Every month we take a look at someone or something that makes Mandolay such a special place to work in and visit.
This month, we go ‘Behind the Scenes’ with our Head Housekeeper, Erika, and learn a little bit more about her role as head of a department that can genuinely be described as unsung heroes.
To say that Housekeeping is a function that any hotel depends upon is an understatement, and perhaps more than any other department, it relies on strong management, physical effort, dedication, and a very particular set of skills, skills that Erika and her team have in abundance.
The housekeeping department is responsible for the cleanliness, and tidiness of every public area in the hotel, from staircases and corridors to bedrooms, restrooms, and meeting rooms. But more than that, Erika has responsibility for all the laundry, both in-house and contracted, as well as all the linen, cleaning products, soaps, and toiletries ordered from our various, high end suppliers.
It is also part of the housekeeping team’s responsibility to check everything is in working order, including TV remote controls, lights, room fridges, plug sockets, and every other facility, and reporting any issue to our Maintenance Manager.
Then of course there is the small matter of servicing 78 bedrooms.
It is not a job for the squeamish, or the faint-hearted, and organising teams of cleaners and room staff takes a firm management style that only comes from experience.
And what experience Erika has, following 15 years in Italy, a return to the UK found Erika working for one of the largest hotel chains in the country, where her skills were rewarded with the accolade of highest-rated Housekeeper in the entire group…no mean feat considering more than 250 hotels were counted!
One of Erika’s greatest personal attributes is a talent for communication, speaking 5 languages fluently certainly helps, but as she puts it herself, it is how you communicate that is important.
‘’I love my job, and I hope that I can transmit some of my enthusiasm to my wonderful team, and I think it helps that I have worked through every position in housekeeping, so people know that I appreciate the challenges that they are facing.’’
Housekeeper is a senior management position, and Erika has the respect of all her colleagues, throughout the hotel, and since joining Mandolay just over 18 months ago, the change in standards has been remarkable. We have always taken great pride in the levels of cleanliness and tidiness, but Erika has elevated our reputation, a fact demonstrated in the amount of positive feedback messages, and on-line reviews that mention her department.
Erika, with typical modesty points to her team for maintaining these standards, and she appreciates it can be difficult working with somebody that ‘wants everything to be perfect’, but when it comes to targets, ‘perfection’ is not a bad thing to strive for.
Mandolay Managing Director, Matthew Milliken is a particular fan of Erika, ‘’having such an experienced, hard-working, and diligent Housekeeper is a massive asset to the hotel, and Erika is a credit to her profession’’,