Professional Documents
Culture Documents
NguyễnThịVân
INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
INTERNSHIP REPORT:
SHERATON SAIGON HOTEL AND
TOWERS
ADVISOR’S EVALUATION
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………..
Table Content
1 Overview of Local Tourism and Hospitality Industry................................................6
2 Overview of Sheraton Saigon Hotel and Towers.........................................................6
2.1 Development History of the Hotel............................................................................. 6
2.2 Product and services:..................................................................................................... 7
2.3 Organization chart and brief description of departments..............................8
3 Internship Activities:............................................................................................................ 10
3.1 Description of interned department...................................................................... 10
3.2 Specific Internship Activities.................................................................................... 11
3.3 Evaluation of the Department Performance......................................................14
4 Assessment of Internship................................................................................................... 16
4.1 Skill and knowledge..................................................................................................... 16
4.2 Responsibilities and Personal Disciplines:.........................................................17
4.3 Future career plan........................................................................................................ 17
4.4 Contributive suggestion for interned departments or hospitality
department of IU:....................................................................................................................... 17
5 Conclusion:............................................................................................................................... 17
6 Appendix:.................................................................................................................................. 18
6.1 Images................................................................................................................................ 18
6.2 Word Index:..................................................................................................................... 24
7 References:............................................................................................................................... 26
Figure’s Index
Figure 1Sheraton Service Model................................................................................................. 7
Figure 2: Sheraton Organization Chart..................................................................................... 8
Figure 3: Personal Career Path.................................................................................................. 18
Figure 4: History Of Sheraton Saigon...................................................................................... 19
Figure 5: Starwood Hotel Chains.............................................................................................. 19
Figure 6: History Of Sheraton Saigon...................................................................................... 19
Figure 7: Core Values Of Sheraton........................................................................................... 19
Figure 9: Club Lounge (21st Floor)........................................................................................... 20
Figure 8: Breakfast Setup............................................................................................................ 20
Figure 10: Club Lounge's Small Meeting Room..................................................................20
Figure 11: Daily Forecasting Board......................................................................................... 20
Figure 12: Club Lounge's 8-Seat Meeting Room.................................................................20
Figure 13: Club Lounge’s Buffet Counter..............................................................................21
Figure 14: Club Lounge’s Smoking Room.............................................................................. 21
Figure 16: Club Studio (1)........................................................................................................... 21
Figure 15: Club Studio (2)........................................................................................................... 21
Figure 17: Grand Tower Entrance (Lv 5th)............................................................................ 22
Figure 18: Grand Tower Lounge (2)....................................................................................... 22
Figure 19: Grand Tower Lounge............................................................................................... 22
Figure 20: Grand Tower's Cold Food Counter.....................................................................23
Figure 21: Grand Tower's Drink Counter.............................................................................. 23
Figure 22: Grand Tower's Cooking Station........................................................................... 23
Figure 23: Grand Tower's Buffet Counter............................................................................. 23
Figure 24: Grand Tower Junior Suite...................................................................................... 25
PREFACE
For the time being, I have just finished my third year at International University
and my major at school is about Hospitality Management. Following the syllabus
of school, all the Hospitality students are required to do the internship at hotels
around the city. Both domestic and international hotels are accepted.
Additionally, students have the right to experience themselves in rural
workplaces or even peninsula and insular resorts such as Intercontinental
Danang Sun Peninsula Resorts in or Six Senses Con Dao. After searching on the
Internet, asking the experience from the former employees as well as joining in
the hotel tours which were hosted by Ms. Nguyen Thi Van, my lecturer, and
authorized by Mr. Mai Ngoc Khuong, dean of BA school, I ultimately decided to be
an intern of Sheraton Saigon Hotel and Towers, an international five-star hotel
which located on 88 Dong Khoi Street. There are two main reasons for my
decision of working as Sheraton. First one is that I would prefer to gain practical
experience at a very professional workplace and extend my knowledge about
hospitality industry rather than salary. Next one, I really desire to enrich my
English via approaching and communicating with the guests.
