catching up

Lots to catch up on I guess- sorry I've been slacking with the updates!

So if ya'll (had to throw it in there...) didn't already know, the ominous Tropical Storm Faye managed to COMPLETELY miss Tampa, even though there was all kinds of hype and panic and preparation on everyone's part up to Monday night, yet Tuesday the only thing we got was some wind and a drizzle around 8pm. It was windier there than usual for about 2 days but that was all... at least I got a taste of the hurricane season!

Bad thing about it though was that evvveryone who was supposed to be coming into the hotel for a big event they were having and other meetings CANCELLED, so I was bored out of my mind the first 2 days I was rotating through Banquets. It picked up though because over the weekend the Jacksonville Jaguars football team stayed with us! We'll be hosting every team that plays the Tampa Bucs (except when the Patriots were here, much to my dismay!!). Those guys were HUUUGE. It was hysterical to walk past a group of them- I've never felt so small in my life. Most were very polite but we weren't allowed to initiate any conversation or anything since they were "focusing and prepping for the game". We had the 2nd floor meetings rooms sectioned off and they held all their meetings and meals up there, so I was able to be on the front lines helping out with all that, which was cool. Looking forward to the other teams coming, although being in Banquets definitely got me the most interaction with them!

I was in Engineering (maintenance/electricians/painters/carpenters/all that jazz) and Accounting this week. Engineering wasn't bad- I was able to follow around different people and see what they do and help with guest requests and the supervisor even showed me the roof!! THAT was really cool- although I was nervous getting close to the edge, thanks for minor fear adopted from Dad... the views of the bay and the city were absolutely amazing though.

Long weekend coming up and I'm SO excited to get out of town for a little, although now that I've been hanging out with more people around here, I'm a little sad I'll be missing out on the activities they're planning. I'll be up at Lake Cherokee again with Josh and his family and I'm excited to be in a cooler place where it actually cold at nights!! Packed a sweatshirt and I'm excited about it!!! :-)

Hope everyone has a good long weekend!
-signing out-
TravelBug

A+ Student

This morning Monica, Melissa and I (the 3 CMTs) had breakfast with Mr. Steele, the GM.  I had no idea what to expect, but it went really well!  He asked us how we thought the program was going, if departments were actually prepared for us/how they treated us, what got us into the field, and all that stuff- if there was anything they could do better next time around.  We definitely all appreciated him asking and has some things to suggest, like my biggest concern: instead of having a basics-review at the conference, some type of "how to transition into being a manager" especially after having to manage people who just trained you weeks before.  Mr.  Steele was actually originally a dishwasher in Hyatt and has worked his way allll the up so he had some good advice and told us it's really easier than we'd think.

When I was saying I had a really good experience in Rooms and felt I could go to Jonathan (the Rooms division head) and chat with him anything at anytime, Mr Steele actually told me that he's repeatedly been hearing really good things about me and that everyone knows I'm going to go far with this and how that makes it easy for them to available and open for me.  I was so flattered!!!  What a compliment for the GENERAL MANAGER to tell me that!  It definitely re-enforced me faith in this program because it's allowed the person with the most influence in the entire property to actually get to know me!  I definitely don't think that'd be case, or at least not this early, if I had just come into a hotel in a regular position.  So that was exciting!

In other news, I was in the kitchen today and our friend Walker showed me how to correctly chop things!  I helped with plating in the different sections for this big banquet and pastry was definitely my favorite spot.  I also learned that chefs are kind of crazy and strong-headed and theres some power struggle between back-of-house mgmt (kitchen) and front-of-house (restaurant managers).  For example, I spent the end of the day with the 2 head chefs attempting to set up what the new breakfast buffet will look like, but the rest. mgr didn't like everything and they were going back and forth about it forever....   the things I'm learning!!  I'm just getting antsy to get into Rooms and actually be doing what I'm gonna be doing! 

Needed mini vacation

Last week the 3 of us CMTs, Monica Melissa and I, went to the Hyatt in Bonita Springs (between Ft Myers and Naples) Coconut Point for a regional CMT conference.  All the CMTs in Florida and the Caribbean (right now just Key West) got together on Tues night for a reception and then the day of the conference Wed.  

It was fun to meet everyone else and compare how things were going/see how far everyone moved and all that.  I loved seeing the 2 women who hired me too, and the 3rd college recruiter I had heard so much of.  They remembered me well and said they still talk about how I weaseled my way into UMass's career fair and was known as the girl that drove all the way there just for the info session and interviews.  Glad I created a name for myself and was remembered!

The property was beautiful and all 3 of us definitely needed and liked the escape from Tampa for the night.  All the CMTs even went out for a few drinks after so we joined a few of them. (we made sure to get a pic of us cheers-ing to show our HR director we represented the hotel well!)  The only downfall was once we really got into the conference, most of the stuff was basically a review of our 1-day orientation we had to do at our properties when we started working.  We did at least get to talk with them about the recruiting/moving/getting started process so they can keep notes for next time, spoke with the Senior President of the Florida Hyatt region, and were able to split into groups by our divisions and talk with a divisions head.  Thankfully they're sending a survey to us about it and we all plan to recommend more useful information, like how to be a good manager, or transitioning from being a trainee into a manager.  

