The interview: a hosting company explains its European experience

Interview with Carlotta Trabaldo, receptionist manager of Hotel Ristorante Pizzeria Giada, situated in the province of Vicenza, 3*** touristic facility, offering both accommodation and catering, and host company of European trainees.

Which is the mission of your company?
Our structure is composed of interlinked hotel and restaurant. Our mission is to pamper guests, offering them highly professional and flawless services by maintaining a family work atmosphere and making them feel at home. Pay specific attention to the smallest details and to the habits and needs of every single guest allows us to achieve our goal.

Which are the excellences of your offer?/Which are your best services?  
A 360-degree service that meets any customer’s request: we want to loyalize them as much as possible and establish a direct relationship. Moreover the variety of food available in our restaurant (meat, fish and pizza) is definitely a surplus for the guests.

How much is the reception capacity of the hotel and of the restaurant, how many employees are there in the company?
In the hotel there are 80 rooms and the reception capacity amount to 160. Besides from Italy, we host guests mostly from Germany, Austria, Spain and USA. The restaurant has a 120 seat capacity. In the whole facility there are 60 employees.

Which kind of guest do you host, how do they reach the hotel, how do they book?  
Our guests are mostly business tourists, who reach the hotel by car (own, rented, taxi or accompanied by colleagues of local companies). The loyality degree is so high that they normally make the reservation directly and only rarely through booking websites. We strictly cooperate with the local companies, which often make the reservation for their customers.

How long have you been hosting trainees, in which areas and where are they from?
Thanks to Eurocultura, since most than 3 years we have been hosting trainees from all over Europe in all working areas: in reception, in the restaurant and in the kitchen. Up until now we hosted trainees from Greece, Poland, Germany, Austria, Spain and The Netherlands.

Which tasks would be assigned?
By assigning the tasks the level of English knowledge play an important role: the higher the language skills are, the most challenging tasks will be given. In practice:
in the hotel, at the reception: answer the phone, guests’ data record, enter reservations and charges in the management software

  • in the restaurant: bottle service, mise en place, clear the tables, tidy up the dining area
  • in the kitchen: food preparation assistance (vegetables, meat and fish).

How are the inclusion and the tutoring of the trainee organized?
As the hotel is not situated in the city centre, the working hours are organized in one shift, in order to facilitate the transfer of the trainees. At the beginning of the traineeship experience the trainees are constantly support by one of our employee, who help them day by day to gain independence and do the tasks by themselves under supervision.
Before the start of the traineeship we organize a briefing with the trainees to give an overview of the workload, then every day we give them instructions before the beginning of the shift.
Eurocultura plays a key role: as mediator during the interview, a very sensitive stage, when we first meet the person, and all the traineeship long once a week for the monitoring of the learning progresses.

How do the guests react to the trainees?
In the restaurant it is easy for the guests to establish a nice relation with the trainees. In the hotel the situation is a bit different, as our guests are business tourist and they want to be served as faster as possible, what it might be a bit difficult for a trainee. Our staff does its best in order to create the suitable circumstances that allow the trainees to take care of the guests too.

How do you rate the experience with the European trainees?
The experience so far has always been very positive: explain rules and working methods to a new colleague, especially if foreign, it means repeat them also to our staff, which is always very useful. Moreover, we are forced to speak English on a daily basis, a cultural exchange occurs and often new friendships raise!
Trainees have different preparation level, it depends on the age and the previous experience. The traineeships have always been positive experiences, thanks to the cohesiveness of our team and thanks to the valuable support of Eurocultura.

Could you remember something nice that’s happened?
A trainee and one of the employee fell in love!

Thanks a lot for your time, and see you for the next European experience!

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