Internship report

Swissotel MetropoleF&B department

Spring 2009

Second year internship

3.03.2010

Table of Contents

DESCRIPTION OF THE ESTABLISHMENT......................................................................................2

THE RESTAURANT................................................................................................................................ 5

THE ROOM SERVICE............................................................................................................................. 7

THE MIRROR BAR................................................................................................................................. 8

JOB DESCRIPTION................................................................................................................................. 9

OBSERVATIONS.................................................................................................................................. 10

SITUATIONS I HAD TO FACE........................................................................................................... 12

INTERNSHIP EVALUATION............................................................................................................. 13

CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................................ 14

REFERENCE.......................................................................................................................................... 15

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Description of the establishment

The Swissôtel Métropole is the only 5-star luxury hotel on the left bank of Lake Geneva. It is located

on the famous Rue du Rhône on the left bank facing lake Geneva, right in front of Le Jardin Anglais

and L’horloge fleurie. It is ideally placed in the heart of the financial and shopping districts and only a

few minutes walk away from the Jet d'eau and the Old Town of Geneva and its art galleries, museums

and other interesting features and amenities. The Métropole belongs to the Swissôtel hotel chain,

which is also part of the Raffles and Fairmount Groups.

Built in 1854, the historical building those hosts the hotel was entirely renovated in the last two years.

It is fitted with state-of-the art equipments and amenities. The Swissôtel Métropole Geneva offers its

guests the ultimate comfort in a cozy and “family” atmosphere. In order to create such an atmosphere,

the staff is asked to call each guest by his/her name.

The Métropole offers ample space that can be converted in seven different banquet rooms and

conference centers where private events, conferences, bar mitzvahs and birthday parties can be

organized. They are called Berlioz, Arlequin, Mozart, Wagner, Listz, Salève and Jura.

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The target market of the company is businessmen and clients who stay in Geneva for professional

purposes.

There are 111 renovated guest rooms and 16 suites all of which offer the utmost comfort and all the

business needs. Customers can choose between a smoking or non-smoking room.

There are different categories of rooms.

The first one is called the “Premier Room”. These rooms overlook the rue du Rhône and are equipped

with top-of-the-line technology and infrastructure for today’s business travelers without compromising

their comfort. Features include high-speed Internet, desks, voice mail, espresso machine, and

CD/DVD players. This type of room is the most economical one.

The second type of room is the “Swiss Advantage Room” and are located overlooking the lakeside

and offer more room space and king size beds, larger bathrooms and all the facilities that the “Premier

room” offers.

Suites and Presidential Suite. Offering the ultimate in style and comfort, the are five different types of

suites, their size varies from 40 to 300m2 and give a special dimension to private business meetings

and gatherings. In the Presidential suite, sauna, Jacuzzi and cordless phones are added to the above-

mentioned features.

On the fourth floor of the hotel there is a fitness center available only to the hotel’s guests. It includes

the most modern equipment in a luminous setting.

There are some 115 working employees in the hotel. In the restaurant we were nine, and in the room

service five. There are five barmen working at the Mirror Bar. The Chef barman was elected “Meilleur

barman de France” in 2007.

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The restaurant

Leather and dark wood have been used to decorated the restaurant in a very modern style. The

wooden chairs painted in beige, the tables are made of glass and covered with nice blue table clothes.

The restaurant can sit about 65 eaters, but for big occasions like the 8th of August, which is the national

day of Switzerland, the capacity can be expanded up to 200. In summer there is an open terrace with

huge umbrellas on one side of the building and a second one with a removable cover. In the evening,

so as to create a nice and romantic atmosphere, candles that give off a very subdued light are placed

on each table.

The opening hours are from 6:30 to 22:00. Breakfast is served in the Bistropole, and lunch and

dinner in the Grand Quai. From 14:00 to 18:00 a lighter version of the menu is served. It offers

hamburgers, fresh pasta, fish and salads. The kitchen is open from 12:00 to 14:00 and from 18:00 till

22:00.

I would define the cuisine as “ French and authentic”. The chef Pascal Lavenue always uses fresh

seasonal produce provided by local growers, orchards from around Geneva and other local producers.

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The restaurant offers a very nice selection of fish both from the lake Léman and the sea. During the

hunting season a “revisited” selection of dishes of game meat can be ordered.

The Grand Quai has an amazing and exclusive selection of wines from all over the world. During my

internship I had the chance to help the sommelier decant and serve bottles of Pomerol and Petrus.

