A Day In The Life at The Shilla Hotel- by Min Kang

November 17, 2014 by STHM 2 Comments

For my three month internship I had the opportunity to join the front desk department of The Shilla Hotel, which is located in the heart of Seoul, South Korea. The Shilla Hotel is owned by the Samsung corporation and the presedent of the company is BuJin Lee who is the daughter of Samsung. The hotel is made up of unique facilities such as The Shilla duty free shop and a traditionalized Korean building called Yeong Bin Kwan that is used as a banquet facility where we hold traditional weddings and other special occasions. The Shilla Hotel is known as one of the best hotels located in Korea and has been ranked in the top ten of being the best hotel in South Korea 2014. Due to the high quality of service and products that are provided by the hotel, the hotel is often chosen to hold special governmental events and celebrity celebrations.

 

 

Main gate to the hotel

Yeong Bin Kwan from the 23rd floor of the hotel

 

Shilla Duty Free Shop

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picture of me in front of Yeong Bin Kwan on the day of my interview

 

My duties
– Update profile of the guests that have checked in the day prior using the Opera PMS
– Once a week collect the keys from each floor
– Prepare for tomorrows shift by creating individual folder for guests using appropriate coupons and procedures that will be handed to the guests upon check in
– Organize and maintain coupons and packages (order coupons when needed)
– Assist with scanning/faxing/printing/emailing upon request
– Assist with English/Korean, Korean/English translations upon request
– Make keys for individual guests

 

Daily Schedule
9:00 AM- Wake up and get ready for my shift at The Shilla Hotel

11:30 AM- On my way to the subway station!

12:00 PM- Arrived at The Shilla Hotel. Now heading off to get changed and fully prepped for work!

12:45 PM- I always arrive 15 minutes prior to my shift starting so I can have the time to greet everyone.

01:00 PM- The first thing I do is check how many groups and parties are coming to the hotel the day after so I can prepare welcome envelopes.

01:10 PM- Start updating the guest profiles from the check-ins the day before.

3:00/4:50 PM- Work on additional tasks that senior staffs and managers have given.

5:20 PM- Coffee break!

 

4:50 PM- Off to have dinner at the staff restaurant!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5:50 PM- Back to the office.

6:00 PM- Start printing registration cards/ key cards/ key envelopes.

7:00 PM- Start putting together individual folders for each and every guests addressing to the packages and special codes (this task finishes at different times depending on the amount of arrivals).

10:00 PM- Finally finished my long day at work! Time to change and go home.

10:30 PM- Back on the subway home.

11:00 PM- Now off to bed for another day at The Shilla Hotel!

Free Time!

Highlights of my internship

On July the 4^th The Shilla Hotel had the honor of providing hospitality for the president of China Xi Jinping in our Presidential suite and after his visit I had the opportunity to visit the room.

The Presidential Suite

 

 

Also through my internship I got to meet some really great people that are providing me great help with my work. The person that is doing an exceptional job at this is my senior intern. She is a six month intern who has trained me with patience and dedication. We have become very close during the last month and we consider each other great friends and hangout outside of work.

 

 

 

 

 

On My Free Time

Even though I work from 1pm to 10pm almost every day, once or twice a week I get to get some time to become a tourist in my home country. So for my very first break I visited the place I used to live before moving to Canada when I was seven.

I have visited the Korean barbeque restaurant that my family and I have been too often when I was little. I was actually pretty surprised to find out that the place has not closed down in over 14 years

Korean BBQ Restaurant

 

 

 

 

Apartment

Elementary School

 

 

In front of the apartment that I used to live in and the elementary school that I have attended grade one. When I was little I used to think that the playground of the school was extremely big but now that I am older, it was bizarre to see how small it looked.

 

 

 

 

Since it has been more than seven years since I last visited Korea, there are many places I want to visit as well as cuisines I want to experience. One of the places is the 63 building. This is because I have found memories of the destination since I was a little girl and I would love to visit the building again. Inside the building there are many attractions from aquarium, art exhibitions, IMAX theater, special shows, wax museum, and a world class buffet.

Another place I would love to visit is the historic sites of Korea. This is because ever since I was little and until now I have a special place in my heart for the Korean traditional culture and palaces.  I am always awed and fascinated by the beautiful traditional architecture that Korea has to offer.

One of the biggest things I have missed from Korea is the cuisine and the shopping. Even though a lot of places in Korea offer these two things but I especially prefer the Namdaemun market and the Dongdaemun shopping complex. The last time I have visited these places where seven years ago with my mom and the wide variety of shopping and food was quite bit of a shock to me. I think that these are the biggest influences on why I missed Korea so much and wanted to pursue my internship in the city of Seoul South Korea.