There is a lot I could share with you, however, to keep the article as short and interesting as possible I want to briefly reflect on the three most interesting experiences I have had: The team I worked with, my relationship with the guests and the main day-to-day duties I covered in the hotel.
The first days I began working were all about memorizing my new working area and meeting all the hotel’s staff. I enjoyed working with different nationalities such as Germany, Switzerland, Somalia, Croatia, Albania, Portugal and many more. I sensed that different nationalities had different views when it came to hospitality. But all shared a common mentality: “The guest is king”. One of my co-workers constantly worked with me on my service and guest contact skills to achieve improvement on a daily basis, and this for 6 months! I must say, I learned a lot and not just subject based learning, but also life learning. All in all, I have to give a shout-out to the team, which offered great support during my six-month Internship, and thanks to them I had the opportunity to enjoy my first steps into the big welcoming world of hospitality. It’s funny because when reflecting about what I just said, it seems as if I was their guest and they welcomed me warmly into their world of hospitality.
With such a professional team, I could fully commit myself to my guests. It was a nice challenge to take care of the different guest profiles: The business guests, the elder generation, the families and the guests that required medical treatment outside of their home. Each one of them had different questions and wishes that I had to answer and fulfil. Whether giving directions to the bankers’ next business meeting, or helping an old lady stand up and guide her to her room, I was there to provide help and support, in other words “to be hospitable”. I enjoyed a nice reputation among my guests and of course was flattered when a Canadian family gave a special feedback about me when they checked out happily. I call this the right motivation!
Of course, the guest became the most important part of my daily duties and therefore, he/she was always a top priority, just like I learned in Les Roches Marbella and just like all the different nationalities here in the hotel taught me: “The guest is king”. In the morning we set up the breakfast buffet for the guests and served their preferred coffee (no exceptions, they got what they wanted). At 10:30 AM the restaurant was re-set for lunch. The restaurant now also welcomed an increased amount of external guests and with that, more hospitality had to be offered, but not a problem for us! Receive guests, seat them, hand out menus, ask for drinks and off we went to serve them the best “amuse-bouche”, starters, main courses and desserts the kitchen had to offer while always carrying a smile between nose and chin! Every day at 6:00 PM it was time for the “Á La Carte Dinner”. In a calm candle lit atmosphere, right by the side of the lake of Zurich, we then peeked the service quality and held it until after midnight. After that, each night I had to count bills and close the restaurant. Parallel to these duties we had seminars, weddings, exhibitions and business meetings in our hotel that we had to take care of simultaneously.
To conclude my first short blog, I would like to say that Les Roches Marbella played a crucial part of my first Internship. Let’s place this into a metaphoric way: I am the child taking its first steps into the world of hospitality and Les Roches Marbella helped me “step by step”. Now I am walking and by the end of my education at Les Roches I hope I will not be running, but flying!”
Thank you for reading my blog and stay tuned for the next one!
Morris Beck
Les Roches Marbella Ambassador
