2:00pm and get some much-needed sleep.

Life as an InterContinental Hong Kong Trainee

There are many other trainees at InterContinental Hong Kong from many schools throughout the world with me and Vicky being the representatives from Canada. We have many activities together which includes our monthly meeting, the trainees outing and volunteer activities. Check out some of the pictures below. Alternatively, go read Vicky’s blog for more pictures

Volunteering at Po Leung Kok

A outing with all the trainees and ex-trainees at Shek-O. It was a fun day

There are 5 trainees including myself just training in Harbourside

As one of the most luxury five star hotels in Suzhou, SLSZ has 410 rooms,  include 275 Deluxe Rooms, 86 Horizon Club Rooms, 29 Premier Suites and 20 Serviced Apartments. At the first floor, the hotel has a Lobby Lounge, it provides 78 seats and offers cocktails, wine, soft drink, snacks and the library, next to the Lobby Lounge is the hotel’s Café Soo, “Soo” is the pronunciation of “Su”. Café Soo has 196 seats and provides breakfast/lunch/dinner buffet. As SLSZ has a lot of Japanese customers, a Japanese restaurant is available in the same floor. At the 2^nd floor are three ballrooms and a Chinese restaurant – Shang Palace, it offers different Chinese cuisine. Spa and gym are located at the 5^th floor. The building includes totally 51 floors. From 6^th floor to 27^th floor are lending to other companies. Guest rooms are available from 28^th floor to 51th floor. The Horizon Club Lounge is located at the 48^th floor and servers only from floor 43^rd floor to 48th. After one month working at the concierge (June 6^th to July 11^th), I moved to Horizon Club Lounge and started supporting the Food and Beverage section (another section is front desk).

Different department has different shifts. In Horizon Club Lounge there are four types of shifts-A,B,D,S. Because Horizon Club Lounge provides breakfast buffet from 6:30am to 10am, colleagues of shift A need to start working from 6am to 3pm, Shift B is from 14:15 to 11pm, mainly support the “Happy Hour” dinner buffet, Shift D is the manager’s shift which is from 8:30 to 17:30. Shift S is from 7am to 11am and 5pm to 9pm.

Here is a day in my life of the shift B

After lunch I went out from home to the bus stop. It was 12:45pm when I got the stop. The bus arrived very soon. It took me about half an hour to get the hotel. After I changed my uniform, it was about 1:45pm. It took me quite a while to wait for the elevator – because it located at the 48^th floor. When I got Horizon Club Lounge it was nearly 2pm. I walked around to check the whole area and stayed at the Horizon Club front desk to wait for my colleagues. Another shift B colleague Grace arrived at 14:10.
Shift A Sandy and Joy handed over to us. Ten minutes later, Grace and I went down to the Back Office. Front Office includes six small departments. They are front desk (FD), back office, business centre (BC), service centre (SC), concierge and horizon club (HC). All B shift staff from each small FO department will get together at the back office before we start working every afternoon. The duty manager Peter shared the customer information with us. The occupancy was around 70% and there were several VIP arrivals need to pay attention. Grace reported that our coffee machine was broken and we would take the coffee machine from business centre to replace ours. Peter agreed because BC rarely uses it. The department meeting ended at 2:35. I went to the BC to get the machine and grace went to floor B1 to get our linens.
One of the major tasks of B shift is to prepare for the “Happy Hour” and tomorrow’s breakfast buffet. Grace needed to stay at the front desk to do same paper work and handle guest’s check in/out. I stayed in the kitchen to fold the napkins. I need to prepare for 76 seats; each needs need to 2 napkins which means I need to fold at least 152 napkins. Besides these, I also need to prepare the tableware for today’s evening and tomorrow morning. It was a very “boring” and “lonely” two-hour period. Sometimes we will have some guest come in and request for some snacks and soft drinks. But because we only serve horizon club guests (Floor 43^rd to 48^th) and most of them are business travelers, very few customers will come during the afternoon. 16:57, the S shift Amy came and I went to have dinner. We have 30 minutes to finish it and have a little rest. When I went back, everything was set perfectly. We have five hot dishes, fresh vegetables and salads, smoked salmon, fruits, nuts, desserts, ice-cream and cheeses.


