Warm welcome
Royal Garden Hotel
2-24 Kensington High Street, London W8 4PT
Tel: 0171-937 8000
Owner: Goodwood Park Hotels, which also owns two hotels in Singapore - Goodwood Park hotel and the York hotel. The company has owned the hotel since it reopened after extensive refurbishment in April 1996
General manager: Graham Bamford
Bedrooms: 401 (including 28 suites)
Rack rate: single £210 plus VAT; de luxe double £310 plus VAT; Park Suite £475 plus VAT
I LIVE in staff accommodation adjacent to the Royal Garden hotel, which is very convenient when I'm on an early shift from 7am to 3pm.
If I'm on a late shift, from 3-11pm, I usually don't wake up until nine or 10am. Then, I might do a bit of shopping in Kensington High Street or go roller-blading in Hyde Park.
I always arrive at work in my uniform - navy skirt, tights and shoes, with a pink, green and blue tartan jacket over a beige blouse. It looks smart and suits the hotel's image. It's OK - I've certainly seen a lot worse.
The work varies slightly according to the shift. The early shift revolves around check-outs and allocating rooms to arrivals and VIPs; the late shift involves more check-ins and there's more time to chat to guests and help them with any queries.
There are usually three staff on reception at any one time: me, as shift leader, and two receptionists. I am certainly the youngest shift leader here; the others are about 26-27 years old. There are 15 receptionists at the Royal Garden, a mix of males and females, and we all get on very well.
I was nominated for the Amicale Internationale des Sous Directeurs et Chefs de Reception des Grandes Hoteles Receptionist of the Year title by my front office manager and resident manager.
I initially had to write an essay on why I should win and was then invited to take part in the finals at Claridge's, where we were interviewed and took part in a role-play exercise in which we dealt with difficult guests.
A good receptionist is someone with a pleasant personality who relates well to guests and is sensitive to their needs. We are the face of the hotel and are often the first and last person who the guests see.
Our aim is to keep guests happy and so we have to remain calm whenever there's a problem. It can be difficult when guests are complaining about everything, be it because they think they have been overcharged or the rates are too high or, because of a computer error, they have received the wrong bill.
For coming first in the UK final, I won a return first-class trip on Eurostar to Paris, a weekend's hotel accommodation in Prague and £200 prize money. I went on to take part in the international final in January in Singapore, where I came third behind representatives from Switzerland and Singapore. I had a brilliant time as I was able to extend my stay for a holiday and do some training at our sister hotel, the Goodwood Park.
The good thing about this job is that you never know from one day to the next what is going to happen. The Japanese can be funny guests. Many of them wear lots of different money belts and, on one occasion, a guest was trying to undo a money bag on his belt when his trousers fell down. It was very embarrassing for him and I had to try hard not to laugh.
On another occasion, we had to evacuate guests from the hotel because of a reported fire in the banqueting kitchen. We then had to direct them to the local pubs because we weren't able to allow them back into the hotel. Unfortunately, we couldn't join them.
Besides checking guests in and out on reception, we spend a lot of our time changing foreign currency, directing people to buses or other locations, and generally helping to make their stay at the hotel easier and more enjoyable.
To be able to help guests as much as possible, we are allowed an "in-house experience" from time to time. I've done it two or three times since I joined the hotel 18 months ago. It means we stay overnight in a hotel room and eat in one of the restaurants, so we can experience the hotel from the guests' viewpoint and understand any new facilities. For example, when the pay-TV system changed, I was able to find out how it worked and now I can explain it to guests. I'm also able to recommend a particular meal in the restaurant, having tried it myself.
If I've been on a late shift and it's been a busy day, I will finish at 11pm and be in bed by 11.30pm. But I work with a friendly bunch and we spend a lot of time socialising together, so we might unwind first by having a drink and watching a film. n tra