Guest relations

Guest relations officers working at the coalface of the hotel industry discuss how their jobs can make or break a guest's experience.

What originally attracted you to work in guest relations?

Yvonne Boots: The University where I studied International Hospitality Management, CHN University in the Netherlands, constantly taught me the importance of guest satisfaction.

Besides all the theory they basically teach you in four years a way of thinking: make sure that everyone leaves the hotel with a smile on his or her face. 

During my internship at Courtyard by Marriott I realised how passionate I was about guest relations. Working as guest relations supervisor means that I have the freedom to go beyond expectations via innovative and creative signature touches.

Mary Lou Ortega: It is really nice to know that colleagues from previous hotels had enough confidence in me to recommend me for the job and I have found that I love what I am doing and it is now deeply ingrained in me to be of service to others. When I see a satisfied guest, it just means double the satisfaction for me as well.

Oscar Van Der Veen: Working in guest relations seemed like a natural progression. I originally started my career in luxury retail in London and Sydney and then moved into the airline industry. Hotels encompass a lot of similarities to the retail and airline industry and with my passion for the luxury industry Jumeirah Beach Hotel was an obvious choice.

Wojtek Orlewicz: I like challenges and people too. You have to have these two characteristics to even want to apply for this job.

Additionally, working in guest relations gives one a sense of freedom as you are not stuck behind the desk all day and have a great sense of responsibility. What can I say; I like to have a new challenge everyday.

Asmae El Haddad: I've always wanted to be in direct contact with guests and that was the reason I joined the cabin crew institute back home four years ago. Even though I am not flying now I am still in a place where I'm interacting with different guests on a daily basis and I am really enjoying the day-to-day tasks which are never boring as you have to deal with so many different tasks. This makes it interesting.

How did you get into the job?

Boots: I started at Courtyard by Marriott as a trainee about a year and half ago. During my traineeship at the front office, I set up the complete ‘pre-arrival experience' and ‘virtual concierge' but also I started getting guest relations agent responsibilities.

Directly after my traineeship Courtyard by Marriott asked me to stay and they offered me full-time employment as guest relations supervisor.

Ortega: I started my career in Dubai as a telephone operator. The position helped me first to become confident in talking to people, listening to their requests and complaints carefully.

This is where I started to understand the flow of the hotel industry and I do believe that being a telephone operator is the first and, in my case, the best avenue to learning everything about a hotel, about the area where the hotel is located and getting to learn about guests and guest service. It inspired me to continue asking questions and learning more and more and filing all the information away for the future.

I became so enthusiastic to learn the job of front office receptionist/cashier and reservations that I began cross training during my free time. It all eventually paid off because one morning as I reached my job I was offered the position of a reservations supervisor by my department head and I jumped on it.

As time progressed and I was fortunate to learn more and more about my chosen profession and industry and I had the opportunity to move into my present position here at the Radisson SAS Resort in Sharjah.I was honoured to become part of such a prestigious family of hotels.

Van Der Veen: I started my hotel career as business development manager, where I made sure that all my guests and partners received VIP treatment, looking after their preferred room allocations as well as amenities. After several years my passion for service drove me to work within operations as I wanted to be closer to the guest.

Orlewicz: It was autumn in Poland; I was a young smiling, energetic, completely-in-love-with-Fawlty Towers student and I met Sanne Emborg. She held the post of director of rooms at the time and I was filling in for the front office manager during my interview at the Marriott Executive Apartments Dubai Creek.

I got the job and fell head over heels in love with the atmosphere, the guests and fellow colleagues.

El Haddad: After my graduation my young age did not allow me to be cabin crew so following a recruitment trip of the Jumeirah group to Morocco I decided to take this challenge until the time when I would be able to fly.

However, later I totally changed my mind and decided to stay on the ground where I can have a normal life.

What type of challenges do you face in your role?

Boots: You have to be very organised to succeed as guest relations supervisor. You have to know exactly who is arriving when, which arrivals are part of our loyalty program, which issues require a follow up; good preparation will avoid stressful situations and avoidable mistakes.

Great service means for a guest that they never have to ask for anything. It is my responsibility to make sure that this is happening.

Ortega: I think it has to be the guest that I cannot manage to assist to their satisfaction, much to my sadness.

I am confident that I have represented my hotel well and given 100% of myself and my service but sometimes it just doesn't succeed.

I am fortunate that these are few and far between, but I remember each one and think what more I could have done. A dissatisfied guest will never be acceptable to me and I continue to strive to improve myself and my abilities to always offer 100% guest satisfaction.

Van Der Veen: Working in guest relations brings ‘surprises' everyday that really challenge you and make your job more interesting and motivating.

As Dubai's premier lifestyle destination, Jumeirah Beach Hotel has many activities and facilities to offer our guests. As a result, on any given day you might be dealing with many requests from securing a table in a very popular restaurant when it is fully booked, to organising unforgettable birthday parties for our younger guests.

Orlewicz: A challenge to me is making sure that all our guests leave the hotel with great memories. The key to making this happen is constant servicing and maintenance of your positive side, which in my case is not something new.

But to be more direct, challenges are plenty! It could be anything really: too cold, too warm, too much sun, too much rain, too long a wait, to short a stay, access here and access there, bed too soft, bed too hard, what shall I eat and why was the soup too salty?

El Haddad: When I first started the challenge was how to deal with so many guests and staff from different nationalities, which is not a problem any more for me now.

The main challenge for me now - after I got the promotion to guest relations manager - is how to manage my team effectively in very busy operation.

What is the most unusual guest request you've had?

Boots: I actually never receive unusual requests. An unusual request is a request that you have never heard of before; I'm trying to be as prepared as possible, then an unusual request might just be a funny one.

Ortega: The traffic congestions that guests experience in Dubai has really become a tremendous challenge and a big complaint these past few years, so many guests are asking to have a boat taxi to Dubai from our beach or helicopter taxis!

Van Der Veen: Well, as a true hotelier you don't disclose your guests' unusual requests, however there was a time when a guest wanted the suite to be decorated completely in red as this was his partner's favourite colour.

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