Now I spend every day worrying about the growth of room revenue on the day.
My house was a house where I often traveled with my family during the year-end and New Year holidays. Since I was a child, I have had a crush and admiration for the staff at hotels and inns who always greet me with a smile. When I graduated from university, I considered NAGOYA TOKYU HOTEL as one of my job opportunities.
After joining the company, I worked in the guest room department, but my workplace changed to housekeeping, bells, and doors, and I have been working at the front reception since 2019. It is often thought that the main job of the front desk is to complete guest accommodation procedures, inquiries, and arrangements, but in fact, it is an important task to increase room revenue on the day. Check the remaining rooms on the morning of the day, predict the number of rooms expected to be sold on the day based on various information, and set the sales price. If there are many remaining rooms, sales will prioritize operation, and if there are few remaining rooms, price-oriented sales will be required, so fine-tuning will be repeated.
We want to cherish our connections with our guests
Since you are constantly interacting with many guests at the front desk and lobby, remembering them is also an important part of the job. When I was in charge of the door, I remembered the names of guests' companies, their job titles, and the license plates of their company and personal cars, and I always called guests by name at the front desk.
When a guest remembers me, I feel the joy of having made a connection with them.
One time, a family arrived late at night. The mother asked us to do something for their daughter's fourth birthday at breakfast. The restaurant where breakfast was served had already closed, so we consulted with the chef first thing the next morning and decided to prepare a fruit platter. We asked them to include a stuffed toy of the hotel's mascot, which we give as a birthday gift, and a message card. When we returned to check on them at the right time, the restaurant staff told us that the whole family had enjoyed it. It's a joyous memory that I'll never forget.
On the other hand, I have of course made mistakes. In particular, when I first moved to the front desk, I was so busy with my work that I forgot to smile, which is an important part of being a hotelier, and a guest told me off for not smiling. It wasn't a big problem, but I remember feeling ashamed of myself.
Despite this, I have begun to think that I want to become a room manager or general manager. Of course, I am aware that this requires a lot of knowledge and experience. I am currently studying English, and am also studying management using e-learning recommended by my company.
I would also encourage students to accumulate as many experiences as possible that you can only have now and broaden your horizons. Traveling or even part-time work would be good options. Even things that may seem unrelated to work at first glance may be useful someday.