...oh well, like I said I really liked the mini vacation!  It was just what I needed because I was actually excited to go home to my empty and quiet apartment! 

SCHEDULE

Just in case any of you wanted to know where I'd be and when, since Mom requested it and I thought I'd share: 

FOOD&BEVERAGE-

8/3-8/12: Hotel Restaurants/Room Service  (Tues&Wed off for a conference for local CMTs in Florida/SC/Georgia at our resort property in Naples -yay!) 

8/13-8/16: Kitchen, Stewarding (fancy name for dishwashing...nice attempt at glorifying it, Hyatt...), and Storeroom/Purchasing

8/17-8/23: Banquets and Convention Services

8/25-8/26: Engineering (they fix everything and keep the hotel in working order)

8/27-8/28: Accounting

8/29&9/02: Sales (excited to scope that out because it may be an option for a back-up job down the road when I'm burned out from the Rooms hours)

9/03-9/04: Catering

Then for 11 weeks, starting September 7th until November 22nd.  That's more or less though because if a position opens up for me in the hotel or another one sooner, they'll move things along quicker.  Also, within 60-45 days before my end date (11/22) I should know if this Hyatt will have a position for me, or if I'll have to be relocated. 

My Forte perhaps?

After my 2nd day at Guest Services I definitely like it the best so far.  It helps that I've finally been given a project and was used for more than just an extra person to help around or shadow someone.  Ron asked me to help him out on the United Airlines project he's setting up because as of this Friday, we have a year-long contract to have the flight crew stay at the Hyatt.  This requires the Hyatt to pick them up on time and bring them back to the airport and a way to make sure we're timely and accurate. 

So Ron asked for my help and thoughts and he let me create this white board that I divided up by flight #, scheduled and actual time of arrival, #of crew we'd be picking up, and which driver would do it.  We ran it by some of the head bellmen to see what they thought and talked more detail about how it'd play it out.

Ron also had me go to the airport with one of the shuttle runs and get out to do some research there for the crew and other guests- what part of the terminal they arrive/depart from and what kind of services are there like restaurants/shops, where our ad was at the courtesy phone and if it's easy to see, and how everything played out when I called requesting a shuttle pretending to be a guest.  It was fun!  I left work on such a high and actually feeling like I was put to use and some of my potential was used.  I've been able to spend more time with Jonathan, the Rooms Division Head which is good since either way he'll be my head boss. 

It's good to finally be excited about work- now it's just too bad that I'm about to leave Rooms to head into my other rotations, but at least I'll be back and know what I have to look forward to! 

Real Situation...part 2

...so the 2nd part of the real situation:

I haven't even been at the hotel long enough to know what's right-side-up, but I know for a fact that it's turned upside-down right now.  

Not only is the summer slow season here, but with this "recession" going on, apparently FL is getting hit worst out of everyone, and the hotel's income statement shows it.  Apparently they've been losing money for months now.  So to cut back they're telling everyone to take vacations, and managers to avoid their employees from hitting overtime.  This causes a predicament in itself though because I've watched manager after manager fumble with the schedule since everyone is gone on vaca and they need ppl working but it's tough to not hit overtime.  So Housekeeping doesn't have enough girls to clean the rooms, so they have to drop rooms (leave them dirty) and even though we're only averaging 40% occupancy, we can't honor guest room-type requests because the rooms are all dirty.  Laundry is completely backed up to the point where me, the rooms Exec Jonathan (my soon-to-be head boss who I also love because he has a really good sense of humor and balance between work and play) and another FD employee folding towels in laundry because housekeeping and the pool didn't have enough supplies... 

It got to the point that they've had to "temporarily terminate" employees who aren't really needed right now even though they've been with the company for 25 years since this hotel opened.  Melissa and I (one of the other CMTs- we recently learned we're a lot alike and are going to get along great- finally someone to explore with!) were SHOCKED to find out the head of convention services and the employment manager (she was one of my favorite employees there) had to take a temp term of 3 months...THREE MONTHS! They can file for unemployment, but still that's nothing easy.  At least the emp.mgr probably had an idea it was coming since she works in HR but we couldn't believe it.  Melissa even talked to Bob, head of HR, to make sure our jobs weren't in jeopardy, but thankfully he and the GM budgeted for us even in the worst of situations...so we'll float through getting trained by managers who are afraid they're going to lose their own job or half of their staff in the meantime...it's pretty weird to see!!  But I guess a good learning experience... come football season (esp with the superbowl in Tampa in January- and YES one of the teams WILL stay at this hotel!!! I'm SO EXCITED!!) things will pick up, but this is crazy in the mean time.

anyway... I write novels...so I need to sign out.  Working tomorrow 9am-7pm (yep they decided our pay based on a salary with 10-hour days...ouch) so I have to get to bed early, like the old person I'm turning into... ;-)  hehe

Peek at the real situation...part 1

By "real situation" I mean 2 different things. 