My responsibility during the period was to manage the Grand Tower Lounge on
the fifth floor and Club Lounge on the 21 st floor as a butler. I was in charge of F&B
tasks by serving the guests food and drinks. On the other hands, I have to make
some beverages such as tea and coffee, cappuccino, latte, or espresso, and some
common cocktails like Margarita, Saigon SunSet, and so on as an barista. Setting
the Welcome Card for VIP guests and checking the room to guarantee that
everything is on the best condition are my regular jobs as well.
This report will figure out clearly the organization chart, service model together
with main functions of departments in Sheraton Hotel. Performance of the
business is also included. Besides that, the report will describe in vivid detail
daily main tasks which I took responsibility, some problems which occurred
during my work and my self-assessment as well.
About itself, Sheraton Saigon Hotel and Towers was opened at Ocean Place
building in April, 2003 with the name of Sheraton Saigon to meet the growing
demand of luxurious hotels in HCMC. At that time, Ocean Place is a 24-storey
building located on the corner of Dong Khoi - Dong Du. This is a joint-venture
project with a total investment of over $ 100 million among the companies Keck
Seng, Resco, Invesco and Saigontourist which are the main shareholders of
Sheraton until now. In 2008, Sheraton Saigon launched a new Tower called
Grand Tower which is in combination with the Main Tower to be a spectacular
architecture in the center of Ho Chi Minh City. Due to that reason, its name was
changed to Sheraton Saigon Hotel and Towers.
From the time of being launched until now, Sheraton Saigon has been achieving
so many glorious triumphs in hospitality industry. Specifically, Sheraton Saigon
was voted ' The Golden List 2007' as one of the world's best 700 hotels and
resorts by American prestigious travel magazine Condé Nast. In Vietnam, there
are two hotels on the list of honor, which are the Sheraton Saigon Hotel and the
Sofitel Metropole Hanoi. Furthermore, Sheraton Saigon held successful APEC
meeting in May 2006 and has been visited by many senior officials and famous
celebrities such as the King and Queen of Sweden, President of South Korea,
WTO General Director Pascal Lamy and the most recently Singapore minister
mentor, Lee Kuan Yew. Interestingly, Sheraton Saigon Hotel and Towers was
honored for being the best hotel in Asia-Pacific of Starwood in 2005 byMr. Neil
Palmer, who is a Vice president of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Inc.
As can be seen from the picture, Sheraton hotel put a focus on building a
memorable and foundational service which may help to create customer’s loyalty
and it includes four main elements such as personalized, differentitated,
Operational, Service Basics.
Besides that, Sheraton Saigon Hotel and Towers also clearly identifies its own
core value as a tool to assert itself in the very competitive industry. Firstly, it is
stated that their service culture was warm. They care for not only the guest’s
experience but also the associate’s satisfaction because they believed human
being plays a critical role to the success of any kind of enterprises. Once
associate’s fundamental needs are fulfilled, they will dedicate themselves to
develop their business in which they are. Absolutely, the spreading of hospitality
spirit from associates to guests will affect the customer’s decision-making. Next,
they believe that their product and service were connected. Social spaces,
amenities and services are all designed to help keep in touch what matters most.
Finally, they care for society because they think that life will be better when
shared. Fund is raised by the contribution from each member working in the
hotel and charitable trips are held every year to support unfortunate conditions.
The operating system of Sheraton Saigon Hotel and Towers is illustrated in the
diagram with the General Manager, Mr. Scott, who is the top-leader of the hotel
takes responsibility formanaging not only the revenue, cost but also loss and
debt of a company. The following position is executive assistant manager, Mr.
Duong Minh Duc, who will play a role as a supporter of the GM and other high-
ranking company official which will allow his boss to do other business needs.
