The Rathbone Hotel: internship report

Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor(a) principal: Faleiro, André Ludgero Soares Raposo Pires
Data de Publicação: 2020
Tipo de documento: Dissertação
Idioma: eng
Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/15285
Resumo: In order to complete their studies for their Master’s Degree in Hospitality Management at the University of Algarve, students were given several options: to write a thesis; develop and put into practice a project or to do an internship and present a final report. Bearing in mind that I was looking for a challenge, I decided to do a one-year internship abroad, namely, at The Rathbone Hotel, a boutique hotel in London, to acquire more practical experience in the hospitality industry and to hone the skill sets I acquired during my course, so that I could become a better professional in my area of expertise. The fact that Rathbone Hotel is a boutique hotel greatly influenced my choice, as I have always had a particular interest in better understanding what this concept truly means. This interest derived from having a preference for this style of hotel, as a customer (which, after all, is at the heart of the hotel industry, “everything is because of the guest, his perception and how he feels!!!”). As I already had the perception of being a customer in several boutique hotels, I wanted to learn and understand how they work and function on the other side of the barricade, as an employee and future manager. After going through a selection process, we developed an internship plan in collaboration. This plan had all the data regarding the functions I would perform in each operational department of the hotel, as well as the scheduled length of time I would spend in every department. I started my internship working in Reservations. Afterwards, I went to Housekeeping, Food and Beverage – Breakfast Service, Accounts, Front Office – Reception, Food and Beverage – Bar and Room Service and I completed my internship as a Duty Manager. The main objective of this internship (and how it was outlined) focused on the acquisition and application of knowledge regarding hotel management and operation, namely with regards to the planning, execution, optimization, control and monitoring phases, in an attempt to improve processes and to develop skills in the hospitality industry. During my internship, I developed and acquired several skill sets, performing several tasks in all of the hotel´s departments, I did specific reports under management’s requests, I met many people and developed a solid network, I learnt, and I became a Rathbone Hotel family member. I successfully completed all the tasks I was assigned, according to their deadline and to the hotel´s standards. The opportunity to work at The Rathbone Hotel (and in almost all of its departments, without going through the Maintenance department - for security reasons) provided me with ample opportunities, not only for learning, but also for exposing knowledge acquired through the Master’s in Hospitality Management course, by working and performing my duties as an extremely competent hospitality professional. During the internship period, I developed several essential skills, such as solving the most diverse queries and real problems (in real time, in front of a guest). I believe that there could be no better way to test our knowledge and our ability to respond to different requests, since in the professional world everything works differently. I had immense opportunities to put my theoretical knowledge into practice, having participated in several strategic meetings, where I shared my knowledge and points of view regarding the performance of the various departments of The Rathbone Hotel. At the end of each stage of my internship, a meeting was held with the participation of the Hotel Manager (Mr. Miguel Silva), the General Manager (Mr. Daniel Harris) and myself. In these meetings, I presented my conclusions about the various departments to both (strengths, weaknesses and points to improve), something that made me feel, more and more, as a valuable member of the hotel team. After this first meeting, a second meeting was scheduled with the person responsible for each department to outline an action plan, in order to correct some existing problems and to optimize the functioning of each department and the hotel, as a whole. This report chronicles my one-year experience as an intern at The Rathbone Hotel, starting with a brief description of the company, the unit´s characterization, an internal and external analysis (SWOT) and a brief analysis on BREXIT´s possible impacts on the United Kingdom´s tourism. Then, there´s a thorough description of all of the hotel´s departments and of all of the tasks I was assigned, as well as a description of the issues I found during my internship and their possible solutions. As an advanced research, I developed Standard Operational Procedures for the Accounts department and, finally, on the last chapter, we can find my concluding remarks about my internship. I think that the choice to have done this internship was one of the best choices I could have made. Not only did I grow a lot, as a professional and as a person, but I was also able to see, first-hand, the functioning of a boutique hotel, in the centre of one of the busiest cities in the world. I learnt the correct way to communicate with guests and how to maintain a close relationship with them, without ever losing professionalism and posture. Even to this day, I believe that being able to reconcile these behaviours is one of the best feelings in my line of work. All of these guidelines have helped me to become the professional I am today and will help to shape the professional I want to be in the future. I would like to end this section by saying that I strongly advise all students to pursue a curricular internship of this nature for several reasons. The first is related to the fact that they will manage to reconcile all the theoretical knowledge learnt during the Master’s course in Hospitality Management at the University of Algarve with the practical knowledge that they will develop. The second reason is related to the fact that it is an extremely valuable professional experience, that is, even if they already have a good practical knowledge (e.g. they already work in the industry), this experience will force them to expand their horizons, to leave their comfort zone and ultimately acquire new knowledge that can be applied in their future professional life. Lastly, but not least, it will enrich them on a personal level, due to all the situations experienced as a result of the internship.
