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.

Albany County Convention and Visitors Bureau (March 24th)

On March 24Th we went to the Albany County Convention and Visitors Bureau Visitor Center instead of the Albany Marriott. Its getting towards the end of the year so we are trying to get around to new places. At the Visitor Center we walked around and got to learn about the history of Albany and the attractions of Albany. Some of the attractions are the Aqcuaducks, the palace theater, sport teams, trolleys, and restaurants. All these attractions are good for the lodging business because it brings people from all around the world to learn about there history and know exactly everything that went on. So for people coming from different countries or states, they stay in the hotels. Therefore, it keeps the lodging business busy. In the Albany County there are 61 hotels, that means that there are 7,041 rooms all together. So this means that people are coming and spending money on the hotel and then when they get here they are spending about $100 to $300 on shopping, or just overall entertainment. This is the 4th largest population and that is why Schenectady and Saratoga are talked about in the Visitors guide, because they have attractions too. There are so many jobs in this indutsry, you just have to know the area and study the script. You have to know that when you get visitors, that they want to be educated and have fun. The advice the mentors gave our class is to understand that 99.0% of the people you deal with are going to be great and that you are always going to get that one percent that is going to give you problem, but they are always right. The thing i liked the most was the stars that we got to see on the wall. I learned a little bit that i didnt know before.

Treasure Hunt (March 3rd)

Today the lmp class went on a treasure hunt at the Albany Marriott. Our mentor for the day was Joan from the concierge's department. We got to take a tour of the hotel. Joan introduced us to her floor and talked a little bit about what she does. For our treasure hunt we had to locate a Columbia Sussex or Marriott mission statement and we found out that it is a goal to make sure that their environment is friendly and happy from meeting the bellman when they check out. We learned that there are gold keys throughout the hotel. One gold key is located in the banquet department for doing an outstanding job and going above and beyond. There are two gold keys located in the Sales Office. We got to see all the different rooms in the hotel and everybody just enjoyed doing something different for the day.

Front Office (February 24th)

On February 24Th, the whole class was in the front office of the hotel. Our mentor for the day was Michael. He told us a little bit about the front office departments. For example, behind the counter, AYS, and just overall in general what he does as a manager. I learned that Michael wished that he had been trained better with using the computer system. His biggest challenge is trying to accommodate what every guest wants. Mike taught our class about L.E.A.R.N and G.U.E.S.T because it is about the front offices' everyday routine. Learn stands for listen, empathize, apologize, react/respond, and notify. Guest stands for greet each guest, use each guest's name, establish guest needs, show sincere interest, and thank each guest. The most important thing of this department and throughout the whole hotel is that everyone communicates. Communicating comes in handy when there is a problem in the department. You want to make sure that you notify the manager. Michael's main job is to coordinate who solves problems, works with the housekeeping, works with sales, and the bellman to operate the hotel.

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.