實習心得
This is the second time I had internship experience at Centara group. Last time I got a chance to internship at Centara resort Maldives, and this time I went to Centara hotel Ladprao Bangkok Thailand. The way of managing and service at hotel and resort are totally different.
Work as a front office management trainee, the most important two parts I have to learn are check-in and check-out.
Check-in is easy for me than check-out, but learning still takes time. I have to greet to guests first, then copy passport, ask for the room types and smoke or not, ask for the deposit, assign the rooms, and give room keys to guests.
Check-out is quite difficult for me. The main reason is that the process is concerned about payment; I have to learn how to read the remark of the room. Sometimes if the FIT groups come together and want to pay in the same bill, I have to transfer one of the rooms or the dummy room. Another situation is the company will pay the room charge for guests, and other expenses I have to separate and post to another folio. It is confused and I am also afraid of that I will make wrong payment. I think that’s why the policy mentioned that even management trainees cannot do check-in and check-out without staffs stand by the side.
Expect check-in and check-out process, there still many works have to be complete.
If I take afternoon shift, I have to go to briefing with staffs and assistant managers. In this group, I am the only person who cannot speak Thai. That’s why normally they use Thai to hold the briefing. Sometimes they will tell me what they discuss during the briefing, but most of time they will tell me after I did something wrong. I started to skip briefing around March. For me, it is a kind of time-wasting; I think it is better that I go to front office or tour coordinator to help them instead of staying there.
Every day I have to send the fax of the authorize credit card receipts to bank to cancel the deposit the guests paid while checking-in. After guests check-out, the registration rack have to be cleared as well. I have to check the correspondence, to make sure that whether the guests arrive or not. If the guests book by some specific travel agencies, I should charge by guests’ credit card number. Sometimes if the emails were written by Chinese, or there are some documents have to be translated; it’s my job to translate as well. After guests fill the registration forms, I have to separate by room and put into the rack.
In high season, the restaurants in the hotel are quite busy, that time I have to go to banquet and restaurants to support. Sometimes, when guest rent the meeting rooms or ballrooms to hold the events, I have to help them as well. Many guests come to hotel for whole day meeting, the jobs I have to do are pack breakfast or lunch boxes, stand by outside to welcome guests, serve dishes, and direct guest to correct meeting rooms.
Around March, there is one big Chinese group to have yearly conference here, one Chinese intern and I have to wear Thai traditional dress to support the group for three days. They book almost 150 rooms for their customers, and not all of them can speak English. Within those 3 days, all we have to do were to translate, serve some snacks when coffee break, arrange the clean and dirty rooms, and stand by with their staff.
Everything here is good. The people, the weather, and the environment are very similar with Taiwan. To me, there are many difficult parts, because I never worked at front office before. The documents and the money always make me headache.
The first difficult part I think is check-out. Sometimes the guests would like to separate the bill because they come here for business trip, the room charge their company will pay for them. If they consume anything such as spa or dining, they have to pay by themselves. It’s a little bit troublesome for me.
The second part is about language. Most of the guests are from Thailand, and some of them don’t know how to speak English. I think they must feel very unfathomable why there is a person who work at Thailand but cannot speak Thai. Some guest will get angry about this. One time, there’s a Thai guest wait for a long time in the queue
Even when I am in Taiwan, I never meet any staffs work at the hotel and cannot speak Mandarin. I think I should learn some simple words; At least I need to know some sentences that make me able to answer guests’ questions.
Centara Ladprao is a city hotel, most of the guests are Thai people. Not same as resort, there are more foreigners going to resort for relaxing. One of my friends who had internship at Centara resort Thailand told me that she doesn’t need to speak and learn Thai because almost all their guests are not local. Anyway, I appreciated I can get chance to have internship in Thailand. Because of the internship, now I can speak a little bit Thai, and meet many people from other countries.
The note was from a cute guest from Malaysia. Really appreciate he wrote a letter for me. Because of my name tag, he found out that I am from Taiwan. We talk a lot about the food, culture of Malaysia, and the situation between Taiwan and China.
Because of the flag on the name tag, there are many guests talk to me and ask about Taiwan. I think it is also a way to make everyone knows about Taiwan
The situation between Taiwan and China is still a problem. When I work at front desk, if some Chinese see the flag on my name tag, they will ask me “Do you think Taiwan belongs to China?” This kind of questions I cannot answer, it is not suitable to discuss about nationality while working. Sometimes I tell them I cannot tell you about the answer, and the Chinese people will start to persuade me that Taiwan belongs to China. It happens every day and I really feel offensive after that.
I told my colleagues Chinese guests are always bothering me, and then they said no problem I can tell guests my opinion. If they are going to argue, they will protect me and tell my manager right away. I feel thankful for their support and I really meet a lot of friends here.