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spelling The Rathbone Hotel: internship reportContabilidadeDireção e gestão hoteleiraEstágioHotelariaThe Rathbone HotelUniversidade do AlgarveDomínio/Área Científica::Ciências Sociais::Outras Ciências SociaisIn order to complete their studies for their Master’s Degree in Hospitality Management at the University of Algarve, students were given several options: to write a thesis; develop and put into practice a project or to do an internship and present a final report. Bearing in mind that I was looking for a challenge, I decided to do a one-year internship abroad, namely, at The Rathbone Hotel, a boutique hotel in London, to acquire more practical experience in the hospitality industry and to hone the skill sets I acquired during my course, so that I could become a better professional in my area of expertise. The fact that Rathbone Hotel is a boutique hotel greatly influenced my choice, as I have always had a particular interest in better understanding what this concept truly means. This interest derived from having a preference for this style of hotel, as a customer (which, after all, is at the heart of the hotel industry, “everything is because of the guest, his perception and how he feels!!!”). As I already had the perception of being a customer in several boutique hotels, I wanted to learn and understand how they work and function on the other side of the barricade, as an employee and future manager. After going through a selection process, we developed an internship plan in collaboration. This plan had all the data regarding the functions I would perform in each operational department of the hotel, as well as the scheduled length of time I would spend in every department. I started my internship working in Reservations. Afterwards, I went to Housekeeping, Food and Beverage – Breakfast Service, Accounts, Front Office – Reception, Food and Beverage – Bar and Room Service and I completed my internship as a Duty Manager. The main objective of this internship (and how it was outlined) focused on the acquisition and application of knowledge regarding hotel management and operation, namely with regards to the planning, execution, optimization, control and monitoring phases, in an attempt to improve processes and to develop skills in the hospitality industry. During my internship, I developed and acquired several skill sets, performing several tasks in all of the hotel´s departments, I did specific reports under management’s requests, I met many people and developed a solid network, I learnt, and I became a Rathbone Hotel family member. I successfully completed all the tasks I was assigned, according to their deadline and to the hotel´s standards. The opportunity to work at The Rathbone Hotel (and in almost all of its departments, without going through the Maintenance department - for security reasons) provided me with ample opportunities, not only for learning, but also for exposing knowledge acquired through the Master’s in Hospitality Management course, by working and performing my duties as an extremely competent hospitality professional. During the internship period, I developed several essential skills, such as solving the most diverse queries and real problems (in real time, in front of a guest). I believe that there could be no better way to test our knowledge and our ability to respond to different requests, since in the professional world everything works differently. I had immense opportunities to put my theoretical knowledge into practice, having participated in several strategic meetings, where I shared my knowledge and points of view regarding the performance of the various departments of The Rathbone Hotel. At the end of each stage of my internship, a meeting was held with the participation of the Hotel Manager (Mr. Miguel Silva), the General Manager (Mr. Daniel Harris) and myself. In these meetings, I presented my conclusions about the various departments to both (strengths, weaknesses and points to improve), something that made me feel, more and more, as a valuable member of the hotel team. After this first meeting, a second meeting was scheduled with the person responsible for each department to outline an action plan, in order to correct some existing problems and to optimize the functioning of each department and the hotel, as a whole. This report chronicles my one-year experience as an intern at The Rathbone Hotel, starting with a brief description of the company, the unit´s characterization, an internal and external analysis (SWOT) and a brief analysis on BREXIT´s possible impacts on the United Kingdom´s tourism. Then, there´s a thorough description of all of the hotel´s departments and of all of the tasks I was assigned, as well as a description of the issues I found during my internship and their possible solutions. As an advanced research, I developed Standard Operational Procedures for the Accounts department and, finally, on the last chapter, we can find my concluding remarks about my internship. I think that the choice to have done this internship was one of the best choices I could have made. Not only did I grow a lot, as a professional and as a person, but I was also able to see, first-hand, the functioning of a boutique hotel, in the centre of one of the busiest cities in the world. I learnt the correct way to communicate with guests and how