Hotelier talks………

By Asanka Gunasekera

Staying in a glamorous hotel room, frequenting room service and relaxing with all of the offered amenities may be tranquil for the guest, but ensuring this experience is as relaxing and enjoyable as possible for each guest is a rather strenuous job. Behind all that luxurious serenity of a resort hotel is a whirlwind of planning, managing, budgeting and ’fire-fighting’ (metaphorically speaking of course!).

The day-to-day functions of a hotelier are unpredictable. As any hotelier will tell you, no two days are ever the same. With a diverse range of guests, different shift-workers etc., each day brings a new challenge. Each day will generally consist of operational meetings, ensuring quality standards, visiting with staff, maximizing room space and attending to the urgent issues that are bound to arise. However these tasks there are assigned is determined by the urgency of each one and where the particular hotel needs the most attention.



Staying organized is key to running a successful property. Streamlining a hotelier’s schedule will help to ensure that the management of the entire hotel will follow suit and operate smoothly. While each day will be different, it is important to prioritize tasks based on order of importance as well as the size of the task. Hoteliers have a set schedule of their days with a prioritized list of which tasks need to be addressed first. With a flood of issues falling on their plate on a daily basis, it is important to keep tasks organized to ensure that everything is done in a timely manner. Cinnamon Resorts starts each day with a meeting with all of our general managers & Heads of Departments . Other meetings follow to thrash out potential logistical issues that may arise from restaurant offers, amenities, & other operations. Apart from that we conduct staff departmental meetings on monthly basis as well.



While the schedule may be chaotic, walking in these shoes takes heavy doses of organizational skills and managerial abilities. Not only does the hotelier need to keep their personal schedule neatly organized, the daily tasks of the managers below them need to be ironed out as well. This prevents ‘wires from crossing’, rooms from being mismanaged, and shows guests the best face of the property possible. a disorganized hotelier results in a disorganized hotel, which is not ripe for guest satisfaction. Making a clear plan among the frantic fires is not simple, but it is just another day in the life of an hotelier.

Being an hotelier we have to sacrifice a lot; during Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Sinhala and Tamil New Year  we often have to stay at the hotel for operational & organizational concerns. However we have Theme Nights for staff every month, Reality Programs such as “Bey Idol” CSR activities, Sports & Welfare Functions, Health Camps, Year-end Staff Get-Togethers as well.



Some may think hotel life is overrated, but as I’m typing in this blog post while sitting at Cinnamon Bey, I can assure you that   we are enjoying every single moment of our hotel life. One more thing! Our management also does not forget to appreciate our staff which also encourages them to perform well & bring the business to the next level as well as for a better tomorrow. As we know tourism is a fast growing industry & more amazing opportunities are awaits for us!!
“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.