Firstly, Human Resource Department can be briefly defined as a vital part in
any organizations which mainly taking on managing staffs such as recruiting,
printing, binding and scanning. However, it is noticed that just 5 pages of A4 are
complimentary. In the Following day, I was trained at the Guests Service
Center. This is considered to be the operator of the entire hotel, hence any calls
or information are transmitted should be accessed to this department. Guests are
advised to contact via Guest Service Center for any questions as well as
requirements.
main target of Banquet and Caterings department is MICE, which stands for
Meeting, Incentives, Conferencing and Exhibitions, are large collection of people
with the same purpose. Finally, an obscure sub-department contributes greatly
on customer’s satisfaction is In-room Dining. Its major tasks are to set up
Welcome Fruits for the upcoming guests and fulfill customer’s special culinary
requirements in guestrooms. An in-room menu with various kinds of food is
always put on the desk inside all guestrooms.
The table above depicts a breakdown about Departmental Revenue as well as the
Developing pace in Sheraton form 2012 to 2014 in terms of Million USD. Overall, Room
Divisions generated the highest annual income compared to F&B department and other
services which tended to decrease in three years.
As can be seen clearly from the table, the amount of money which Room Division gained in
2012 reached a peak of 50.1%, which approximately double that of other services. That
amount was also the highest figure compared ones 2013 and 2014. F&B Department had
been ranked below the Room Division with the revenue of 5.17 million USD In 2012, which
was roughly twice as much other service.
USD in the first two year and then fell to just under 5 million USD. Other Service had the
similar movements compared to F&B.
In Conclusion, the total revenue of all three Sheraton Saigon’s Departments are hit a peak of
15.57 million USD.
3 Internship Activities:
3.1Description of interned department
Providing that Grand Tower Lounge follows the inversed style which is
contemporarily youthful architecture with an open space that will give diners
special moments of relaxation as well as create a private ambiance for business
meetings or friend reunions, Club Lounge is according to vintage design with a
cozy space which creates the signature of a close and warm ambiance. It situated
in level 21st where clients are able to overlook the inviting and fascinating
spectacle of Saigon River View and the Ho Chi Minh City. Club Lounge consists of
one 4-seatmeeting room and one 8-seat meeting room and one smoking room on
the 22nd floor, a mini business center on the level 20 th. Any couples who are
deliberately finding a warm and romantic space should be choose Club Lounge as
a final destination. Those who intend to stay at Level 21 st will have the same
benefits with persons who are in Level 5th but with a lower price.
According to the service, Grand Tower Lounge will open from 6am to 11am
every day in a week. From Monday till Friday, breakfast buffet will be served
from 6am to 10: am and 6 am to 10:30 am in the weekend. In the afternoon,
Afternoon Tea will be available from 2:30 pm till 4:30 pm with some desserts
and mini burgers. Finally, Pre-Dinner drinks and Hors d’oeuvres are on offer
each evening from 5pm until 8pm with a copious menu which is altered every
single day. It is the same for Club Lounge; however, there is a slightly different in
the closing time of Pre-dinner from Grand Tower Lounge which is 10 pm instead
of 11 pm.
After weeks of being trained, I gradually accustomed to the job I was doing,
hence, I was assigned to serve in the Lounge. I had to work in 8-hour shift
following the supervisor’s assignment which is called roster (*). The morning
shift which includes 15 minutes for briefing (*) and 30 minutes for lunch stars
from 6am till 2h45mm, the afternoon shifts is available from 2h30pm till
11:15pm which includes 30 minutes for dinning and 15 minutes for briefing) and
the final shifts is arranged from 12am till 8:45pm which also consists of 30
minutes for dining. In each shift, there are different types of work to do,
however; in general, it was divided in to 2 main periods which are buffet time
and set-up time.
According to morning shift, I started my job by checking all the setups had done
last night whether follow exactly the standard from the buffet counter, cooking
station to the table. After that, name tags of main courses and chesses would be
set, because those foods were changeable every single day. Next, I kept in touch
with my task by recording the temperature of hot food (*) and cold food (*),
which was to guarantee the secure condition of the food or even if there were
any problems with the guests such as diarrhea or vomiting, this record was a
reliable proof for investigation. After checking the buffet counter, I had to keep
track with the guest’s tables whether these has already followed the criteria,
then it must be ensured that every milk containers should be filled. When
everything was in order, I continued my day with checking the terrace (*).