The first day we went to human resource, they gave us a name tag with flag of China. I asked them why there was a wrong flag, but they just asked us to put it on. After that we went to attend a meeting with general manager and the head of every department, and introduced ourselves. Our general manager who is an Irish suddenly demanded human resource why they put wrong flag, and asked them to change immediately. I think the reason is our general manager is from Ireland. There are some problems between his country and UK as well, so he can understand our situation. The one who is not into this kind of situation will not know anything about what we think.
Fortunately, I experience Thai New Year – Songkran festival, many tourists come to Thailand to enjoy Songkran. This year Songkran was 13, 14, and 15 of April. During that period of time, all the front office staffs have to wear Thai traditional costumes as well. The busiest department is concierge, all the tourists go to concierge to ask about where the most people go during Songkran.
That time we also had some special promotion about dining. The chefs created many new cuisines and the theme is about Songkran. All the departments have to post promotions on social media, and try their best to push guests to buy. After that , we can get upselling incentive.
Our hotel takes lay over guests who are waiting for the delay flight, I have seen twice of that. The airline booked the rooms for guests, but they did not book enough rooms. The guests who have the same time flight have to stay in the same room, even they do not know each other. The biggest problem is the airline did not tell the guests that they have to stay with the person who they do not know, and the airport staffs did not come with guests as well.
All the responsibilities the front office has to take. The guests came to front desk to complain about the room, and why they cannot open a new room. After we told them if they wanted to open new rooms, they have to pay by themselves. They started to get angry, and argued with us. We can understand their situation, but we can do nothing. The problems made by the airline, but every responsibility the hotel staffs have to take.
I had an internship at another resort 1 year ago, that time I worked as a hostess at the buffet restaurant. Originally I want to choose F&B again, but after I thought twice, I recognized that I should take some more challenges. I have to step out my comfort zone and broaden my horizon.
I had an internship at another resort as a hostess at buffet restaurant before.
Originally I want to choose F&B again, but after I thought twice, I recognized that I have to get some more challenges. It is good for me to step out my comfort zone and broaden my horizon.
I can still remember the first day I worked, and I acted same as a nervous and anxious girl who was afraid to make mistake. Being afraid of making mistakes is not right. If I do nothing because I am afraid of making mistakes, I also learn nothing. I tried to learn from my mistakes in few months, and I can work as a staff not an intern. I succeed to let my colleagues said that it is difficult for them to work without me.
I really experienced a lot after this internship. I have already graduated, and I am going to work at the hotel in the future. I wrote my internship experience in my CV, there are many hotels to contact me and ask me to have interviews with them. I really appreciated everything Wenzao give us that I can clarify my mind and find my future job.
Work as a front office management trainee, the most important two parts I have to learn are check-in and check-out.
Check-in is easy for me than check-out, but learning still takes time. I have to greet to guests first, then copy passport, ask for the room types and smoke or not, ask for the deposit, assign the rooms, and give room keys to guests.
Check-out is quite difficult for me. The main reason is that the process is concerned about payment; I have to learn how to read the remark of the room. Sometimes if the FIT groups come together and want to pay in the same bill, I have to transfer one of the rooms or the dummy room. Another situation is the company will pay the room charge for guests, and other expenses I have to separate and post to another folio. It is confused and I am also afraid of that I will make wrong payment. I think that’s why the policy mentioned that even management trainees cannot do check-in and check-out without staffs stand by the side.
Expect check-in and check-out process, there still many works have to be complete.
If I take afternoon shift, I have to go to briefing with staffs and assistant managers. In this group, I am the only person who cannot speak Thai. That’s why normally they use Thai to hold the briefing. Sometimes they will tell me what they discuss during the briefing, but most of time they will tell me after I did something wrong. I started to skip briefing around March. For me, it is a kind of time-wasting; I think it is better that I go to front office or tour coordinator to help them instead of staying there.
Every day I have to send the fax of the authorize credit card receipts to bank to cancel the deposit the guests paid while checking-in. After guests check-out, the registration rack have to be cleared as well. I have to check the correspondence, to make sure that whether the guests arrive or not. If the guests book by some specific travel agencies, I should charge by guests’ credit card number. Sometimes if the emails were written by Chinese, or there are some documents have to be translated; it’s my job to translate as well. After guests fill the registration forms, I have to separate by room and put into the rack.
In high season, the restaurants in the hotel are quite busy, that time I have to go to banquet and restaurants to support. Sometimes, when guest rent the meeting rooms or ballrooms to hold the events, I have to help them as well. Many guests come to hotel for whole day meeting, the jobs I have to do are pack breakfast or lunch boxes, stand by outside to welcome guests, serve dishes, and direct guest to correct meeting rooms.
Around March, there is one big Chinese group to have yearly conference here, one Chinese intern and I have to wear Thai traditional dress to support the group for three days. They book almost 150 rooms for their customers, and not all of them can speak English. Within those 3 days, all we have to do were to translate, serve some snacks when coffee break, arrange the clean and dirty rooms, and stand by with their staff.
