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.

Market Server (January 20th)

On January 20Th i went back to the Marriott. Today i was in Market Server. I was glad to be in something else other then food prep. The last time i was in this department it was too busy and the servers were running around like crazy and didn't have time for us in the department at the time. I was with Mary Anne. She let me read the some of the important things in the book that i would need to know. Then she got a few customers so she let me shadow her. After a couple minutes i was bringing the customers water to them and food. I went out every couple minutes with Marry Anne to ask how there food was. I learned that they have a two minute rule, where when they serve the food it is two bites, two minutes. I got to help her on the computer with writing up the orders. I learned that that goes right back to the kitchen so she doesn't personally have to tell someone what to cook. I also learned how to print the receipts, and i got to give the checks to the customers. Marry Anne taught me that when they are using a credit card that they should explain to the customers what receipt to sign. Also, offer them the opportunity to take the receipt if they need it. When one table was done, we would go and pick up what was left and bring it back to the kitchen to get cleaned. I liked doing this with Marry Anne because she was able to walk me through each step, and show me how to serve the customers the correct way and her way. What i thought was the hardest part, was keeping the customers satisfied and always trying to have a smile on your face while talking to them at the same time. She has been there for many years and enjoys it. If i were to advance in this department or take on more responsibilities i would know how to find everything and be prepared for customers.

Banquet Cook (January 13th)

Back at the Marriott again, as a banquet cook working with Matt and Misty for the day. It was January 13Th and it was pretty busy. Today i got to help out a lot. Shantee and Anthony were with me and we helped set up the vegetable platter. We always had to put muffins and pastries on plates. We had to have six of each kind a plate. Me and Shantee also got to break the sausage and bacon because it was frozen then put it on the pans for the guests in the morning. After that my hands were freezing. Today's spirit to serve basic was number 12 i use telephone etiquette. Matt had to leave early, but even though there wasn't any problems going on today, he stayed to help misty cut the fruit and plate it for her, so she wouldn't be worried about getting everything done and being rushed. They have to work had to get everything together and done on time. Preparing the food and plating so many things for so many people can make it overwhelming at times. Matt and Misty both said that the hotel can get crazy sometimes with the amount of food they have to prepare for. I like being in this department and if i was in it more, i would have more experience and could help out a lot more. There goal is to give the guests the best food they can make.

Food Prep (December 16th)

Back at the Marriott. Today I was in food prep, the same as last week. Seeing how it wasn't a busy week, there wasn't much going on. Today i got to help plate the fruit then wrap it with plastic film so that the food didn't go bad. My mentors for the day were Matt and Misty again and seeing how there wasn't really much to do they let us eat the left over food and we just got to talk. There was an issue that occurred. The hotel ordered yellow bananas and got delivered green bananas so the executive chef was pretty mad. Matt and Misty were too, because now they couldn't give the party that was coming in the next day the bananas because new ones wouldn't be delivered in time. When it was time to leave, i helped them clean up the little bit that was out on the tables.

Food Prep (December 9th)

Today i was in food prep with Misty and Matt as my mentors. Today we got to plate cakes for a party. They call that preset because that means setting up. I got to decorate or "paint" the plates with raspberry desert. I had found this time easy, except for there was a lot of plates to get ready. The party was for 320 guests. I learned today this department has to set up the plates, clean up there area when they are done and make the plates look presentable by doing a professional job. The challenge that this department usually has, is when they run out of food, trying to come up with the extra food in a certain amount of time. The issue was today, was that we ran out of cake to plate and they had to tell the executive chef and get more cake. I liked working with Matt and Misty because they show team work, and if one of them has to leave early the other always makes sure to get as much as possible done so the one is doing more then the other. They work together, and have fun. I enjoyed today, because i got to be a part of this.

Room Service (January 6th)

Today i was in the room service department. The hotel wasn't that busy, so therefore there wasn't much going on. Joel was my instructor for the afternoon. He walked me around and showed me where they store all the food and drinks, and what sections he is in charge of. I learned about the inventory of this department because this is the topic we are discussing in class this week. Joel helped me out with many questions. I learned that the inventory in that department is the food, beverages, napkins, silverware, and condemns. The inventory that gets recycled is the silverware, coffee, and condemns. The non-recyclable inventory is the food and beverages. I also learned that the par level for the room service department depends on the occupancy of the hotel that day. In other words if the hotel has a high occupancy then that means that the room service department is most likely to be busy. If it gets really busy, then the manager might put two people in that department so people don't have to wait longer then they should. It helps each other out and the guests. I got to go around the hotel on the 4th, 7th, and 8th floor to observe and help Joel pick up room trays. He knocks on the door and says room service. Then he opens up if no one answers then walks in to get what he has to get. If there is no tray in the room, then that most likely means that the house cleaning lady picked it up. I thought that his job was fun, and easy. But i did see that it could be a lot of work. Joel was responsible for that whole department until his shift was over. He was responsible for every call he got for room service, and keeping the food and beverages in stock. He also had to make sure he had enough silverwear and everything else that you would put on the tray to serve to the guests. He seemed like he enjoyed what he does and i had a good experience today.