Because after finishing the night shift, all the pillows and cushions are cleared
from the terrace in case of it rained. I had finished my responsibility, in-house
guests came in which is a sign of the buffet time’s start. In this phase, I had to
stop other preparing tasks to welcome guests. It was very significant that for me
I should catch sight of incoming patrons in 10 feet and bow and say good
morning when they were in about 3-feet distance from me. In order to show my
regard, flashing a smile and having a talk with them by questions such as “How
are you today?”, “How many people do you go with?” or “which tables would you
like choose?” were applied. Interestingly, by those warm questions, I was
appreciated by the majority of clients. Another important skill is to choose a right
standing position with the broadest view to observe and make anticipation of
when the table should be cleared or when a certain eater needs more drinks to
help him/her refill. My major task in this stage was to record requirements about
drink, make and deliver it to the person who ordered. The breakfast was finished
at 10am and then I and my partner cleared together all the setups on the buffet
counter and on the guest’s area. After clearing the peripheral sector, I had to
access the pantry to classify between the leftovers which will be reused for the
Pre-dinner and the dirty ones. Name tags were put back to their position.
Cutleries and set-up tools would be put in a washing machine by the steward.
While waiting for knives and forks were cleaned, I spent my time on counting
dirty napkins, recording it in the Grand Tower Linen book (*) and then put them
in a basket for replacing new ones at Uniform department. One thing should be
noticed at this stage is that filthy napkins with lots of stains were separated from
the clean ones and tied to a group of ten, because it was reasoned that the smear
from the dirty napkins will stick on to the ones without any spots. Next I usually
spent the time when I had to wait for replacement for dirty napkins (*) on having
lunch in 30 minutes. Continually, I come up with a task of wiping all the cutleries
and set-up tools which had been just washed by the Steward. It is significant that
silverwares which have the same usage should be distinguished from the others
and grouped because this will be helpful for saving time of classification when
silverwares are put back to the container. The criteria for hygiene cutleries (*)
are shining and bright without any fingerprints. After doing that, I jumped to
wipe glassware (*) which mainly included highball glasses using for drinking
mineral water or juices and rock glasses using for drinking sparkling water
because morning breakfast’s beverages just consisted of mineral water,
sparkling water, tea and coffee and juices. That is the most difficult task to which
I took more than a week to accustom since a clean glass should be spotless and
there are not any fingerprints on it. Hence, before keep doing the job, the water
boiled by the kettle was prepared to steam the glass. Water vapor from the kettle
would make the glass spotless then two glass rags were used to wipe out the
vapor as well as fingermarks and make it purer. Unforgettable event occurred
when I was cleaning the white wine’s glass which was soaked into boiling water.
Hot temperature makes it more brittle and unbreakable. Therefore, when I had
just touched the brim of the glass, it was broken. ‘How guilty I was’, I thought at
that moment. My partner consoled me that breaking had been unavoidable in
hospitality, what I had to do then was to record the types and the number of
broken glasses into a Glass Break Record (*) with the reason. Following this task,
pristine napkins replaced ought to be folded for morning’s breakfast and Pre-
dinner. Two popular types of napkins in the Grand Tower Lounge were Inverted
Sail and Simple Napkin Pocket. Besides that, Lotus fold was also created to line
under the breads that prevents crumbs falling out from those. Usually, I finished
all the hygiene roles at nearly 2pm and in order to prepare for Afternoon Tea
which is available at 2:30 pm, I kept doing my daily activities with preparation
task. Firstly, tongs, small forks and tea spoons are set on the counter for the
guests to enjoy sweet cakes and mini rolls or burgers. Secondly, big knives and
forks were put into the Simple Napkin Pocket, so did soup spoons and
chopsticks.
