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LocAL Saturday 30 december 2017

Hotel Hustle

Column by: ShanellaPantophlet

It’s the most Chaotic time

of the year

High season is officially upon us, the aptly named season lasts, for
timeshares in this case, 16 weeks starting the third week in Decem-
ber (week 51) and ending the second week of April (week 14). As
I would come to understand during my first year at work, the term
“high season” for timeshares is wildly different than it is for transient
hotels. In timeshares it’s a time of year where our suites are at ca-
pacity for almost every week of the peak period, with owners stay-
ing on average 3 or more weeks. Our amount of weekly check-ins
drops off, while our room moves and stay over guests increase.

I know what you’re thinking, it must be easier than for timeshares, because you aren’t faced with a revolving door of transient guests for 5
months. Don’t worry, I once thought that way too and then experienced the error of my ways. Like a world class triathlete operations manag-
ers and their teams spend a significant amount of time preparing for the marathon of months ahead of us. A period where a family of 4 feels
like 8 and a family of 6 feels like 12, amenities are stretched to their limits and Murphy’s Law is ready to strike at any moment if you aren’t care-
ful and vigilant. The last thing you need when every room is full is to discover there’s an overbooking in rentals or that a room needs to be put
out of order.
Also did I mention the various international and local holidays which pose an extra level of challenge to an already challenging season? Not
only are we faced with trying to deliver a high quality of service, but also coordinating schedules to the best of our abilities to ensure all em-
ployees can also get the time they deserve with their families.
It’s almost comical, the conversations I have had with my colleagues about their pre-season stress induced nightmares, depicting the worst
case scenario for their department. It would be easy enough for them to not come into work, take time off and avoid the stress of it all to-
gether, but every day they along with their team members are here making sure those nightmare situations do not come to fruition.
Communication, cooperation and coordination, are the three keys to a successful (even if not flawless) high season. These three pillars run
deep, as staff from the top down need to be on the same page at all times. The cooperation of our guests in communicating with us about
their arrival times or dates, amenity requests and other potentially crucial information helps us to better coordinate our staff to ensure a better
level of service on each and every visit.
High season may be a very chaotic time behind the scenes at the resort, but we keep learning, adapting and adjusting to make every year
better than the last. The greatest satisfaction for us at the end of the day is knowing, that despite all the craziness, our guests have enjoyed their
stay, leave more relaxed and ready to come back again. Also that we survived, with most of our hair intact and still mostly its original color.q

Aruban born and bred Shanella Pantophlet is passionate about tourism. That is
the world she studied and works in, so we might as well call her a specialist. Luck-
ily for Aruba Today Shanella also loves to write. And together with the fact that
the majority of our readers are tourists, we found ourselves a perfect combination
for a column: Hotel Hustle.