It’s an early start for the reservations office 8am (well I say early we start an hour later than reception so I can’t really complain!) as I approach the office I can hear the phones ringing, which is a sign that it’s going to be a manic day!!
After I’ve settled in, my first phone call of the day is a lovely woman who is booking her Honeymoon!! After much consideration she decides on a Premier suite, complete with celebration pack, well it is a special occasion you only get married once is her statement. It’s nice to help people plan their holidays or honeymoons and to hear them get excited about their stay with us.
Later on I have another call from a woman wanting to cancel her stay with us as her car has broken down, I am thinking how can we get round this, we have a policy at the Grand that we always go that extra mile so what can we do? I suggest maybe the train or coach would be an option, the lady seems pleased I suggested this but as she is at work and shouldn’t be using the phone to call me let alone ringing round to get times and prices for coaches and trains, so I tell her I will check it all out and give her a ring back.
Once I put the phone down I get involved in 20 more calls, just general room bookings, and then I realise this lady is still waiting, I panic as quick as I can type I tap all the information into the website and hey presto all the prices and times are listed. I can’t believe the phones have been so busy, most of our bookings come through the internet these days.
I quickly call the lady back, I apologise profusely about the delay in getting back to her, I can tell from the tone she is not happy, I launch into a babbling conversation explaining I have managed to find a special offer on the 10.03am train, when she stops me, “Thanks for your help but my car is going to cost £1000 so I am going to have to cancel.” Oh I am a little taken back, I was getting quiet excited that I had gone the extra mile, the lady thanks me and tells me she wishes the people she had taken the car to would have be so helpful, they seem to have the attitude that’s the price take it or leave it.
It is amazing how a reservationist gets so involved in things that have nothing to do with them, I guess it is all part of us wanting to go that extra mile.
The Grand Hotel are holding a family day on Sunday 31st August, between 11am -4pm, so if you are looking for something different to entertain the children after the long summer holidays then what better place to bring them, entry is free.
There will be an Animal corner courteous of Pennywell Farm and Pets at home, Cavog the Caveman, as well as a Bouncy castle, Face painting, Magician and lots of traditional games. If the sun is shining there will be a BBQ available from 12-9pm.
Why not some and join us in Torquay during the festival 14th -21st September, here at the Grand. The week commences on Sunday 14th with a Christie Tea and Tour, enjoy a boat trip to Greenway, walk the Agatha Christie mile in Torquay and finish the day with a Cream Tea at the Grand followed by a Tour of the Agatha Christie Suite and reading of some of her famous works.
Tickets are available from the Grand Hotel at £22.00 per person call 01803 296677 to book.
The Murder Mystery Party will be in full swing on 15th September, along with a book sale.
If you fancy dinner with a difference why not book for the Murder Mystery Dinner on 16th.
There are several boat trips available during the week taking in Dartmouth, Greenway, Totnes, or if you prefer dry land why not participate on the classic car treasure hunt on 21st.
For more details on all the events please go to www.englishriviera.co.uk/agatha-christie/home
Where do I start? – Stand to attention – Check white gloves –
Uniform correct – minimum make up – no jewellery apart from a wedding ring – buttons done up – skirt to below knee level – low black shoes – black stockings…… hang on a minute this was in my days of training, sometimes I get a bit confused what century is it but it was 30 years ago when I trained to be a housekeeper!!
I start my shift at 7am, my first stop is to get a coffee and then start to look at what is going to happen that day; what VIP arrivals have we got, what special request we have, do we have enough extra beds, coloured linen, early arrivals, etc. I quickly check my emails and voice mail, back in my day when I was training there was no such thing as……. sorry I forgot where I was supposed to be, back to the present now. My next port of call is the linen room to make sure that my Supervisors are in and allocating the work load for the day. The team start to arrive at 8am, I then venture forth from the depths of the dungeons to find a Duty Manager (are they getting younger? in my day they never employed a manager under the age of 40!) and make sure that everything went smoothly from the night before. Next is to check that all the staff have arrived on time I then hold a quick meeting with my Supervisors to explain what the day holds for them. After this I then go and start to do my daily checks.
Again I have to use the new modern gadgets computer, voice mail to check for messages, there is a young lady waiting to be interviewed, I go and introduce myself she just smiles at me when I ask her if she understand English she replies very little with hand signals. I ask her for a name and she smiles again so I then go and find someone to translate, It turns out that it’s the wrong hotel, oh well nice smile. I then start to check the bedrooms making sure that all rooms are clean and that all maintenance issues have been reported and fixed. This is where my job changes and does not have a description, or so I like to think, as I am like a mother to some,one big sister to another, wicked witch to another, oh the list goes on and on. The things the boys and girls get up to would make your toes curl mine often do, but I enjoy listening to it remembering my own carefree youthful days running in the fields with no shoes on, sorry done it again back to the present . This is how my day will continue and I look forward to the next day wondering what tales my team have got up to.
Returning to work
After almost 8 months away from The Grand Hotel on maternity leave, I have returned feeling a little like the new girl at school, although there are many familiar faces to greet me. What a time to come back with the sun shining over Torre Abbey beach I can’t help but wish I was over there building sandcastles with my little girl.
The mornings are not as easy as they used to be, I remember when I just used to roll out of bed and the only thing I had to plan was what colour outfit I be wearing, now I have someone else to dress, it’s not easy deciding what cute pink outfit to dress her in, the choice of children’s clothes in Mothercare and Next is putting a real strain on my bank account. So once the danger of breakfast is over with trying to escape the sticky fingers and baby sick over my pressed suite is something of a miracle, we venture to the car for the journey to the nursery.
Once we arrive at the nursery she is off without a second glance, which is good as I really need to get in to work on time today as I have just remembered I have meetings almost back to back, returning to work in a busy month really was bad planning. The phones are ringing off the hook which is good as we have some very large budgets to achieve, and with consumers keeping a close hold on their purses we really need to be getting bums in beds.
The competition is fierce people seem to be shopping around for the best price and with a Premier Inn just opening and Travelodge waiting in the wings we will need to keep our pricing keen. Although these are budget hotels and here at the Grand we pride ourselves on excellent service and locally sourced produce the customer still wants value for money. They won’t find that anywhere better than with our autumn mailer with offers of £59 per room per night to include a Full English Breakfast, how things have changed, this time last year the economy was booming and the bookings were flooding in.