Everyday, there is a menu of the day consisting of a starter, a main course and dessert. There is a

special all-inclusive formula CHF80 per person. Usually the lunch service is very stressing since most

of the customers are businessmen who work around the hotel and who do not have much time to eat.

On Sundays the Bistropole offers a self-serving brunch with a variety of dishes such as meat, poultry,

fish and vegetables. There is a selection of desserts and another one of cold starters, salads, and cold

meat cuts.

The tables have to be set up before the guests arrive, as follows: main fork and knife, glass for water,

red wine and white wine, salt and pepper, (ashtray for the terrace), and a nicely folded napkin. For the

evening we add a candle.

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The Room service

Room service is the part of my internship I enjoyed the most. The pantry is on the 3 rd floor, in the

middle of the hotel so it has an easy access to all the rooms. Guests who have smaller rooms are

served on trays that are brought to the rooms and put on the tables. In the Swiss Advantage rooms

tables are placed where the customers indicate the staff to put them, next to the bed or coffee table. As

for the suites, the staff brings table clothes and sets up the table in the dinning room just like in the

restaurant. Breakfast is the busiest moment of the day for the room service department. All mise en

place needed for the next day has to be done by the person in charge working during the night shift.

The Room service menu is very varied. It includes salads, clubs sandwiches, pasta, different sorts of

meats and fishes. Premium products such as home made fois gras and caviar also figure on the menu.

If asked, customers can order dishes from the restaurant. Anything can be requested at any time

between 6:00 to 00:00. Breakfast orders can be taken the day before. There are three types of

breakfast, Continental, American and Healthy. Danish pastries, bread buns and toasts are served with

coffee or tea, jams and butter, and yoghurt. The American one is the same but with an egg dish and

cornflakes. The healthy breakfast contains a bowl of All Bran, bircher muesli, black and brown bread,

margarine and 0% fat margarine and yoghurt. A boiled egg is also added.

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The Mirror Bar

The lobby lounge and piano bar create a trendy impressio and offers the guests a nice place for either

meeting friends or colleagues or for relaxing while tasting the different creations of the five award-

winner barmen. In a jazzy atmosphere, the bar also offers a wide variety of light snacks and selected

beverages all day long. There is a singer who plays piano on weekdays.

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Job description

Job Title: room service attendant, waiter in the restaurant.

Report to: Room service manager, meter d’hôtel

Objectives: to serve the clients.

Responsibilities:

Restaurant:

Preparing the buffet for breakfast

Tea/coffee service during breakfast time

Making preparation for lunch (folding napkins, preparing plates, candles, making the

plan of the reserved tables)

Taking away and cleaning the buffet after breakfast

Changing linens

Serve drinks at the lunchtime.

Serve butter and bread on the tables.

Change cuttelry.

Bring plates from the kitchen to the waiters.

Mise en place.

To refill salt, pepper, oil, souses, and est.

Set-up a tables.

Fold napkins.

Deep cleaning of dining area.

Deep cleaning of kitchen. To sweep a terass.

Room service:

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To registry order in Micros.

Take and serve the orders to the guests’ rooms.

Answer the phone.

Write the report at the end of the shift.

Collect cash.

Personal skills and previous qualification:

English language skills.

Knowledge of the F&B department.

Ability to work with complains and under pressure.

Ability to work as a part of team and be a team player.

Previous knowledge and working experience in hospitality industry.

Observations

New things. I’ve learned a lot. I liked that they gave me the responsibility of running the

room service alone for half a day. All complains and problems I had to solve by my self.

That’s given me a feeling of fix employee not as a stagier. I’m become more concentrate at

the work. I’ve learned how to find quickly solutions for problems and to manage my time

more efficiently. Also I did some papers work as a report, at the end of the day, and log. And

now I now how to corporate and deal with other departments. And on course I improved my

French a lot because almost all workers were French.

Suggestion. In my opinion they need more international staff. That’s will make team more

diverse.

Conflicts. I had only one conflict in the restaurant. When they hire the new meter d’hôtel

assistant from outside. He was 24 years old. He treat non-respectfully all waiters and stagier.

But after collective complain from waiters to the HR office he was fired.

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Stress. I had a lot of stress when at the first time they live alone at the room service. Because

I was afraid to do something wrong. I new they expect from me a lot, that’s why I was

stressed.

Company objectives. To get fully guest satisfaction and makes they feel important and makes

home atmosphere around. They do it thought the staff satisfaction, because they understand

the staff mostly gives a feeling of the establishment to the clients. On the orientation program

they give a feeling of second home to each new employee and also explain how to get the

guest satisfaction. Importance of smile and why we should call each guest by name. And

explain how to overcome personal problems and not mixing them with work and managing

stress and controlling my emotions.