All of these food and drinks are free during these two hours. My job is to lead customers to their seats, offer drinks, add dishes and take empty plates. I will also chat with the customers to get their comments and suggestions. Some regular customers and long-stay customers are very familiar with us. We usually have around 30 customers per evening, and today there were 27.

After the “happy” hour we need to put everything back to the kitchen. It took Grace and me half an hour to finish it. After this, one of us will count the drinks to calculate the cost and another one will count the tableware in case if we lost anything. When we finish this it was about 21:00. Shift S need to move some clean plates to the outside because we need them for tomorrow. Amy’s tasks were all done after she finished this. My next mission is to set the table. I need to change the linens on the table, put egg menu, pepper and salt, toothpick, sugar, and jams on the middle of the table with a strict order. This task took Grace and me about an hour. About 22:15, everything was done. I can finally have a rest. About 22:45, I started to close the area. All the air-confectioners needed to be closed, the meeting room, two side entrances, kitchen, two storages all needed to be locked. Grace was at the front desk to close cashier. It was almost 11 o’clock; we called the security to come up to check everything. When I got home, it was almost twelve o’clock. There are many details I do not have enough time to explain. My supervisor said that it usually took a trainee two to four weeks to become familiar with the Horizon Club Lounge F&B section and only after three months a trainee can start touch front desk tasks.

Here is the picture of my supervisor Betty

and the manager Annie

I was just accepted by the Shangri-La Hotel and Resorts Corporate Trainee program. It is a 16-month training program. From August 15^th, I will start my first phase at Shangri-La Suzhou Hotel with a two-month Hotel Orientation. I will go to ten departments to get a clearer understanding of hotel operations. It is really a good chance for me to see how things work at a hotel and experience the Shangri-La philosophy.

When the golden sunshine breaks the darkness, the entire Hangzhou city quietly wakes up with the whisper of birds. And the lung of Hangzhou, the beautiful Xixi Wetland also emerges from the light fog.  The hotel I’m working for, Banyan Tree Hangzhou is right next to the wetland, where is called the Westbrook Resort (Xixi Haven) now.

Hangzhou – The Heaven on Earth: The Lotus in West Lake

The Xixi Wetland

“Is this all I’ve been searching for, is this all I’ve been waiting for….” One of my favoured songs recently resounded in the room at 6:30 and I quickly mute it within 5 seconds.  Slightly open my eyes and look around, luckily that my alarm didn’t wake up the other five roommates.  At 6:45, my second alarm sounds and this time I really need to kiss my lovely bed and say goodbye to it.

The morning routine takes about 45 minutes to refresh myself.  Of cause, the most important part is the makeup.  As a profession front office staff, my appearance is also part of the first impression of the resort.  Appropriate makeup makes me look fresh, smart, profession and friendly.  Living in a residence with colleagues doesn’t give me the chance to cook breakfast myself, I have to grab a quick breakfast from the tiny food shop near the residence and finish it before I on board the shuttle bus 7:40.

Smile & Be Confidence

       The sign in process is easy and quick with the finger print identify system.  The locker room is already crowed at this moment, ladies from each department are standing in front of the mirror to do the final check of their appearance – makeup, hair and uniform – everything should meet the standards of Banyan Tree.  With the beautiful Chinese style uniform, I finish the final check of my appearance before I enter the front house.  Telling myself in my mind that “Crystal, get ready, work hard and enjoy the job”, the smile on my face gives me a great beginning and the confidence I need for my day.

Preparation

There are lots of things to do when I arrival the front office. The first thing I do is to check the log book and chart with staffs who is working the morning shift to see if there’s any important information I need to know (what happened last night, any special request from guests, things that need to be follow up, & any message for other departments – especially the reservation and sales department).  Then it is necessary to check the Opera system to know how many people will stay over, departure and arrive.  This information is crucial in terms of create the first impression as it help us prepare our signature welcome drinks and towels.

