Granada Feb. 2019 – Week 1

Weekly Summary (at Work):

Monday: a quick visit to the work place.

Tuesday: started the day by helping out with the breakfast service (clearing tables, washing dishes, keeping serving platters topped up,asking guests their room numbers).After the breakfast service was finished we got an overall introduction to how the reception works and what needs to be done before morning shift is over. Learnt how to take information down from passports,how cancellations are dealt with,how new bookings are entered in the folders and a general idea how the mornings billings are counted before the evening shift takes over.

Wednesday: morning started with breakfast service but due to sudden, unforeseen staffing changes,our training was put on hold but we did get to finish the paper work involving two cancellations and shown again the counting of the receipts of the morning.

Thursday: after breakfast service we were doing paper work related to the day’s check-ins, cancellation, new orders and manually counted December and January room occupancy levels.

Friday: we entered new bookings in rooms folder, went over the booking details of today’s and tomorrow’s check-ins, checked credit card validity,learnt how to take required information from a Spanish ID card and finalised the paperwork relating to cancellations.

Learning & Positive Aspects of Week 1:

We made a decent progress in our training and the staff was very friendly and did their best to show how things were done at their place of work.

Challenges Encountered:

Wednesday’s sudden illness of a staff member meant no training could be offered in English. It was a stressful day for the staff too and since we didn’t yet know how most of the stuff was done, it left me feeling I was more of a burden than help to them. Luckily things did turn around the following day and training, though only in Spanish, commenced again.

The hotel operates in a very old-fashioned way of paper and pencil which seemed inefficient and a bit risky way of keeping records of the bookings.

The speed at which the Spanish speak to each other makes it difficult for a person with a basic Spanish to feel confident serving them in their own language.

Self-evaluation:

I’m pleased that my Spanish turned out to be sufficient for our training to continue for the days an English speaking staff member wasn’t available. It has given me the confidence to try to use my Spanish without fearing the embarrassment of mistakes.

Cultural:

Afternoon siesta means many shops close for three hours.We’ve been introduced to tapas and flamenco and admired the Sierra Nevada mountains, many beautiful historic buildings and ornate fountains.

Coffee is great-pity it comes in such a tiny cup.

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