Part 1:

Working through the weekend being a snapshot at my future... I was in the Front Desk last week (last week? there was no weekend to separate so I'm a little confused...) and had Thursday off to go to Busch Gardens with some other front desk people, including the manager, but of course...good ol Florida...it rained and thunderstormed for the first time in days.  So I had to come in Sat at 3pm-1am for no good reason.  Anyway now I'm all thrown off because Front Desk ended Saturday, and Guest Services started today, Sunday. 

Front Desk was fun- the manager is young and fun but can still get down to business and is honest with me, which was nice.  It was kind of an off week because I'm doing a quick Rooms rotation now, but will be back later for 11 weeks to really get into it.  So I did some online training I had to get out of the way, shadowed and helped out the front desk agents, attended Rooms meetings and kind of followed around Nate, the manager.  I definitely found out that since the FD is the face of the entire hotel, they have allll the interesting and sticky situations to deal with.  They put out all the guests' fires and try to keep them all happy, which isn't an easy job. It was really good to come right from Housekeeping to FD though because they go back and forth a lot on who's fault a problem was and I think I had some enlightening/reminder information for them on how it was all happening down there as well.  I know that's the hope and goal of the program, so it's good to see it following through.

Now I'm in guest services, (pic is of the front drive of the hotel) which is in charge of the bellmen and valet, shuttle drivers, and ensuring VIPs are taken care of.  Noon check-out today was really busy with a huge group checking out and getting the 2 bellman back and forth to rooms to help them with their luggage on request.  I actually really like it so far, because you get a lot of guest interaction but don't have to deal with as many sticky problems, while having more people management simultaneously.  It also seems like these employees could use some new management- they know they can walk over the 2 managers there (there's a "guest relations" manager: Ron, who I'm with now and deals with the VIPs, and then Chris, the Guest Services Mgr, who deals with the employees and was also a CMT not long ago).  I was helping at the door today and one of the guys told me about how often he calls in sick and takes breaks when it gets too busy...I reminded him that I may be his manager in a few months and if so he's getting fired - he was about my age so I could joke around with him about it, but I was definitely serious... lol.  :-)  They said they had a woman manager once and she was the best because she was really involved and helped them out- and they thought another one would be a great idea.  They told me they'd put me in the hall of fame of I installed automatic doors, which I think they should so there'd be 2 less positions to pay... I'm absorbing all the "ways to be a good manager" tips for sure. 

...speaking of paying people that brings me to part 2 of the "real situation"... 

The Apartment

So Josh and I drove down to Tampa in mid June to scope out the area and find an apartment for me.  We were able to stay in the hotel, which was good to see it from a guest's view before seeing it as an employee, annnnd nice to stay in luxury for a little! 

So after surviving some crazy rain storms, on the third apartment viewing I decided I found my own!  There was a special so I got a month free and was able to afford the big one-bedroom with a "den"!!  I tried so hard to keep a poker face, as coached, but typical Toni, I couldn't contain it and halfway through looking at the apartment I was giddy.  Josh and the leasing agent (who's husband is now my Honda mechanic too- convenient!) just had to laugh at me.  Signing that lease with MY name on it was sooo exciting!!!  ...until of course I had to pay the first month's rent a few weeks later and felt a little tight on cash... Welcome to the Real World!

soooo I don't have much furniture yet, mostly cuz its EXPENSIVE moving into an empty apartment!  But when Gwen came down with me a week or so later, we still had to enjoy a cocktail in the Den on our makeshift furniture.  We blew up my pool floats, laid in the dining room, and took that picture of living room.  The other picture of the pool and pond is the view from my balcony and outside the front door.  Not too bad.  Rent money certainly stretches a LOT further here than in Boston... 

Background Check

...where to begin...

Well my apparently tech-savvy mother was the one who suggested I set up a blog for everyone to follow me through and stay updated on the newest adventure of my life: working at the Hyatt in Tampa!

So, the background: I started at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay as a CMT (Corporate Management Trainee) where I'm doing a 5 month program and then will get placed at Hyatt somewhere in the Rooms division, which is all the front-of-the-house stuff including the Housekeeping dept, Front Desk, and Guest Services.  For 9 weeks I rotate through each and every department in the hotel for a few days to a week in each, and then have an 11-week concentration in Rooms.  

So far so good.  Check out the link above and look at the pictures and stuff.  The hotel is beautiful and right on the bay.  A little set apart from other things, but right in between downtown Tampa and St Pete/Clearwater. 

I've done HR, Housekeeping (yes I actually helped clean a room!) and now I'm at the Front Desk.  Yesterday while I was hanging around and helping with "lobby duty" the GM asked how I was doing (he remembers all our names and shakes my hand every time I see him) and said he heard "I was the next allstar" so that was incredible!!  Hopefully means good things :-)  Even if it was a lie, at least he thought to say it to me!  We'll see!!