to maintain a close relationship with them, without ever losing professionalism and posture. Even to this day, I believe that being able to reconcile these behaviours is one of the best feelings in my line of work. All of these guidelines have helped me to become the professional I am today and will help to shape the professional I want to be in the future. I would like to end this section by saying that I strongly advise all students to pursue a curricular internship of this nature for several reasons. The first is related to the fact that they will manage to reconcile all the theoretical knowledge learnt during the Master’s course in Hospitality Management at the University of Algarve with the practical knowledge that they will develop. The second reason is related to the fact that it is an extremely valuable professional experience, that is, even if they already have a good practical knowledge (e.g. they already work in the industry), this experience will force them to expand their horizons, to leave their comfort zone and ultimately acquire new knowledge that can be applied in their future professional life. Lastly, but not least, it will enrich them on a personal level, due to all the situations experienced as a result of the internship.De modo a concluírem o curso de Mestrado em Direção e Gestão Hoteleira da Universidade do Algarve, foi dada aos estudantes a seguinte escolha: a realização de uma tese; de um projeto ou de um estágio e o seu respetivo relatório. Considerando que estava em busca de um desafio, decidi optar por realizar um estágio de um ano no estrangeiro, nomeadamente, no The Rathbone Hotel, um boutique hotel em Londres, para adquirir uma maior experiência prática na indústria hoteleira e desenvolver as competências adquiridas durante o curso, de modo a tornar-me, no futuro, num profissional de excelência, na minha área. O facto do Rathbone Hotel ser um boutique hotel influenciou bastante a minha escolha, visto que sempre tive um interesse particular em perceber melhor o que este conceito verdadeiramente significa. Este interesse derivou de ter uma preferência por este estilo de hotel, como cliente (o que, no final de contas, é o cerne da hotelaria, “tudo é por causa do hóspede, da sua perceção e de como ele se sente!!!”). Como já tinha a perceção de ser cliente em vários boutique hotéis, queria aprender e perceber como funcionam do outro lado da barricada, como funcionário e futuro gestor. Após ter passado por um processo de seleção, foi elaborado um plano de estágio contendo informação referente aos vários departamentos e às funções a desempenhar em cada um, organizado por datas. Iniciei o meu estágio no departamento de Reservas, indo depois (por ordem): para o departamento de Housekeeping; Food and Beverage (F&B) – Pequeno-Almoço; Contabilidade; Receção; Food and Beverage (F&B) – Bar e Serviço de Quartos, terminando o estágio como Assistente de Direção. O objetivo principal deste estágio (e como foi delineado) centrou-se na aquisição e aplicação de conhecimentos referentes à gestão e operação hoteleira, nomeadamente no que diz respeito às fases de planeamento, execução, otimização, controlo e monitorização, numa tentativa de melhorar processos futuros e desenvolver competências na área da hotelaria. Durante o meu estágio desenvolvi e adquiri várias competências técnicas, desempenhando várias funções em todos os departamentos operacionais do hotel, elaborei vários relatórios solicitados pela direção, conheci imensas pessoas, desenvolvi vários contactos, aprendi e tornei-me um membro da família The Rathbone Hotel. Todas as tarefas que me foram atribuídas foram completadas com sucesso, dentro dos prazos pré-determinados e de acordo com os padrões do hotel. A oportunidade de trabalhar no The Rathbone Hotel (e em quase todos os seus departamentos, ficando a faltar só a passagem pelo departamento de Manutenção – por questões de segurança) proporcionou-me amplas oportunidades, não só de aprendizagem, mas também para expor os conhecimentos adquiridos no Mestrado em Direção e Gestão Hoteleira, trabalhando e executando as minhas funções como um profissional da área de Hotelaria extremamente competente. Durante o decorrer do período de estágio, desenvolvi várias competências essenciais, tais como resolver as mais diversas questões e problemas reais (e em tempo real, face a um hóspede). Considero que não poderia existir melhor forma de testar os nossos conhecimentos e a nossa capacidade de resposta às diferentes solicitações, uma vez que no mundo profissional tudo é diferente. Tive imensas oportunidades de pôr o meu conhecimento teórico em prática, tendo participado em várias reuniões estratégicas, onde compartilhei os meus conhecimentos e pontos de vista em relação ao desempenho dos vários departamentos do The Rathbone Hotel. No final de cada etapa do meu estágio, era efetuada uma reunião com a minha participação, do Hotel Manager (Mr. Miguel Silva) e do General Manager (Mr. Daniel Harris). Nestas reuniões, apresentava as minhas conclusões acerca dos vários departamentos a ambos (pontos fortes, pontos fracos e pontos a melhorar), algo que me fez sentir, cada vez mais, como um membro valioso da equipa do hotel. Após esta primeira reunião, era agendada uma segunda reunião com o respetivo responsável por cada departamento para traçar um plano de ação, de modo a corrigir alguns problemas existentes e para