Going over the profile of each guest prepares me for the later communication with other departments such as housekeeping and concierge.  The white board in the office is always a helper that talks the small details of our daily operation.  Making sure we have enough towels and drink for the morning, I’m ready for my shift at 8:30AM.  Seems lots of things to do, the key is to check everything efficiently and get ready for the day.

Be the Operator and more…. the Guest Service

Answering phones sounds easy and simple, but that’s not the case for us in the Banyan Tree.   The guest service agents who are actually doing lots of other things.  The following is what I need to do:

1). Of course, transfer external/internal calls to different departments

2). Deliver the last night’s messages to the related departments

3). Record and deliver messages for other departments if they are busy and department heads if they are attending the morning meeting

4). Handle requests from the in house guests and arriving guests by contacting related departments and doing the follow up (clean the room, arrange transportation, order the In Suit/Villa Dining, late Check Out, & etc.)

5). Book Spa & restaurant appointments for guests if these outlets aren’t open yet

6). Be the information source for guests and potential guests (provide information like room types, room rate, facilities, location, direction, information of Xixi Wetland and Hangzhou, our promotions & etc.)

As front office staff, I need to know almost everything in the hotel which can influence the experience of each guest.

Banyan Tree Hanzghou

Lunch…With the General Manager

Although today is now the busiest day of the week, it is still a busy day for us in order to satisfy the guests’ requests and to assist everyone who calls the resort.  Time flies and it’s time for lunch.  Typical Hangzhou dishes are served in our staff cafeteria, which mostly use the local and signature Hangzhou ingredients.  With my lunch, I seat beside the biggest table and wait for other colleagues and General Manager because I am invited to attend today’s GM meal.

This regular gathering with GM is always a good time to know the new colleagues, to know what’s happening in the hotel and to share our experience in the hotel.  Great comments are shared to encourage us, but of course, the bad ones to motivate us to improve the service.  The future plan of Banyan Tree is also mentioned to ensure we know the development of the brand and the opportunity of career development.

 Gift from the GM meal: Fan with Our Map

The Peak of the Day – Make Teamwork Your Responsibility

The time between 12:30pm and 4:00pm is always the busy to time for us.  If needed, like today, I will assist the resort hosts to check the rooms and place the personalized welcome card for arrival guests.  Walking in the resort is also my small exercise for the day while enjoying the beautiful scene.

Making sure that the rooms, welcome drinks and towels are ready is crucial parts of the check-in preparation.  Guests usually arrive after our afternoon briefing at 2:30pm.  Knowing what’s happening in the resort prepares everyone for the rest of the day.  When lots of guests arrive at the same time, teamwork always makes things go smoothly and easier.  I greet the guests, serve the welcome drinks and towels and collect IDs.  All of these help our resort hosts to efficiently check in guests while creating a great first impression.

Escorting guests to the suite/villa is always a fun job.  The unobtrusive conversation during this period gives me the chance to introduce the resort, up sell the services we provide and notices some special wants and needs.

Be Trained or Train

It is more quiet after 3:15pm and several regular trainings (Trainings for English, Hangzhou’s Tourism Hotspots, local souvenirs ant etc.) usually are hold around 3:30pm while the bit of the day slow down.  However, there is not training today so I use this time to teach the new employees in order to ensure they know the general information of the hotel.  I’m responsible to ensure that they know the resort, and the services/products Banyan Tree Hangzhou offers before they learn the specific jobs from their mentors.

After the this, I will update the training manuals if I found something information is unclear or is not mentioned.  This is also the time for the new staff to observe how to use proper language and how to handle some guest requests.  However, I like to catch every possible chance throughout the day to teach them rather than making the training time boring.

Sweet Night

Around 5:00pm, my shift is almost done.  I double check the log book to ensure all the guests’ requests are done or need to be follow up.  Then I record important issues on the operator’s book so that my colleagues can do the follow up later.  The last thing I do is to set up the lobby for the night.  The romantic set up of candle lights and rose makes the night of the resort an unforgettable experience.

Romantic Evening Set Up of the Lobby

Saying goodbye to my colleagues, a long day is ended and I am going to charge myself with the delicious Hangzhou cousin.  Tomorrow is my day off so it’s time to explore this beautiful, city which is known as the “Heaven on Earth” in china.  Ciao and have a sweet dream!

