National Groundhog Job Shadow Day (February 3rd)

On February 3rd i was chosen to go to the Desmond Hotel in Albany, NY for National Groundhog Job Shadow Day. When i walked into the hotel i was amazed. It was a lot different scenery than from the Albany Marriott. It was a colonial scenery which i thought was awesome. Today i was in the housekeeping department. I was with Daniel, the head of the department. She was really sweet and nice. She let me watch what she does in her office and outside of her office. She filled me on her schooling and hotel experiences. After that she let me go into the room with one of her housekeepers. I was amazed to see that the house keeper actually cleaned the room in about 15minutes. I got to ask the housekeeper how long a room usually takes her. I learned that it takes her usually about 15 to 20 minutes if the room isn't messy. If the room is messy on the other hand, it will take her anywheres from 30minutes to and hour. Daniel set me up with this housekeeper because it was her best one, and she has been there for about 15 years and loves and enjoys what she does. The housekeeper told me that she puts her heart into cleaning, and loves when the guests enjoy there stay. I learned that she cleans the room from top to bottom, and works her way from the far side of the room to the door. When i went back with Daniel, she sent me on room inspections with one of her managers. I got to learn and see how and what the managers inspect for. They look for little things like the lamp shade if it is sideways to looking for big things like a hole in the wall or a burn on the chair. The check the mirrors to make sure that the housekeeper was dusting, and they check the whole entire room to make sure it is neat and done correctly. Daniel then walked me around the whole hotel, and showed me a bunch of different rooms, which were gorgeous. I learned that Daniel was doing payroll, running the housekeeping department and whole bunch of other jobs in one, because she had fired the one person and took over everything to make it easier. She has been at the Desmond and loves it. She told to follow my heart and work my hardest because the real world is hard. She told me that the Desmond expects a lot, but it gets people prepared if they ever work anywheres else. I was glad that i went today, i had a good time and i learned a lot. The staff was nice and respectful. They wanted us there and were exciting to get to teach us. The staff was also open to any question and wants us to come back. I found the Desmond Hotel better then the Marriott Hotel, and i wish we did our internship there.

Room Service (February 10th)

February 10Th, i continued my internship at the Albany Marriott. Today i was in room service with my mentor Joel. When i was first got there, i went with him up to rooms on all the floors to pick up the trays from the morning, because that's when he was busy. When we went back downstairs we cleaned up the trays. Seeing how the hotel or the food and beverage departments weren't that busy, i got to ask Joel a few questions. Today i learned that Dan was the department manager in this department and that the division manager is Debby. I also learned that Joel feels comfortable doing his job and that most of the time he gets treated with respect. His biggest thing to do is always treating the guests with respect, having a smile on his face and interacting with the staff and guests. He feels that his manager is reliable and hopes to someday get that far. He says for him to get that far he has to keep doing what he is doing. By doing what he is doing, that would be to continue working hard, doing extra work for his job, going out of his way if he has to, doing whatever it takes, being respectful, and learning from his mistakes. As in any job you have to be reliable and know that any guests is always right and Joel also feels that he does that too. Today was an easy day, and i was glad to get to learn a few different things about Joel and his department.