Working at a hotel in Europe, specifically a smaller Italian town, I’ve gained some insight on Italian’s work ethic and their perspective of customer service. I guess I never fully realized how advanced some things in America are. For instance, some of the hardest things for me to understand when working at the hotel are the roles of each staff member and how inefficient it is. For example, there are 2 managers and they are brothers. One works from 6am to about 6pm and the other works the night shift. There are 26 rooms and 3 cleaning ladies that switch off days working but there are usually always 2. The managers work the front desk and there are only 2 other ladies that come in occasionally and are receptionist but when I am working, usually it is one of the brothers, me, and then the cleaning ladies who also act as receptionist. I found this business structure very different from that of the US, because there are usually a lot more staff at a hotel to make things more time efficient. But here there is one person who works with the financials of the hotel, zero marketing team, and very few receptionists. But I’ve learned that this is just the culture in Italy. Most businesses are simply structured and don’t really have a ladder to climb. They aren’t searching for higher positions. The businesses here are either passed down from the family or are started and run by the same person. Which could be seen as a good thing or bad thing because they aren't as “money hungry” but yet they don't profit as much as businesses in America.The things I’ve learned and observed from working at the hotel are very entertaining. The language barrier being my favorite. My manager makes me speak in Italian, even though he knows some English. He is just shy to use it. But personally after working with people who primarily speak Italian, i've had more of a desire to learn the language or another language in general because it can create a huge barrier when it comes to customer service. There are awkward silences and miscommunications that could result in bad reviews or experiences. There are times that locals who are friends with Vincenzo come in and ask to get a coffee and he just simply up and leaves work for a little bit. He often goes to the bank, get coffee, or even go to the grocery store. Which I had to do the other day and we had to buy the fruit for the breakfast in the morning. He will just leave the front desk open and expects the cleaning ladies to help people but they are upstairs cleaning. Security is not a high priority here compared to hotels in the United States. Money is not highly secured, the computer is constantly unlocked, credit card numbers are printed on papers and then thrown away when not needed. When it comes to relationships at the hotel, they all get along well for the most part. Vincenzo (my boss) is very orderly toward the employees but you can tell they have built a mutual respect. We are able to joke around with him and he jokes around with us. They made fun of my hair and outfit prior to me knowing that i'm supposed to wear black pants and a white collared shirt, and we both laughed about it. Vincenzo tries to tell me that I have stuff on my shirt daily, just to mess with me. He is physical and personable with some customers and even myself. He loves to kiss me on the cheek or the forehead. Which you would not find in America because some people would see that as harassment or very uncomfortable with it. Another thing I’ve observed from the professional aspect is that Vincenzo holds his employees to a high standard when it comes to looks. But when it comes to other things, he doesn’t care as much. Like today a guest was talking to us and then walked away and she was just in the other room and he goes she’s crazy and not normal haha… and then when people come in to apply for jobs, he looks at their ethnicity and the last two ladies who have applied he has said he won’t hire because his past experiences have made him think they are like prostitutes and are in it for bad reasons, just by looking at what they are wearing and where they are from and he just openly says that to me. Which doesn’t bother me at all.. I just think it’s funny how quick he is to jump to a conclusion. Another observation made from working at a hotel is that the rooms are all very different and old fashioned. None of them are set up the same and in America hotel rooms are mostly the exact same depending on how much you pay. But here the number of beds change in each room every night because they move them around.
The most appealing thing I would find in a competitor that my entity does not have is efficiency. At Vogue, they still write all the bookings in a binder and continuously print new ones when one doesn't look organized or have a lot of markings on it. When checking someone out, it takes a good 5 minutes. The process to book things is also not the most assuring and efficient. Many emails are received a day wondering if the booking went through and they must respond to the emails confirming it instead of an automated email confirming their booking. (Which is rarely done according to one of the ladies that works there).
I would improve the workplace by: having more set positions, incorporating more technology into bookings/check-ins/check-outs, and having a marketing team. I personally think the company would be a lot more successful even at off periods if they just improved these points.There are days when it takes more money to even run the hotel than they are profiting because some days there is only one guest staying there.