Everything here is good. The people, the weather, and the environment are very similar with Taiwan. To me, there are many difficult parts, because I never worked at front office before. The documents and the money always make me headache.
The first difficult part I think is check-out. Sometimes the guests would like to separate the bill because they come here for business trip, the room charge their company will pay for them. If they consume anything such as spa or dining, they have to pay by themselves. It’s a little bit troublesome for me.
The second part is about language. Most of the guests are from Thailand, and some of them don’t know how to speak English. I think they must feel very unfathomable why there is a person who work at Thailand but cannot speak Thai. Some guest will get angry about this. One time, there’s a Thai guest wait for a long time in the queue
Even when I am in Taiwan, I never meet any staffs work at the hotel and cannot speak Mandarin. I think I should learn some simple words; At least I need to know some sentences that make me able to answer guests’ questions.
Centara Ladprao is a city hotel, most of the guests are Thai people. Not same as resort, there are more foreigners going to resort for relaxing. One of my friends who had internship at Centara resort Thailand told me that she doesn’t need to speak and learn Thai because almost all their guests are not local. Anyway, I appreciated I can get chance to have internship in Thailand. Because of the internship, now I can speak a little bit Thai, and meet many people from other countries.
The note was from a cute guest from Malaysia. Really appreciate he wrote a letter for me. Because of my name tag, he found out that I am from Taiwan. We talk a lot about the food, culture of Malaysia, and the situation between Taiwan and China.
Because of the flag on the name tag, there are many guests talk to me and ask about Taiwan. I think it is also a way to make everyone knows about Taiwan
The situation between Taiwan and China is still a problem. When I work at front desk, if some Chinese see the flag on my name tag, they will ask me “Do you think Taiwan belongs to China?” This kind of questions I cannot answer, it is not suitable to discuss about nationality while working. Sometimes I tell them I cannot tell you about the answer, and the Chinese people will start to persuade me that Taiwan belongs to China. It happens every day and I really feel offensive after that.
I told my colleagues Chinese guests are always bothering me, and then they said no problem I can tell guests my opinion. If they are going to argue, they will protect me and tell my manager right away. I feel thankful for their support and I really meet a lot of friends here.
The first day we went to human resource, they gave us a name tag with flag of China. I asked them why there was a wrong flag, but they just asked us to put it on. After that we went to attend a meeting with general manager and the head of every department, and introduced ourselves. Our general manager who is an Irish suddenly demanded human resource why they put wrong flag, and asked them to change immediately. I think the reason is our general manager is from Ireland. There are some problems between his country and UK as well, so he can understand our situation. The one who is not into this kind of situation will not know anything about what we think.
Fortunately, I experience Thai New Year – Songkran festival, many tourists come to Thailand to enjoy Songkran. This year Songkran was 13, 14, and 15 of April. During that period of time, all the front office staffs have to wear Thai traditional costumes as well. The busiest department is concierge, all the tourists go to concierge to ask about where the most people go during Songkran.
That time we also had some special promotion about dining. The chefs created many new cuisines and the theme is about Songkran. All the departments have to post promotions on social media, and try their best to push guests to buy. After that , we can get upselling incentive.
Our hotel takes lay over guests who are waiting for the delay flight, I have seen twice of that. The airline booked the rooms for guests, but they did not book enough rooms. The guests who have the same time flight have to stay in the same room, even they do not know each other. The biggest problem is the airline did not tell the guests that they have to stay with the person who they do not know, and the airport staffs did not come with guests as well.
All the responsibilities the front office has to take. The guests came to front desk to complain about the room, and why they cannot open a new room. After we told them if they wanted to open new rooms, they have to pay by themselves. They started to get angry, and argued with us. We can understand their situation, but we can do nothing. The problems made by the airline, but every responsibility the hotel staffs have to take.
I had an internship at another resort 1 year ago, that time I worked as a hostess at the buffet restaurant. Originally I want to choose F&B again, but after I thought twice, I recognized that I should take some more challenges. I have to step out my comfort zone and broaden my horizon.
I had an internship at another resort as a hostess at buffet restaurant before.
Originally I want to choose F&B again, but after I thought twice, I recognized that I have to get some more challenges. It is good for me to step out my comfort zone and broaden my horizon.
I can still remember the first day I worked, and I acted same as a nervous and anxious girl who was afraid to make mistake. Being afraid of making mistakes is not right. If I do nothing because I am afraid of making mistakes, I also learn nothing. I tried to learn from my mistakes in few months, and I can work as a staff not an intern. I succeed to let my colleagues said that it is difficult for them to work without me.
I really experienced a lot after this internship. I have already graduated, and I am going to work at the hotel in the future. I wrote my internship experience in my CV, there are many hotels to contact me and ask me to have interviews with them. I really appreciated everything Wenzao give us that I can clarify my mind and find my future job.
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