Communication. Communication makes effects on atmosphere of establishment. Good

communication between departments leads to best performance of company. The way staffs

members communicate with each other represent level of qualification of the staff in general.

Communication must be on the professional level, respective and welcome tone of talking

with co-workers. From my point of view, communication is the most useful skill in

hospitality. During my internship period I did not have many problems with communication.

First of all respect of each other were met in collective.

Training. The main task of training and orientation programs is to help new employees start

working in establishment and giving him/her knowledge enough for working. I had a really

good training program. On my first day in room service, manager explains personally all my

responsibilities. That’s makes a really good first impressions of the establishment. On my

first week I had the orientation day, were human recourses manager assistant give a clear

explanations of the hotel and all chain as well. Introduce every departments and managers

personally. On this day I had a chance to meet with all managers of the hotel. At this day we

had a lunch at the hotels restaurant with the general manager and F&B manager. After my

introduction day I start feel hotel as my second home, because most of the staff greeting me

by name. On my second week I had the “security day”. The “Responsible Technique”

personally explains all security system in the hotel. As a door code, video cameras,

electronic keys. In this program we had “evacuation training”.

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Moral. Staff morale is a significant factor in overall hotel performance. A hotel staff with

high morale is more likely to seek out new challenges, more likely to provide a positive

working environment. In my opinion most of the employees feels proud and happy to work

in Swissotel. Because all of the staff members get’s a lot of benefits, as a free nights in any

Swissotel around the world, for example.

The positive image of the team was a great opportunity to work on the highest level. Every

day I had a smile on my face going to work and I was happy to work every day.

Operation control. The control in the establishment was incredible. Cameras located every 5

meters. A lot of staff doors was loked and you can entre only with electronical key.

Situations I had to face

Week 1: Introduction week, my first working day in the hotel. In the beginning everything

seems to be complicated and I have many questions. On the introduction day I met with the

GM, HR manager, and the staff in the hotel.

Week 3: The supervisor gave me the key from Micros as I seem to be more confident about

the job. That’s mean from now most of the time I’ll be by my self in room service. The hotel

is fully booked, summer holidays started in schools so that many families are coming to the

hotel.

Week 5: The President of Algeria used to come every month. It was difficult because him

and his staff require a lot of attention and work. I had to do the mise en place 2 days before

his arrival because he would ask for a lot of things to be ready in his room.

Week 12: Today I started work in the restaurant. For next 10 week that’s going to be work

place.

Week 15: Work in the restaurant much more stressful than in room service.

Week 18: This week I was left alone by the Maître d’Hôtel for a moment for the dinner

service. A guest complained about the bill and I tried to explain why every item he ordered

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was factured. I couldn’t really deal with him so I asked one of the barmen to calm him down.

Then the Maître d’Hôtel came back and got the problem solved.

Week 22: End of my internship!!! Finally I go home for holidays!

Internship Evaluation

A lot of hospitality knowledge was received

International way of working

Learned to handle conflicts in a professional way.

Deeper knowledge of F&B Department

Made connections within all the departments in the hotel

It helped me to put my knowledge from HIM into real life situations

Learning to work under pressure in a high season

Gathered a lot of useful information for my future studies

Understood that the reality may differ from what is written in the book.

Had an opportunity to develop communication skills, team work improved

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Conclusion

The internship in Swissotel was a great opportunity for me. The experience I have got is

huge and useful. After this job I know what I need to expect in the future career in

hospitality industry. Skills I get learned will give me the chance of future personal and

professional growth.

A careful analyze of the establishment gave me the clear picture how the hotel should be

controlled, ruled and established. Advantages and disadvantages of this experience made

me stronger in work and more flexible. The result I had got was better then I ever

expected.

As a personal experience I learned French language, and made my communication skills

better and all around. On the example of my managers I learned how the good manager

should react in different situations without any bad affects on the establishment after.

Swissotel is very high professional establishment. The establishment by itself is perfect

for internship. As a person who finished six months internship in this hotel I’m

recommending to send first year students for the internship to this establishment

according to really good training and opportunity to learn.

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Reference

Kavanaugh, R.R. & Ninemeier, J.D. (2001). Supervision in the hospitality

Industry 3rd edition. Michigan: Educational Institute of the American Hotel &

Lodging Association

Kasavana, M.L. & Brooks, R.M. (2001). Managing front office operations 7th

edition. Michigan: Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Lodging

Association

Ninemeier, J.D. (2000). Food and beverage management 3rd edition. Michigan:

Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Lodging Association

www.swissotel.com

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