otimizar o funcionamento de cada departamento e do hotel, num todo. O presente relatório de estágio é uma crónica da minha experiência como estagiário no The Rathbone Hotel, iniciando-se com uma breve descrição da empresa e do grupo, caracterização da unidade, uma análise interna e externa (SWOT) e uma pequena análise dos possíveis impactos do BREXIT no turismo inglês. Seguidamente, foram descritos todos os departamentos do hotel e todas as tarefas que desempenhei, assim como todos os problemas encontrados durante o decorrer do estágio e as soluções propostas. Na área de pesquisa avançada, encontram-se os procedimentos operacionais que desenvolvi para o departamento de Contabilidade e, no último capítulo, as minhas considerações sobre o estágio. Considero que a escolha de ter feito este estágio foi uma das melhores escolhas que poderia ter tomado. Não só cresci imenso, como profissional e como pessoa, mas também pude ver, em primeira mão, o funcionamento de um boutique hotel, no centro de uma das cidades mais movimentadas do mundo. Aprendi a forma correta de me comunicar com os hóspedes e de como manter uma relação de proximidade, sem nunca perder o profissionalismo e a postura. Até hoje em dia, acredito que conseguir conciliar estes comportamentos é uma das melhores sensações do meu trabalho. Todas estas diretrizes ajudaram-me a tornar-me no profissional que sou hoje e vão ajudar a moldar o profissional que quero ser no futuro. Queria terminar esta seção ao dizer que aconselho vivamente a todos os estudantes a perseguirem um estágio curricular deste cariz por várias razões. A primeira prende-se com o facto de conseguirem conciliar todos os conhecimentos teóricos aprendidos no decorrer do Mestrado em Direção e Gestão Hoteleira da Universidade do Algarve com o conhecimento prático que irão desenvolver. A segunda prende-se com o facto de ser uma experiência profissional extremamente valiosa, ou seja, mesmo que já tenham um bom conhecimento prático à priori (e.g. já trabalhem na indústria), esta experiência vai obrigá-los a expandir os seus horizontes, a que saiam da sua zona de conforto e que, em última instância, adquiram novos conhecimentos que poderão ser aplicados futuramente na sua vida profissional. A última razão prende-se simplesmente pelo enriquecimento a nível pessoal, devido a todas as situações vivenciadas decorrentes do estágio.Sousa, CarlosSapientiaFaleiro, André Ludgero Soares Raposo Pires2021-03-25T14:25:07Z2020-11-122020-11-12T00:00:00Zinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesisapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/15285TID:202663167enginfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAP2023-07-24T10:27:42Zoai:sapientia.ualg.pt:10400.1/15285Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-19T20:06:08.986761Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv The Rathbone Hotel: internship report
title The Rathbone Hotel: internship report
spellingShingle The Rathbone Hotel: internship report
Faleiro, André Ludgero Soares Raposo Pires
Contabilidade
Direção e gestão hoteleira
Estágio
Hotelaria
The Rathbone Hotel
Universidade do Algarve
Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Sociais::Outras Ciências Sociais
title_short The Rathbone Hotel: internship report
title_full The Rathbone Hotel: internship report
title_fullStr The Rathbone Hotel: internship report
title_full_unstemmed The Rathbone Hotel: internship report
title_sort The Rathbone Hotel: internship report
author Faleiro, André Ludgero Soares Raposo Pires
author_facet Faleiro, André Ludgero Soares Raposo Pires
author_role author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Sousa, Carlos
Sapientia
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv Faleiro, André Ludgero Soares Raposo Pires
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv Contabilidade
Direção e gestão hoteleira
Estágio
Hotelaria
The Rathbone Hotel
Universidade do Algarve
Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Sociais::Outras Ciências Sociais
topic Contabilidade
Direção e gestão hoteleira
Estágio
Hotelaria
The Rathbone Hotel
Universidade do Algarve
Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Sociais::Outras Ciências Sociais
description In order to complete their studies for their Master’s Degree in Hospitality Management at the University of Algarve, students were given several options: to write a thesis; develop and put into practice a project or to do an internship and present a final report. Bearing in mind that I was looking for a challenge, I decided to do a one-year internship abroad, namely, at The Rathbone Hotel, a boutique hotel in London, to acquire more practical experience in the hospitality industry and to hone the skill sets I acquired during my course, so that I could become a better professional in my area of expertise. The fact that Rathbone Hotel is a boutique hotel greatly influenced my choice, as I have always had a particular interest in better understanding what this concept truly means. This interest derived from having a preference for this style of hotel, as a customer (which, after all, is at the heart of the hotel industry, “everything is because of the guest, his perception and how he feels!!!”). As I already had the perception of being a customer in several boutique hotels, I wanted to learn and understand how they work and function on the other side of the