A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity

Here is a little overview of what I have learned about working in the reservations department of a hotel, during my six-month internship at The Ritz-Carlton Abama, in Tenerife (Spain).

We receive reservation requests either by phone or email. Whoever gets in first in the morning goes through the email inbox and divides the emails received during the night equally among all the agents.

We have another system called call capture, which records all of the calls we have received and how many were answered. The goal is for us to have captured over 98% of them. This week I have just started learning how to properly answer the phone, according to The Ritz Carlton standards. I practice with my colleagues, who pretend to be guests and I have to make the reservation on the spot using our software. 

We also check all of the reservations which have come into our system through external booking platforms (Booking, Expedia, Marriott Bonvoy App, etc.). Our job is to double-check all of the information and fill in anything that might be missing from the guest’s profile.  

Each month, one person in the department is responsible for checking all of the reservations to ensure that everything is correct (payment methods, additional requests, etc.).  We also have a monthly departmental meeting, where we discuss if we have reached our goals (minimum revenue per agent, WOW stories, calls captured, positive feedback received from guests). 

What is very specific to this department is the attention to detail and multitasking. Our Senior Reservations agent told me, “Our work is well done, when no one notices us. If we make even a small mistake, the consequences can be very big for the hotel and its reputation.”  

I am very happy that I chose to do my internship here, as it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be able to work in the reservations department of a hotel with 450 rooms.