Life in Hangzhou

The Copper Museum: Copper Lotus

“Sir. Do you want more tea?”

The House of  a Qing Dynasty’s Government Officer

A day in my life –

Bangkok is indeed a crazy city – a mix of good and bad – endless traffic, crowded streets, inviting bars and restaurants, appetizing Thai dishes, a mix of people from all around the world, and SHOPPING – and to be working here for 5 months seemed too much for me to handle! Can’t help but feel mixed emotions on the excitement and dangers of living in one of the most favorite cities in the world, and also the most dangerous. Walking into the Le Meridien Hotel on my first day even increased my doubts of me being able to survive the following months. It is a five-star hotel in the midst of Bangkok’s business area (during the day) and the popular “Patpong” at night. (Google it and find out what it’s all about!)

A typical day for me…

I wake up in the morning, jump in the shower, and have a cup of coffee before starting my day. It takes me 5 minutes to walk to the hotel which makes my life so much easier! After working 10-11 hour shifts I don’t want to have to think about a typical train, bus, or taxi commute in the middle of Bangkok traffic!! Entering through the back entrance and scanning my thumb on the attendance machine makes it official and work is about to start! After changing into my uniform I walk to the Front Office and begin my shift. The team starts with a daily briefing of what’s ahead of us for the day. Any updates or important notices are shared to make the flow of work during the day easy. I walk to any of the front counters and print daily reports that we go through during the first half of the day at the same time checking-out guests and assisting them with all their queries. I started gaining responsibilities after a month of training and just learning everyday processes, where now I have my own paperwork to do at the end of my shift summarizing all transactions I have done during the day and making sure that everything was done properly. The first month was definitely ‘heavy’ with a lot of new things to take in. The learning didn’t stop in that first month though because everyday something new still comes up that I have yet to learn.

Lunch or dinner breaks at the staff canteen is something I always look forward to because it introduces me to different kinds of Thai food. Most are always so delicious, but there are some too spicy for me to eat. I’m sure you all would hate me for posting these pictures of Thai food!

Everyone in the Front Office team are nice and friendly and if you ask me, they are all driven, capable, and good at what they do! Definitely inspiring. They know when to have fun and when to be serious. I got along with most of them very quickly which made it easier for me to transition into this new work environment. Parties are thrown at least once a month celebrating promotions, and bidding farewell to some of the best who are off to a bigger and better position in other hotels. So much opportunity for growth in this industry that’s for sure!

Now to move on to the best part of this job! The people I meet everyday are what makes this job fun and fulfilling. We get a mix of business and leisure travelers from all around the world, and it’s great that we get to interact with them. Yes we do get difficult guests, but the ones who are so warm and kind to you makes up for the ill feelings that others give. We get a lot of returning guests and it’s always fun welcoming them back and knowing that they actually remember you from last time. The most challenging guests however, I have yet to talk about: the Japanese. They are majority of our market and it is always a challenge to communicate with them as most know very little English and zero Thai. Having worked here for 2 months now, I have learned to speak Thai-style English, Japanese-style English, and of course picked up on a lot of Thai words – enough to have short, basic conversations with people!

The hotel is pretty consistent in terms of occupancy and guest reviews. Upon check out of guests and after asking them about their stay, we are encouraged to invite them to share their experiences on TripAdvisor (so long as we have comfortable conversations with guests)… Click the link to read some! http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g293916-d1026220-Reviews-Le_Meridien_Bangkok-Bangkok.html

So far, this experience has been more than I could ask for. I have already learned a lot and I know I will continue to do so. The hotel is progressive, together with the people who work hard to make it the best hotel in Bangkok. Two more months to go here, so for any of you who are done with your internships, and anyone who has some free time, come and visit and get a taste of Bangkok!

Four Seasons Restaurant Dining Area

After a quick tour in F&B outlets in China Hotel by working in its 5 restaurants and steward, I start working in Café veranda the busiest F&B outlet from July 1st. A normal day for me in Café veranda would look like this.