Besides those main tasks above, I also did other minor ones. In particular, during
a week, there were two times of receiving products including soft drinks, coffee
beans and powders, napkins, coasters etc. from the hotel’s warehouse to Grand
Tower and Club Lounge store which were at lunch time of Monday and Friday.
Therefore, the person who took responsibility to receive products should have
lunch earlier than the ordinary days. Furthermore, I was required to access into
the guestroom to put the Welcome Card (*) for the incoming guests and also
check whether it has been fully set up yet or there were any damaged devices.
The purpose of this is to warrantee that guestrooms must be always in the best
condition. In addition, I was asked for helping the official staffs photocopy the
passport for the guest who was checking in. In Sheraton, hygiene inspection was
conducted every month in all F&B outlets to maintain as well as enhance the
cleanliness which should follow the standard of Starwood Corporation. A
previous week from the inspective week, everybody undertook to do the
washing to all facilities in the pantry from the fridges to the bartender’s table and
shelves. Glasses were washed again and wipe carefully until they were crystal
and spotless. On the 21st floor, there was no cooking station as well as chef de
station who was in charge of food such as cooking or refilling the food when it
was over. Therefore, in the very high occupancy days, the Club Lounge was
usually covered with customers and my supervisor sent me to the 21 st Lounge to
rescue my partners.
customer’s loyalty has been built. Most of in-house guests have positive
feedbacks about the service and promise to come back next time. Customers who
have intension to stay at Grand Tower have been there so many times. Moreover,
the guest’s complaints are always prior to be handled first. Besides that, some
guest-related programs or events were celebrated to build up customer’s loyalty.
In particular, SPG (*), which stands for Starwood Preferred Guests, was applied
to freely create membership accounts for patrons who were Sheraton familiar
Members. Another activity named Taking Photo With Us was also conducted as a
way to be closer to the guests.
4 Assessment of Internship
4.1Skill and knowledge
During the internship at Sheraton, I was provided various vocational knowledge
as well as learned relevant expertise in serving skills. A high-demanded
workplace requiring high responsibility in teamwork and multitasking skill
matured me every single day.
I was learnt how to operate the Opera system from my colleagues which is used
to manage all the hotel operations such as the daily occupancy, profile of guests,
guest’s booking and so on. Next, knowledge which I perceived from 2 courses
such as Front Office and F&B at Saigontourist Hospitality College (SHTC) are
applied and practiced every day. In particular the procedure of welcoming a
guest, checking in/out or serving guests in the Lounge was trained very carefully
by my line supervisor. Moreover, I was also learnt the operation of other
departments and outlets via a Hotel trip. Some departments and outlets that I
have visited were Aqua Day and Sheraton Fitness, Reservation, Concierge,
Security, Front desk, Signature restaurant, which is a fine dining restaurant on lv
23rd, Saigon Café, which is the main restaurant serving the entire in-house guests
on lv 1st, Or Wine Bar and Night Spot where guests are able to enjoy alcoholic
drinks in vibrated Dj’s music. Besides that, by observing how my partners
organize and arrange important documents, I also figured out for myself the way
how to record my important files and data.
5 Conclusion:
In conclusion, this is a very helpful internship which helps me to draw an overall
view about hospitality industry in the very vivid way. Therefore I can identify
whether I am fit with this field. I appreciate all the assistance from my supervisor
as well as other members who are always enthusiastic in supporting me during
my internship a. I am also grateful for the concern and support from my lecturer,
Mr. Mai Ngoc Khuong, whenever I need.
6 Appendix:
6.1Images
Figure 10: Club Lounge's Small Meeting Figure 11: Daily Forecasting Board
Room
Figure 14: Club Lounge’s Smoking Room Figure 13: Club Lounge’s Buffet
Counter
Figure 15: Club Studio (2) Figure 16: Club Studio (1)
Figure 18: Grand Tower Lounge (2) Figure 19: Grand Tower Lounge
Figure 22: Grand Tower's Cooking Figure 21: Grand Tower's Drink Counter
Station
6.2Word Index:
Aqua Day Spa (*) and Sheraton Fitness (*): are two types of services which
generate the large amount of income for the hotel. Furthermore, those places are
launched to give various choices of relaxation and entertainment to guests
during their stay.
