[03.09.18 - 03.15.18]
Activities, duties performed and accomplishments during the week
This week, one major accomplishment I had was being assigned to take care of the popup group of 60 rooms we were going to get by the end of the day. We suddenly got a group booking of 60 rooms this week due to the snowstorm. The morning of the 14th, which is also the day of the storm, I suddenly got a call at the front desk from the Sales manager asking me to count how many rooms we have available that have a king sized bed and have two double beds. This way, she will be able to inform the group coordinator how many rooms they can get from us that night. Considering that I was the only Front Office Agent that morning, I immediately knew I had to step up and work on assigning each reservation from the group to a room, pre checking each reservation, make the keys, insert it in the key packets, place dinner and breakfast voucher coupons inside the packets and segregating it into kings and doubles. Moreover, I had to make sure that there was a sign up sheet so that it would be easier for the PM shift to register all the guests. By the end of my shift, I was able to accomplish all the necessary tasks for the preparation of the group, as well as accomplish my regular daily Front Office Agent tasks.
Challenges or difficulties encountered and how you are dealing or have dealt with the situation
The fact that I had to do everything that morning on my own was a major challenge. Despite already having experience with preparing for a popup group and actually checking them in, I was never really the spearhead of it. It would always be the manager or the supervisor. So the fact that I had to do everything based on what I observed from the past was a major challenge for me. Fortunately, I was able to figure out a systematic way to be able to accomplish it all by myself.
Notes, observations or insights on things you have learned this week
I learned from my General Manager that if you are in a sold out situation, especially on days wherein the weather will be too much, always have a negative number of rooms to sell. You should always overbook on days like these because a lot of the guests will end up having to cancel their reservation. For example, several flights got cancelled this week due to the storm. As such, guests had to either cancel their hotel reservations as well or depart early.
List any pleasant or unpleasant experiences that occurred this week
An unpleasant experience this week was finding out I had to prepare for the group myself. I was shocked and I felt a lot of pressure since I have never really done it myself before. However, after doing it successfully and even being praised by the General Manager and the whole Sales department, the experience suddenly turned into a pleasant one!
Other Comments and observations or suggestions
I would suggest for the company to call in extra people to work whenever there is a big popup group. This way, it would be easier for the front desk since you can separate everybody into two teams – those in charge of the group and those who should mainly stick to the daily tasks of the front desk.