My Journey to Becoming an Award-winning Manager in the Hotel Industry

Studying for a Hospitality degree? It was a no-brainer!

I have been brought up in hotels my entire life as my father is a hotelier. I was exposed to some wonderful properties growing up and knew that this was the industry for me. Studying hospitality at a degree level reinforced my passion and helped me on my journey to securing my current position as Assistant Front Office Manager at the Milestone Hotel & Residences.

My hospitality degree provided me with many skills to help me excel, however, I have found that critical thinking, adaptability and learning how to present confidently have been the most important in my career so far. The course also provided the opportunities to gain my Personal Licence and Food and Hygiene certificates which for someone working in the hospitality industry, are very useful to have! Some of my favourite modules on the course included; Strategic Management, Organisational Behaviour, Marketing and Human Resource Management as well as Food, Culture and Society. I loved being encouraged to relate the theory we were learning to real-life business examples. Two highlights from my studies were jetting off on a field trip to Malta to learn about the country’s food, wine and culture, and being presented with two awards during graduation for Best Final Year Project for my dissertation and Best Final Year Performance.

Not only did my course provide me with all the above, but it also gave me the opportunity to secure a place on the Red Carnation graduate programme following a visit to the university by representatives from the company. Interviews were conducted on the day, following this I was lucky enough to be invited to the assessment day in London and the rest is history!

Experience is key.

Throughout my degree, I was encouraged to gain as much hands-on experience as I could. Not only does this help you gain experience in a specific job role, but also develops your soft skills such as problem-solving and working as part of a team.

Prior to securing my graduate role with Red Carnation, I worked at the motorway service operator Welcome Break, in their café and was later promoted to their Waitrose retail store where I held various management roles.

 As part of my degree, I had the opportunity to undertake a placement year, so I decided to take the leap and spend the year at Greenwich Country Club in Connecticut, USA as a Hospitality Intern. This five-star country club is part of the Distinguished Clubs of America and has three restaurants, an 18-hole golf course, tennis courts, a bowling alley, and squash courts. This is a private members club by invitation only and holds many large-scale events. 

During my time at the club, I worked in the food and beverage outlets including the fine dining restaurant, a bar and in their conference and banqueting facilities. I was lucky enough to work on a variety of large-scale events for organisations including; The Make-A-Wish Foundation, Greenwich Hospital,  American Red Cross Association, and many of the club’s big golf events. I was also responsible for running the ladies’ bowling league and oversaw all their weekly functions. Moreover, I also supervised the men’s locker room for the golfers which served breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Overall, America was a great opportunity to live and learn about different cultures and gain valuable industry experience.

My Red Carnation Journey

After joining the Red Carnation graduate programme in 2018, I started out at the prestigious Ashford Castle in Ireland within the food and beverage team. I worked in a variety of departments including fine dining in the George V restaurant, in-room dining, afternoon tea and conferencing and banqueting. I then made the move to the Milestone Hotel & Residences located in London where I began learning everything there is to know about room division management.

Midway through my programme, the Covid-19 pandemic hit. I was lucky enough to be selected to be part of the small skeleton team that remained working throughout. This was a vital learning experience for my professional development. This involved looking after our in-house residents who were staying in our luxury private residences as well as undertaking roles in different areas of the business including Duty Manager, Night Manager, Reception Manager, and Social Media Ambassador. I also helped to relaunch the re-offering of Afternoon Tea alongside the Food & Beverage Manager and assisted with the implementation of new policies and procedures in-line with government guidance.

Towards the end of the pandemic, I was asked by our CEO to undertake an eight-week secondment at the Laggan Hotel, owned by our parent company the Travel Corporation, in the heart of the Cairngorm National Park to assist with their reopening. I worked with the Hotel Manager to reopen the property and implement relevant Covid procedures. This was a real hands-on learning experience which included everything from overseeing room reservations, food and beverage, housekeeping and even the general maintenance and upkeep of the property. At the end of this secondment, I was promoted to Reception Manager at the Milestone.

Today, my current role as Assistant Front Office Manager at the Milestone Hotel involves overseeing the day-to-day operations in Front of House and managing our reception, guest services, duty managers, switchboard, and night teams to ensure they are delivering the highest possible levels of service. I actively mentor new trainees who are either on our graduate programme, degree apprentice programme or undertaking an internship.  My role involves working closely with our reservations, revenue, marketing and sales teams to ensure we can maximise our occupancy levels year-round. I will also meet our VIP guests on arrival and conduct site inspections for travel agents and prospective guests. I am very proud to have recently been awarded Manager of the Year for the hotel at our global staff party back in March.

Both properties that I have worked at exposed me to the highest possible standards in the industry including; the Leading Hotels of the World and the Forbes Travel Guide. Ashford Castle and the Milestone Hotel & Residences recently retained their Forbes Five-star status for 2023.

In the next 18 months, I plan to develop my skills and experience to progress into more managerial roles and within 5 years I would love to be either a Deputy General Manager or Operations Manager within a hotel. My ultimate goal is to become the General Manager of a  hotel.

My Top Tip for Students? Seize every opportunity you can!

I am a firm believer in seizing any opportunity you are presented with. If you have the opportunity to undertake a placement year, you should go for it. It’s a fantastic way to gain experience and it’ll help you stand out from other applicants when applying for graduate jobs. It's scary at first but it really does pay off. As well as gaining amazing experience and skills in industry I now have friends for life!

Attending networking events are also a fantastic way of getting into the industry. I’m a member of the AICR (Amicale Internationale des Sous Directeurs et Chefs de Réception des Grand Hôtels) which is the association for Front Office Management. I’m also a member of the  Institute of Hospitality and would encourage students interested in hospitality to join. Both organisations hold networking events throughout the year and give you an insight into current industry trends and it’s a great way to start meeting people and getting yourself noticed!