Guest house always at service

“It is my role to ensure that the guest house is functioning as expected, we stay in budget, make a profit, market our product and promote it to the targeted market,” said Arian Bechard, general manager of Le Châtelat.

“We have six suites, one presidential room and a self-catering cottage with two rooms.”

Bechard also bakes cakes for the guests who receive them as complimentary gifts. She goes by the nickname is Mamgobhosi, the know it all.

“I also entertain our guests by singing for them. I sing for our guests in several languages such as Zulu, English, French, Chui, which is a Ghanaian language, and I also sing the opera in Italian,” she said.

“We are Johannesburg's best-kept secret and our motto is to give the client an environment that is a home away from home.”

The guest house receives high profile clients from South Africa and the rest of the world. These include members of royal families, celebrities, famous authors, government officials and top business people.

“Privacy is our policy because we have a very exclusive guest list.”

Her first job in the industry was at Lemon Tree Fusions where she worked as a waitress. It was here where she became popularly known as the singing waitress.

Later she secured a job as restaurant manager at Fancourt that introduced her to the corporate world.

“After Fancourt, I moved to Cape Town to work in the restaurant business then I started my job as the GM here on December 1st, 2008.”

Working in the hotel industry requires one to have very good communication skills.

“We read a lot of body language. When you serve food and the customer makes a face, then he or she is unhappy. So you must learn to read the customer's body language,” she said.

“One must also have very good verbal communications skills to talk to the clientele as well as the staff as our business is about people.”

She said there needs to be consistency in the presentation of the food served to clients, how they received guests and general service from all staff members.

“You need to like people, be flexible, strong in character, keep control of the situation, always smile no matter how tired you are or how long the event is,” added Bechard.

“You must have a tough skin because there are days when customers or staff will take their bad days out on you. But you must have a lot of passion for this job and recognise the staff and the clientele. Always make people feel important.”

Bechard's day starts at 07.30am when she greets guests at breakfast. Then it's off to the office to respond to e-mails, marketing the guest house, while sorting out her administrative duties. “I cook at lunchtime, go through the grocery list with the housekeeping staff, check if there are any guests for dinner, what needs to be made for breakfast, make sure we have enough ingredients, go shopping in the afternoon, then I am back here at work where I rest while helping the manger to serve the guests and talk to them.” She cooks dinner for the guests. Culinary delights range from ostrich, fillet, chicken to dessert.

Sometimes her night ends well after 10pm once the guests have finished eating. To keep herself updated with trends in the industry, she visits other hotels and similar establishments.

“I attend various networking sessions and share views and opinions on the industry and gain more knowledge from this,” she added.

Source: Daily Dispatch

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