First day of work!

23rd May today, the start of my 5 month long internship attachment at Gallery Hotel. It is a very nice place, and I like the way things are going so far! The people here are quite friendly in general, and I like the way everyone helps one another to do things. I like even more the way they talk to guests, so polite and friendly, like they know the guest in person!

So Brian, Christina and I met up at about 8.30am outside Gallery Hotel to get changed to our uniform and report at 9am at the front office. We got in, collected our uniforms[mine is F24, remember ah fagan!], changed and reported for work. We still had to exchange our I/C for a visitor pass today, because we have not received our staff pass yet.[grr.]

So we were given each a Fact Sheet about Gallery Hotel. Gosh it was thick man! Alot of things to remember by hard, I guess it will take time. We were then approached by the Senior Guest Services Manager, Rizwan, for our short briefing and introduction. All is well so far.

We proceeded to tour the hotel, on a short orientation. There are facilities such as:
Business Centre
Concierge
Swimming Pool
Inter-Fitness Gym
Royal Thai Spa(Ayuthaya)
Retail Outlet(Mercy Xchange)
Art and Photography Galleries
(Gira Soleil, Ruamrudee Gallery, Mercy Relief Gallery and Mabel Lee Photography)
Zenden Restaurant & Lounge
Ode Cafe
Bar 84
Cocco Latte
Moloko Cafe & Bar
The Liquid Room & Sound Bar
Sky Oasis Poolside Bar
Japanese Ramen Restaurant
Eu la la Mediterranean Restaurant(renovation)
4 different function rooms

Five different types of rooms:
Gallery
Glazzhaus
Bookend Club
Observatory Suite
Executive Studio

It's really interesting and cool this hotel.[I just wanted to type all that above.] =)

Lunch break was at 11am, for 45mins. Went to the staff canteen, rice and 3 diff dishes buffet style! Returned after lunch to join the concierge, where I will be working for the rest of this week.

Concierge is really fun. It is defined as additional services to the guests after check-in. Basically we multi-task and do ALOT of different duties. We do doorman duties[open car door], bellhop duties[carry bags], concierge duties[answer their queries], postman duties[deliver msgs and items to rooms], deliver their luggage and/or escort guests up to their room, and much more.

Basically I learnt today that to be working in concierge, I have to be VERY knowledgeable and able to talk to ppl easily. That I need to improve and keep learning. I believe SIP@Gallery will help me with my punctuality too!

I am very motivated by some of the staff here already, on my 1st day. They are very helpful, smart workers, and so friendly to guests. They have guided me along alot too. I would feel good too if I was a guest. This behavior of theirs motivates me strongly to behave like them. I feel so mature working around them. Guess the lil' boy in me has to go! haha.. I admire the positive attitude and manner that guests are treated, and will strive to be likewise!

Recommendation tat I could make wld be to do something about the small book lounge on level 5. It is free for guests to roam and read there, with a small selection of books. The selection is small because, guests usually take the books with them. haha.. so there could be a way to take care of the books and make sure they don't disappear!

Reflection would be that my own bus guide is very helpful for me and concierge too. I could bring it to work and use it in conjunction with the street directory they have there. It would compliment each other when needed. Adding my own knowledge and help to the arsenal of information at the concierge. HEHE..

That's all I will say, i'm tired and information overload! Working 1pm-9pm tmr.. rest time! gd nite. =)