VIP room in Prime Steakhouse

Starting a new day is always exciting but difficult at the same time. I can’t believe I almost overslept. It’s 5:30 already. To get to the hotel by 6:15, I have rushed for a quick shower and have my breakfast within 30 minutues. Guangzhou’s summer is hot and humility, even a 10-minutes walk from home, I am already sweating at the moment I reached my locker.

6:30:  Show up in Café Veranda. Café Veranda has approximately 250 seats, it offers A La Carte and buffet in breakfast. First thing I will do is to check the supervisor logbook and the dinning reservation. In the supervisor logbook, information such as the hotel occupancy rate, memo and reservation. I can have a basic expectation of what is going on today.

6:45: A 5-minute-morning briefing was held in the kitchen area.  The morning shift supervisor holds the briefing. Staff will be assigned to different sections.

7:00-10:30: Café Veranda start providing the breakfast service.

I would like to share a sample service sequence to demonstrate how I serve a guest.

• Greet the guest: “Good morning, how are you doing today?”
• Enquire for seating: “Would you like to sit at a smoking or non smoking table? Would you like a table by the window or shall I get you a table near the buffet? “
• After seating the guest, I will ask, “May I serve you some coffee or tea?”
• Through breakfast I will chat with the guest, try to build on relationship and record their preferences. Besides that I will also clear empty plates and glasses and refill coffee or tea in a timely manner.

10:30: Time to have my early lunch in associate restaurant. The lunch is free, you only need to tap the associate ID card at its entrance.

11:30: Back to Café Veranda. Our lunch buffet is open from 12-14:30. I need to ensure the food listed on the printed out lunch buffet menu, which will be different everyday, has matched on food on the buffet table.

Cafe Veranda

12:00 -14:30: Cafe Veranda offers A La Carte and buffet for lunch as well. Different from the breakfast, Café Veranda will have theme buffet based on the promotion. Café Veranda hosts different theme festival every month. For example, from August 19th to September 4^th, we will have a Southeast Asia festive. Today, we need to collect lunch ticket from the guests who were prepaid by their company. Once the guest set down, we need to serve them coffee or tea, at the same time ask for the lunch ticket. As today we do not have much guest order A La Carte, restaurant gets slow at around 13:30. The supervisor asks us to flipping table to the dinner setting, some staff was sent to polish cutlery.

14:30: Wouter, the F&B Service Manager and Sally, the Restaurant Manager are hosting our 15-mintute daily briefing. Basically, Sally will go though information in the logbook again, and go though the Marriot’s daily basics. Later, Wouter will share his idea about the service challenges he has observed today. Moreover, he will give suggestions or let us to discuss a proper way to improve service quality.

15:30: Time to finish my shift.

-Kevin Li

Hello, I am a Royal Roads University student completing my internship at the Coast Plaza Hotel & Suites in Vancouver.  The Coast Plaza Hotel & Suites is located in the West End of Vancouver.  The West End consists of many, many different varieties of restaurants and English Bay, one of Vancouver’s beaches!  The Coast Plaza Hotel & Suites consists of 269 rooms in a 35 floor tower.  The base of the hotel is a community mall which has everything I need, a grocery store and a wine store! http://www.denmanplacewines.com/

 I am lucky enough to have seized the opportunity to live at this Coast Hotels property while completing my internship.  I am spending these 12 weeks in a one bedroom suite on the 20^th floor.  This makes my commute to work every day just a quick elevator ride!!

The Coast Plaza Hotel & Suites is located in the West End of Vancouver, right beside English Bay and Stanley Park. I am living at the beach for my internship!

730am: Alarm goes off.

7:40am: Get out of bed, walk into my living area and turn my laptop on to check my @coasthotels email.  While the computers turning on, I enter the kitchen to make some breakfast.  Breakfast is ready just in time to check the email and the daily sales report.  I specially look over the occupancy for the past day, compared to month to date and then compared to budget.  I also look at how the other departments are doing for budget and month to date.

8:00am: Get ready for the work day

8:27am: Leave for work

8:30am: Arrive in the Sales and Catering department.