Back of the house – implies the departments which are not revolve directly in
guest’s interaction such as Accounting, Sales and Marketing, Human resources
and so on.
Bellmen: are people who carry luggage to the informed guestroom or bring
them down when guests are going to check out.
Briefing – is a 15-minute group meeting occurred at the end of the morning shift
discuses about problems have just arisen during a day.
Cold food– is food which has an average temperature range from 1 Celsius
Degree to 5 Celsius degree. They are usually salad, smoked salmon, Sashimi
which is a mixture of salmon and tuna.
Cruises–there are two types of cruise which are Star Cruise operated in Asia and
Costa operated in Europe.
Glass Break Record – is a book used to record the types and the number of
glasses broken with reason.
Glass rag – is a linen with soft surface used for wiping the glasses or cutleries in
the hotel
Grand Tower – considered as a twin brother with the Main one was built in
2008. With the breathtaking Saigon River view and city view combined with
modern design and private space, Grand Tower is able to catch the attention of
everyone who have ever visited or stayed. It consists of three types of room and
one Grand Tower Presidential Suite:
Grand Tower Junior Suite (32 rooms) –is wide 65 square meters.
Grand Tower linen book – Is a record of towels such as napkins, rags which is
to daily manage the number of very filthy napkins are in exchange with the
better ones.
Main Fridge – also contains soft drinks and beers like Heineken, 333, San Miguel
and Tiger.
Minibar – contains mostly soft drinks, tonic and soda so that in-house guests are
able to take away whenever they want.
Napkin – is a smooth tower used for guests to wipe mouth after eating.
Opera System – is an software which is used to managing all the bookings from
all over the world and saving the histories of guests such as the nuts to which
he/she have an allergy or fruit juice which is the most favorite of guest and so
on.
Pick-up service - is a way which the hotel greets its clients from the airport and
carries them to the hotel.
Terrace – is an outside area of Grand Tower lounge where guests can have a
smoke. This place is also furnished tables and chairs with astray for not only
smoking needs but also enjoying food.
There are 4 levels of SPG which are A member, B member, C member, Gold
member, Platinum member and Ambassador member. Each type of accounts has
their own conditions to accumulate rewarding points as well as benefits. With $
1, A, B, C and gold members will receive two points for their accounts while
Platinum and Ambassador Accounts will receive 3 points for 1 USD.
Welcome Card – is a greeting card set up in the guestrooms to wow the guests.
Amazing factor such as the number of times that a guest stayed at Sheraton is
added to the Card for more surprises.
Welcome Fruits – are usually set up in guestroom together with Welcome Card
and Welcome Flower to create a feeling of being warmly greeted for upcoming
customers.
Wine Fridge – is to contain white wine such as Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc
which was served at Pre-dinner time and sparkling wine- which was just served
when guests required.
7 References:
Internet Source:
1. https://www.hotelmule.com/html/93/n-793-2.html
2. http://www.svhttdl.hochiminhcity.gov.vn/web/guest/tin-tuc-su-
kien/du-lich?
p_p_id=EXT_ARTICLEVIEW&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_col_id=column-
1h&p_p_col_count=1&_EXT_ARTICLEVIEW_groupId=16&_EXT_AR
TICLEVIEW_articleId=161410&_EXT_ARTICLEVIEW_version=1.0&
_EXT_ARTICLEVIEW_redirect=%2Fweb%2Fguest%2Ftrang-chu
3. http://www.sheratonsaigon.com/
4. http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton/index.html?
&PS=LGEN_AA_DAPI_CGGL_TBRD&SWAQ=8CHR
Book Source:
3. Brwon, G., & Hepnen, K. (4th Edition). The Waiter's Handbook. French Forest, N.S.W.
: Pearson Education Australia, 2008.