Albany Marriott (May 19th, 2009)

On May 19Th we went back to the Marriott for our second week in a row. This day was all about learning how to do the banquet event orders and setting up for a banquet without any help. It was also about cleaning a room in the housekeeping department, by ourselves. Today i was chosen for the housekeeping department. I was with Shante on the 4Th floor with Deseem as our mentor. I was in room number 416. It wasn't too messy, but i had the whole room to clean by myself. Deseem gave me the stuff to clean the bathroom with and gave me new bed linen. She also gave me the vacuum cleaner to do the carpets, and rags to wipe down everything. She walked out of the room and i got started. The first step i had to do was dusted everything in the room like the mirrors, pictures, and the furniture. The next step was i removed the dirty linen from the bed. Step 3, i had to get all the new linen to make the bed with. After doing that i completed the bed the correct way, by asking Deseem that way she likes her beds made. Then for step 5 i cleaned the tub, toilet, sink, around the sink, and the bathroom floor. For dusting all these and wiping down the walls, you have to use a different couple cleaners. Also, the most important thing is do have a different rag for every type of cleaner that you are using. After all that i emptied the garbage and took the dirty linen out of the room. I then vacuumed the floor starting from that far side of the room. As i was doing that i turned the lights off and double checked everything. For this procedure of cleaning the room i had to use different equipment. I used pledge for the wood furniture and industrial strength glass cleaner for the mirror. I needed to use the duster for the walls and mirrors. I had a vacuum for the floors and a floor rag for the bathroom floor. Most importantly, all new linens. After i got done with this, i went down to the Empire room and helped out the other classmates with setting up for a meeting. They had already had the table cloths on the tables, so i helped with setting up the pads and pens, also the glasses for water. We all worked together as a team, and everything got done much easier.

Albany Marriott (May 12th, 2009)

Finally back at the Marriott after a couple months. This was different we got to be introduced to "Spirit Week" for the employees. Debra was our mentor, and this Tuesday was her day to contribute to spirit week. She is the director of food and beverage. What she did with her employees was have an educational day. The day before the employees got to play tug-a-war and have relay races. They have spirit week just to show the employees that they are appreciated. The basic for today was, I use telephone etiquette. They follow this daily basics by the day of the month. Its there for the employees to make the service better for the guests. The role all the different departments of the Albany Marriott are too, make a difference and make sure guests enjoy their stay. CARE on the spirit basic cards means, commitment, act in the moment, personal touch, and extra mile. The reason we learned about the basic cards meaning today was that we could be apart of spirit week and the Marriott's mission. There mission is to win in service by proactively offering the most valuable assistance, information and support in a uniquely warm and caring manner. Today by having this experience i discovered that the department managers go above and beyond for their associates. I learned that what you do for someone always has an impact on the guest. I really liked knowing about the different activities that the associates of the hotel are doing this week, and i also enjoyed the pickle movie, it had humor. For the rest of the week, the hotel is having a bake sale, traditional meals where the employees bring in a special recipe that is apart of there family, and also a barbecue which goes with the guest satisfaction awards.

FAM TOUR (May 4th, 2009)

This Tuesday we went to five different hotels. The hotels were, The Hilton Garden Inn, Hotel Indigo, Cocca's Hotel, The Desmond, and The Econo Lodge. The point of this day was to go around and see the difference and similarities between all the hotels. Hilton Garden Inn was the first hotel we went too. We only stayed there about 8minutes, but from standing in the lobby, it looked like a nice place to stay. The presenter was Mark Fleischer and on this day he was very busy, so he didn't really have much time for us. He told us a little bit about what he does and answered any questions we had for him. He was very polite. The market that this hotel attracts, i learned is business, conference, and the location. The rates for this hotel isn't a bad price, they range from $101 to $150 a night. The management company of this hotel is the Hilton Family. and there service philosophy is, "Sleep deep, work smart, eat well, and stay fit." The next hotel was, Hotel Indigo. This hotel was very interesting. It was my favorite. There were so many colors and different pictures on the wall, and to me i think that made the hotel stand out. It feels like it makes the guests stay more comfortable. At this hotel we got a tour and learned a few things. Our presenter for this half hour was Thomas Olsen. The market for this hotel is airport travelers because of its location. This hotel cost over $150 a night. The mission for this hotel is "be yourself and explore." The hotels philosophy statement is "Refresh your idea of travel." The Cocca's Hotel and the Econo Lodge are now owned by the same person. His name is Rocky Cocca. These two types of hotels are lower class. For people just looking to crash a night or two and not want any amenities. It is a independent and a union hotel. Its company is the Desmond. There mission for both hotels is "to be one of a kind and help the guest. The service philosophy is "what is important to you trust us." We got to take a tour of the Cocca's hotel, it was alright. The staff was nice, and the rooms weren't to bad. The Econo Lodge, i didn't really care for, but everyone has there own opinion. The Desmond was the third hotel that we went too. We were only there for about 15minutes. We got a tour of High Street, which was all about meetings and conferences. Today was fun and interesting, and i hope we can do something like this again. I learned a lot about all the hotels and what they offer. The people were nice and all enjoyed our company.

