At the Majestic Hotel & Spa, I interned as an F&B employee in two departments, Room Service, and in the two hotel restaurants: El Bar Del Majestic and La Dolce Vitae. My role in the company was simple, follow the hotel’s LQA (Leading Quality Assurance) standards and become one with the F&B team. I was an intern but I was treated like a full-time employee. My work shift hours were the same, I worked the same amount of days, and I was expected to act like an employee at all times. My main tasks when I worked in the hotel’s restaurants was simply to prepare mis en place, clean and organize tables, seat guests and take their orders, bring up dishes from the kitchen to the restaurant, serve guests food and drinks, prepare guest’s bills, and finalize payment, be it in cash or in credit. My role within the team was very positive. Not once did I ever feel like I was being ridiculed or looked down on because of my inexperience. The hotel works with interns all year round so when I arrived it was not any different for them. They were all very patient and helpful in teaching me how to do certain things. Questions were also highly encouraged and whenever I asked them some, they were always glad to respond. Soon after, my workmates started to become my friends as we would all get to talk during our breaks and while we are on the floor together. I got to meet genuinely nice and funny people during my time there. Not only were my colleagues so kind, but my higher ups were as well. The Bar Manager, Gonzague Vincent, was very motivating whenever he would speak to me about how I was doing. I once broke a few glasses because they fell off the tray I was holding them from. I feared the worst and thought he would get so upset. That was not the case, he laughed and did not seem to mind at all. After service, he brought it up and mentioned that it happened to him as well when he was interning for the first time. He told me not to worry and that I would eventually get the hang of balancing trays on my hand. Moments like that made me appreciate my role in this hotel because it showed that they truly cared for my improvement and did not just view me as an extra hand who could help them make more money.
The main challenges I had to face were definitely the language barrier, physical fatigue, and the independence. When I started to work in room service, it was very hard to communicate with the team because they barely spoke English. As for my fatigue, the hours were long and grueling. Working 8 or 9 hours straight without being able to sit down at all takes a toll on your body, especially your feet, and I found that very hard to cope with due to the blisters and numbness I sustained. The independence speaks for itself, life was a lot different for me as I had no one to rely on but myself and my roommates. As a result, my accomplishments all came from my main challenges in Spain. My Spanish improved a lot as I was forced to speak that language with my colleagues, my working skills have been enhanced since I was exposed to such a physical style of working, and I feel I have become a more responsible person after 6 months of looking after myself. While working, I’d constantly think about how it would be like working in the hotel industry full time. Whenever I receive positive remarks from guests about how happy they are, it makes me want to do this for a living. But the only negative side, I figured, about this industry is that it is very redundant and you can easily grow tired of your job.
I had a lot of mixed emotions going to work for the first time. I was excited to finally get a feel of working in a hotel and at the same time, I was anxious because I did not know what to expect on my first day. When I got to the back office of the bar, I was instantly greeted by my (future) friend, Alvaro. Alvaro, from Uruguay, greeted me with a smile on his face and instantly made conversation. As we spoke, he took me around all parts of the bar restaurant and toured me through all the equipment we would be using during service. As he was explaining everything, I remember getting lost a couple of times. After he had finished, he mentioned that I was not going to remember everything he had said, but the more times I work there, the better I will understand. During service, my main task was to shadow the waiters to take notes on how they take orders, serve them, and prepare the bills for payment. My last day at the Bar, was more of the same, only that I wasn’t shadowing nor was I relying on my colleagues to help me with my job. I remember making jokes with the team, saying that I was so happy to finally leave for room service only for them to say that they wouldn’t miss me. Even though the job was the same, my mindset had completely changed. I went from being nervous and quite hesitant to approach guests due to fear of bringing down the reputation of the hotel by making a mistake to being someone who was totally having fun with the job. I’d approach guests all smiles, crack a joke with them if we were in a conversation. My approach had changed because I was confident I knew how to do my job one hundred percent. If you work with that kind of assurance backing you up, it makes work so much easier. But, my time had run out and it was time to begin a new chapter for myself working in room service.
My first day at room service was sort of similar to my first day at the bar. I was shadowing my colleagues and I was being taught all the standards by the Room Service Manager while at the same time being toured around the hotel. He also showed me what I would be doing most of the time at room service, delivering amenities. The hotel has 9 types of welcome amenities and it was my job to set up and deliver them to the designated room. My first day was not foreign to me at all because I had already made friends with most of the room service team before I even started working there. My last day at room service was a great day. This time it was me who was teaching the new interns the ins and outs of the room service department. Unlike at the bar, this was officially my last day at the hotel so I spent most of it speaking with my colleagues about how nice it was to meet them and how quickly my internship went by. I received a big hug from my boss who thanked me for the past 3 months.
The subjects I studied at Enderun somewhat helped me during my internship. I would hear terms that I would hear in the classroom. But, I also had to start from scratch as the hotel had its own standard when it came to service. Service class helped me the most as I was working in room service and in the hotel’s 2 bars. My training with taking orders and clearing/serving dishes was utilized to full effect. This internship made it clear in regards to what I like and dislike about the industry. For starters, I would prefer a position in the front of the house rather than in the back mainly because I feel it’s more tailored for my personality. I couldn’t land a job like that in this hotel because I was not fluent in Spanish. On the other hand, I dislike working in the F&B department. No particular reason, it’s just not my style of work. I also dislike the culture of backstabbing in the industry. I was told by my manager that a lot of people try to use you to get to the top and “befriend” you so you can spill secrets they can expose you with. I hate how you have to be careful about who you can trust. But I know it’s a fact of life, just sharing my thoughts.
Overall, this internship did wonders for me. In 6 months, I learned how to speak better Spanish, work better under pressure, and handle real-life guest complaints in a calm manner. Despite working in my least favourite hotel department, it was a good experience for me as I got a taste of how it was like to work in the F&B department of a grand 5-star luxury hotel. For anyone planning on interning at the Majestic, I highly recommend it. I met some of the best people I’ve ever met in that hotel and I genuinely enjoyed myself for the last 6 months.