The Coast Plaza Hotel & Suites is currently in the second phase of their $9 million renovations.  This makes sales so much more exciting.  The hotel has new TVs, furniture and linens in the guest rooms.  Showing off these new and improved guest rooms to prospective clients is something that makes everyone feel very proud.

I also had the opportunity to work with a professional photographer to take new pictures of the guest rooms and views from the top floor that will be featured on the Coast Hotels website and a variety of brochures.

The gorgeous view of Coal Harbour:

The newest corporate sales manager has yet to start his new role in the hotel (previously working as a Duty Manager on the front desk) so in the mean time I have taken over his office!

I check in with the Director of Sales to double-check my duties for the day.

9am-11am: Compiling Summer Discount Flyers and making calls to a variety of businesses to send these flyers to.

11am-Noon: Surprise! Michelle, a sales manager from Coast Coal Harbour brings a client over for a site visit to our property because Coast Coal Harbour is too small to accommodate the requirements of the client. Great teamwork between the two properties! Winning Together is an important Coast Hotels value.

I quickly rush down to the front desk, grab a key card for couple of rooms and take the elevator to the 19^th floor to turn the lights on and double/triple check the show rooms.  The client then arrives and we show him the different guest rooms we have to offer.

Examples:

A Comfort Room:

One Bedroom Suite:

After viewing the guest rooms, we go back down to the Conference level and explain and show the client a variety of options for the different spaces in the conference rooms.  The client is considering hosting a large convention in the Coast Plaza Hotel & Suites (CPHS) and therefore needs a large room for convention space. CPHS is lucky enough to have Denman Cinema’s as a part of their building

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Denman-Cinema/185674881464146?sk=wall

After showing all the amenities (pool, fitness centre, restaurant and pub) to the client, we establish that our sales team will create a proposal to offer to the client.

Noon-1pm: Lunch time! I head back up to my room to relax and enjoy lunch. Followed by a walk along the beach and grabbing a Starbucks coffee to power through the afternoon.

Depending on which department I am in, lunch varies.  The Brasserie Bistro is a popular lunch spot for the leadership teams.  Great food and great service!!

http://twitter.com/#!/BrasserieBistro

1pm – 430pm: Back to the sales office! Depending on how the day is going, I go through the variety of offices and offer my help to any of the sales managers.  The afternoon can consist of prospecting phone calls to possible future clients, or to stuffing catering packages.

As a thank you to the Vancouver Police Department for their bravery during the Vancouver 2011 Riots, I created gift baskets from Coast Plaza Hotel & Suites:

430-8pm: Change out of business attire and into shorts and a t-shirt.  Since Vancouver is close to home for me, my boyfriend is a frequent visitor.  Weekday evenings we put our runners on and hit the StanleyPark seawall!

http://vancouver.ca/parks/parks/stanley/seawall.htm

 The 10km walk/run/bike/rollerblade wall starts and ends right in front of the Coast Plaza, my summertime home!  Afterwards, we’ll end up hungry, there are too many eateries to choose from in the West End!  We’ll try something new for dinner most nights.

My internship also over lapped with the Canucks 2011 Playoff run. I was lucky enough to not be in the midst of all the riots.  I am also lucky enough to have had the opportunity to walk through the streets during the clean up and see the true side of Vancouverites shine through.

8pm: time to relax, catch up on personal emails and work on some RRU homework.

930/10: watch the sunset from my 20th floor view.

11: bedtime!

And I can’t forget one of the best parts of living at the Coast Plaza Hotel & Suites…

The annual Celebration of Light fireworks!  Here’s a sample of what I get to experience for 3 great nights this summer:

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Hello and welcome to my Day in the Life blog describing my internship as a Bellman at the Westin Bear Mountain! Like many jobs in the hospitality industry every day can be different, fun and exciting. Therefore, before I describe my day I would like to point out key critical features that are unique to the Bellman position at the resort. One feature is that the Westin Bear Mountain doesn’t have a separate Concierge Department; therefore, all bellmen work for the Front Office Department.

Myself with Amy Hamilton-Front Office Manager, Paul Patterson and Ryan Bartlett. Paul and Ryan are veteran bellmen who've done it all and seen it all.