Albany International Airport (April 28th, 2009)

On Tuesday April 28Th the class went to the Albany International Airport. I didn't have the chance to go because i was home sick. By doing the looking up things on the Internet and knowing what i already knew about the airport, i was able to fill out the sheet. What i did find out and thought was very interesting was how the just finished a multi-million dollar re-development project of over 230,000 square feet. I found out that this was their biggest mission and they completed it. The international airport wants to make your air travel the best it can possibly be. The questions i would have asked if i went would have been to an employee asking them what would be the hardest thing about working here. From hearing what my classmates had to tell me and what i learned from the Internet, the hardest thing would be keeping the customer happy and safe, but obviously every employee would have different opinions. Another question i would have asked would have been, how many planes come in and out on a regular day? I learned that usually 75 planes go in and out in a day. Overall i learned that to keep this airport up and running smoothly it takes 1200 employees.

Crowne Plaza (April 21st)

My impression of the Crowne Plaza was that it was very nice, and seemed like it was for upper class guests. When we first got there we went into a meeting room. During this time we got to meet Todd, the General Manager, Kristen from reservations, Paul Thomas, the Director of Guest Services, Trudy Hinkle, the Director of HR and Security and Garry from engineering. Before we sat down and got to talking about the hotel, they had provided cookies, brownies, and sodas for us, so we each got a little something to snack on. While in the conference room Todd started off with telling us about his job title and the hotel. He told us that he started off in the kitchen because he had never went to college. He became General Manager in 1968 because of his hard work and dedication to the hotel. He has traveled all around the world with many different hotel businesses and he loves the industry. Kristen then talked a little about her self and what she does at work. She takes reservations the way that they have always been taking "the old fashion way." Depending on the season is what depends on how many phone calls she gets per day. Seeing how they are in there peak season, just yesterday during the mid afternoon, Kristen had already had 21 phone calls. It can get pretty busy but she loves her job. During our tour, we got shown the security room, the boiler room, the pool and hot tub, the garbage room and the banquet rooms. I didn't really care to much about seeing all that, i would have preferred to see guest rooms, and the hotel in general. I did like that the staff was much nicer and excepting of us wanting to learn the business. The advice that Trudy gave our group was to always work your hardest and never give up. The Crowne Plaza is the only hotel she has ever worked at and she loves it. The Crowne Plaza has 390 rooms all together, six of them are suites. They also have five vans for travel access to the airport and train stations, and sometimes around town. I learned a lot from today, and would like to go back again to see many other departments of the hotel.

Albany Mansion Hill Inn & restaurant (March 17th)

March 17Th was St. Patricks days. Cohoes schools were closed but i looked up information about the Mansion Hill Inn on the website. I found a little bit out about it. The thing i already knew is that it is owned by my lmp teacher Mr. Stoffelano. I also know that it is a bed and breakfast and is privately owned. It is different from the Marriott because of that reason, because the Marriott is a chain hotel and is much larger. The Albany Marriott and the Mansion Hill Inn are similar in a way that they both serve food to guests and the both serve the guests. To have a successful business you want to keep your guests coming back. You want to do well with customers and always be friendly and respectful. The location can be important to because you want things to do. In downtown Albany where the Mansion Hill Inn & Restaurant is located there is many attractions. You can take tours and have picnics, you can work or take walks. Also, there is sports that go on, and museums to go to. Weddings are a big thing, and art is too. Shopping is every ones favorite and fire works go on during special occasions. You can take vacations here and have a lot of entertainment. To own a bed and breakfast you are responsible for a lot of things. You are responsible for owning a successful business, for cleaning, cooking, greeting, busing, checking in guests, and having all the amenities.

Homewood Suites (March 30th)

Being at Homewood Suites, i learned a lot about the different aspects of the hotel, and seen the differences from the other hotels that our class has been too. The first thing we did was go into one of there meeting rooms. Our class got to meet Erin Davenport, the sales coordinator and Chip, the guest service manager. The Homewood Suites is a chain hotel, there brand being the Hilton. Its a hotel that is "designed to make the guests feel home away from home." This is a hotel for people that usually stay a month or longer. It consists of 133 suites, three larger suites, and four two bedroom suites. For example, like families that lose their home to a fire, or peoples homes that were destroyed in the ice storm, or for any other reason. Its in the three diamond range and that's because they don't have all the amenities that a hotel would usually offer. They don't have room service or bell men. They don't really have housekeeping either, except for when the guest wants it. They get a breakfast and a dinner everyday, included in the stay price. The hotel is nice and the rooms are comfortable. Erin and Chip treated us with respect and were friendly, that's two things that I noticed were different between the Marriott staff and this Homewood suites staff. The main thing that our class learned was the the Homewood Suites uses OPOG which is outrageously pleasing our guests. That was important because that's home they keep there guests coming back. Mostly how they get there guests is word of mouth because the guests always enjoy there stay and tell people about it. Lewis The Duck is there symbol because he fly's away and always comes back. Lewis The Duck is books that are written about the Homewood Suites that is here in NY and how he goes to the Homewood Suites in Canada with his family.