Possessed by my desire to implement my blog,i have benn wonmdering for the last days how it should be the perfect hotelier. Let’s say that, after 25 years of working in tourism and 20 years devoted specifically to the hotel, I can afford to draw the lines for the ideal hotelier ; then reality is so hard, so hard that the ideal remains there at the top, is the figure all the hoteliers are aspiring to; we are as free climbers devoting energies to reach the summit, with constant and continuous slips.
Even in my experience in a 3 star hotel in Jesolo, I realized how it has become more and more essential to grow in professionalism and be 100% aware of what it means to be a hotelier.
And in fact I titled the article ” Portrait of the ideal hotelier in Jesolo ”, because I prefer to talk about my specific reality and experience, though, I strongly believe that the traits are common to all hoteliers worldwide. Do not we live in a global era?
1st Talent :The Patience
Anyone who has to deal with so many people, must have great patience and self-control . If you do not have , change jobs: lock yourself in the office and interact with few people. The hotel is a seaport, so many people are passing , each one with hisher history, each with hisher own problems, with hosher anxieties and joys.
Then when the customer pays for a service, it is logical that he is very attentive, and now even more so, because internet has opened the eyes , has given gave means to control and monitor.
In a a hotel, with the amount of customers managed, the chances to lose your patience are so many , you must tap into the self control, patience. Maybe you put your soul, your heart, your lungs and liver in your work and to explain word for word what you offer,but, in case of problems be patient. Attack is an attempt to try to put the customer with his back to the wall, but it’s worth it? Better to try to explain patiently and find a compromise.
2nd Talent : the Courage to Update
The hotelier cannot ever give up, the world is changing and at a high speed. The market is global, Tourism 2.0 is now 3.0, the Socials are gaining more and more space, portals are a help but a threat to B2C, Business to Client, to the direct relationship with the customer without intermediation.
Each day a new social appear, every day a new Ota appear , every day goes faster. And, if you want to keep up, you have to update, to go back to school, take courses, invest time and money to be on the web and to be on the web with awareness and consciousness.
It is not easy, when you work for so many years to admit that you have to learn yet so much .But this is reality and if you deny it , you deny the reality, your job and you Brand.
I remember the first years of my work : the market was moving on other channels, reservations rained almost from the sky, but if the hotel had not understood the need to update , certainly, we would not have had the chance to be and to continue working.
3rd Talent: Be Ready to be always the Second (I quote from booking.blog)
I read this article but I quote it , because it si so deeply true: the hotelier is always after the customer. The customer may not always be right, but we are here for him, to meet his needs, to look for solutions. We are here in his function. If you want to be the peacock, change jobs, you will always remain the hen and the customer is the rooster .
4th Talent :to be a Problem Solver
When so many people go, stay, eat, go to the beach, park, use the wi fi, sleep, have shower … there will be some problem or other every day: from the discharged battery of a car, the technicalò problems, the Client who expects something you have never promised, the pèroblems with the staff , with the suppliers and many others.
You must be able to face the problems with patience and with the humility of one who knows he is there to work for the people happiness on holiday. ” Calm and Chalk ”, as the saying goes, and a solution must be found. If you lack the practical sense, then works only in theory, the life of a hotel is packed with practical problems.
5th Talent : The Attitude of Sacrifice
In no technical blog you will find this quality, but this will be shared and understood immediately by people working in a hotel.
The sacrifice of which I speak is that of your personal life, especially in hotels in Jesolo, seasonal hotel. When you live, eat, sleep, cry, rejoice for the 6 months of the season in the hotel , share your living space with customers, you need to sacrifice your private life : it becomes second to the job.
As i have written before: you are second, Put it away!
6th Talent : Equilibrism
You have to keep the balance with the staff, the customers, even with yourself at some point . Tu rule the staff is a hard balancing job, you must be a home -made diplomat . If the staff is in disagreement this is perceived immediately by the Guests, and therefore one of the most important and difficult balance is just the staff quietness.
Therefore you have to struggle to reach balance in human relations, balance with the authorities, with suppliers, with customers and the staff. We hoteliers sell happiness, because we sell the product holiday, the momen of our lives when we exact relax.
If we endure in everyday life inconveniences, problems and stress because life is this, of course we are not prepared to accept them on vacation. Logical consideration. On Holidays all Customers reach great expectations of relaxation and serenity, it is logical that the landlord has to be a tightrope walker to maintain balance and ‘giving’ (in the broad sense, because the guest pays for it) the long-awaited relaxation
Mini Survey on Socials (https://www.facebook.com/Hotel-Torino-Jesolo-308955799151225/?ref=hl)
When I set out to write this article, I asked in the socials suggestions and I tried to do a mini survey among friends and customers, and the answers were many. Allow me to list them to get to a final
-Valentina Carpenedo It must be a great problem solver and always have a smile on his face
-Gianluca La Macchia must become interested in how his staff works from cleaning the rooms to the restaurant. Have good taste for furnishing and put mattresses comfortable. Client attention
-Gianluca La Macchia Always be able to give definite answers to customers seeking information
-Gianluca La Macchia Having the ability to make their guests feel unique
-Guido Bertolazzi must simply “dressed” by the customer himself.
-Emanuela Camozzi Impressing with small surprises for customers, or various kindnesses. Smile and the importance of not being too intrusive
-Marcella Tanese Giovanna you are the perfect hotelier
-Antonella Caratti you are perfct hotelier
-Daniela Elizabeth must have a good masseuse
-Anna Grando Serenity, courtesy and common sense!
-Nino Salpietro Availability education and smiles all I have found in you a hug and a thought hello
-Szilvia Szanto’s like you Giovanna Identical
7th Talent : Smiles, Gentleness and availability, that is, Humanity
Reading attentively the survey, I see that what you expect is always a smile, availability, kindness. Be greeted with a warm sincere smile, a coffee offered if the waiting room stretches a little, a chat, a gift to the customer are ways to give a little joy, and the tourist does not feel himself an anonymous number walking through the hotel. The crowd surfing : to know how to talk to people, to launch in the middle of them, listen, chat becomes essential for the hotelier
I speak about Jesolo, and especially about 3-star hotels in Jesolo (https://www.hoteltorinojesolo.it/en/hotel.html) where my experience has developed ,but I firmly believe that in Jesolo we walked and we are still walking firmly towards this ideal. I see it in me, but I see it also in my colleagues: we are sofar away from family boarding houses which swarmed Jesolo at the beginning . We have grown, and we are aware that much we must grow yet. Good climbing to all of us hoteliers