The other feature is the fact that there are two separate hotel buildings. The main building where everyone check-in/out of the resort is known as the Clubhouse Building, and our second building is known as the Fairways Building. Both buildings offer the same type of hotel rooms; however, the Fairways Building has hotel rooms that are pet friendly. This feature means that during arrivals and departures the bellmen have to be prepared to move at moment’s notice to provide guest assistance in both buildings throughout the shift.

 The Clubhouse Building

   The Fairways Building

So now that I’ve finished describing the critical features of the resort, I’ll now speak about my day as a Bellman. The majority of the shifts that I’ve worked at the Westin Bear Mountain have been the evening/closing shift. On weekdays they start at 3:00pm and they end at 11:30pm. On weekends the closing shift starts at 4:30pm and they end at 1:00am the next day because generally there are weddings and various events over the weekend, which allows the bellman to provide assistance to any guests. My day starts at Metchosin, a suburb of Victoria. Usually two hours before my shift starts I’ll prepare myself for the day, including showering, brushing my teeth, shaving, combing my hair, etc. Appearance is a huge aspect in the hospitality and tourism industry; therefore, I have to ensure that I look professional. I change into my uniform, grab a quick bite to eat and then drive through the small town of Metchosin towards Langford, another suburb of Victoria where the resort is located. It usually takes me 30-45 minutes to get to the resort from my house and it includes a drive up a winding road to the top of Bear Mountain. I usually get there ten minutes before my shift starts so that I can sign in, speak to the Front Office Manager and the bellman on during the opening shift about anything that I need to know about.

Here are the following things that I do when I come on shift:
-Log in to the computer and check the arrivals and departures list;
-Check the Golf Tee Times for any late afternoon/evening golfers; and
-Check the Valet Parking box to see how cars we have in the Valet Parking Lots.

Throughout this time guests could be arriving at any moment. When they arrive I inquire if they’re coming to play golf or to check in at the hotel, and then I proceed with the arrival procedure such as welcoming the guest, assisting with luggage, escorting them to the front desk and escorting them to their room regardless if it’s in the Clubhouse or Fairways Building. Once settled in their room, I describe the features of the room to the guest and then wish them an enjoyable stay.

For guests who are coming to play golf, I ask their last name of the group they are playing under and the tee time, explain where the Pro Shop is so that they can register, take their golf bags and drive them to back of the resort where the golf courses are located.

The storage closet where golf bags and luggage are stored. Don't let the picture fool you, usually there are a lot more bags than this!

A video of myself welcoming a guest who is coming to play golf can be found here:

Myself and Amy Hamilton, Front Office Manager and the BOSS!

That is the main part of my duties. However, other duties that I do are:
-Assisting with room moves;
-Making deliveries of various items to hotel rooms;
-Shuttling guests in our vehicle to various points around the resort;
-Ensure that inside and outside of the lobby is properly maintained so that it’s at a standard expected of a Westin resort;
-Cleaning and maintaining luggage carts; and
-Being available to assist the guests with any recommendations or places to go while they are staying here in Victoria.

So finally after 8 hours, my shift is over. Since I’m usually working the closing shift I have to make sure that everything is secure for the night. The garbage has to be emptied, the bell podium has to be placed inside and any golf bags that are on the Golf Bag Drop rack are stored inside the storage closet to prevent them from being stolen. Finally, I put away my keys and radio, have a chat with night audit, count all of tips collected for the day, sign out and then begin the beautiful drive down Bear Mountain towards my house in rural Metchosin only to do it all over again the next day!

A pic of the Clubhouse Building at night. Sweet Dreams!

Here’s a slideshow of various pictures taken while at work:

Click to view slideshow.

Here are various links that you can look at in order to get more details about the Westin Bear Mountain:
www.bearmountain.ca -Resort’s Personal website
http://bearmountain.ca/Golf/RatesTeeTimes.aspx -Golf Tee Times information website
www.facebook.com/bearmountainresort -Westin Bear Mountain’s Facebook page
www.twitter.com/bearmountain -Westin Bear Mountain’s Twitter page
www.westin.com/bearmountain -Resort’s Westin website