barricade, as an employee and future manager. After going through a selection process, we developed an internship plan in collaboration. This plan had all the data regarding the functions I would perform in each operational department of the hotel, as well as the scheduled length of time I would spend in every department. I started my internship working in Reservations. Afterwards, I went to Housekeeping, Food and Beverage – Breakfast Service, Accounts, Front Office – Reception, Food and Beverage – Bar and Room Service and I completed my internship as a Duty Manager. The main objective of this internship (and how it was outlined) focused on the acquisition and application of knowledge regarding hotel management and operation, namely with regards to the planning, execution, optimization, control and monitoring phases, in an attempt to improve processes and to develop skills in the hospitality industry. During my internship, I developed and acquired several skill sets, performing several tasks in all of the hotel´s departments, I did specific reports under management’s requests, I met many people and developed a solid network, I learnt, and I became a Rathbone Hotel family member. I successfully completed all the tasks I was assigned, according to their deadline and to the hotel´s standards. The opportunity to work at The Rathbone Hotel (and in almost all of its departments, without going through the Maintenance department - for security reasons) provided me with ample opportunities, not only for learning, but also for exposing knowledge acquired through the Master’s in Hospitality Management course, by working and performing my duties as an extremely competent hospitality professional. During the internship period, I developed several essential skills, such as solving the most diverse queries and real problems (in real time, in front of a guest). I believe that there could be no better way to test our knowledge and our ability to respond to different requests, since in the professional world everything works differently. I had immense opportunities to put my theoretical knowledge into practice, having participated in several strategic meetings, where I shared my knowledge and points of view regarding the performance of the various departments of The Rathbone Hotel. At the end of each stage of my internship, a meeting was held with the participation of the Hotel Manager (Mr. Miguel Silva), the General Manager (Mr. Daniel Harris) and myself. In these meetings, I presented my conclusions about the various departments to both (strengths, weaknesses and points to improve), something that made me feel, more and more, as a valuable member of the hotel team. After this first meeting, a second meeting was scheduled with the person responsible for each department to outline an action plan, in order to correct some existing problems and to optimize the functioning of each department and the hotel, as a whole. This report chronicles my one-year experience as an intern at The Rathbone Hotel, starting with a brief description of the company, the unit´s characterization, an internal and external analysis (SWOT) and a brief analysis on BREXIT´s possible impacts on the United Kingdom´s tourism. Then, there´s a thorough description of all of the hotel´s departments and of all of the tasks I was assigned, as well as a description of the issues I found during my internship and their possible solutions. As an advanced research, I developed Standard Operational Procedures for the Accounts department and, finally, on the last chapter, we can find my concluding remarks about my internship. I think that the choice to have done this internship was one of the best choices I could have made. Not only did I grow a lot, as a professional and as a person, but I was also able to see, first-hand, the functioning of a boutique hotel, in the centre of one of the busiest cities in the world. I learnt the correct way to communicate with guests and how to maintain a close relationship with them, without ever losing professionalism and posture. Even to this day, I believe that being able to reconcile these behaviours is one of the best feelings in my line of work. All of these guidelines have helped me to become the professional I am today and will help to shape the professional I want to be in the future. I would like to end this section by saying that I strongly advise all students to pursue a curricular internship of this nature for several reasons. The first is related to the fact that they will manage to reconcile all the theoretical knowledge learnt during the Master’s course in Hospitality Management at the University of Algarve with the practical knowledge that they will develop. The second reason is related to the fact that it is an extremely valuable professional experience, that is, even if they already have a good practical knowledge (e.g. they already work in the industry), this experience will force them to expand their horizons, to leave their comfort zone and ultimately acquire new knowledge that can be applied in their future professional life. Lastly, but not least, it will enrich them on a personal level, due to all the situations experienced as a result of the internship.
publishDate 2020
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2020-11-12
2020-11-12T00:00:00Z
2021-03-25T14:25:07Z
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