Hotel Arts Barcelona Placement Cultural Studies Essay

Hotel Arts Barcelona Placement Cultural Studies Essay I really wanted to go to a Spanish speaking country, because it is my second language at school but also because I really want to discover the Spanish culture. Especially Barcelona attracted me a lot because I heard a lot of good things about this city. I have been to Madrid a couple of times but my perception of Barcelona was way different. Barcelona has a couple of things which attract me very much: the architecture, the climate and the football club. The department I was working in was the Guest Service Department and sometimes in the FB (bartender). I had several duties, some of these responsibilities were welcoming the new guests, taking care of the luggage of the guests, parking the cars of our guests, calling taxis for the guests, explain the directions to the guests and giving recommendations to the guests about restaurants and clubs. The  Hotel Arts Barcelona  is a 44-story, 482 room luxury  hotel  on the seafront of  Barcelona, in  Spain. A lot of people believe the hotel was build to service the 1992 Summer Olympics but actually it wasnt. Although the construction of the hotel was part of the big changes underwent by the city to prepare the Games, the hotel wasnt made for the Olympics. Hotel Arts is one of the citys leading hotels. The construction of the hotel was fully finished in 1994. It was designed by  Skidmore, Owings Merrill  and is 154 meters tall. Its one of the few skyscrapers that Barcelona has. The hotel underwent a total renovation in 2006, they installed new technology and upgraded the guestrooms and the bathrooms into modern, luxurious spaces to the standards of a 5 star hotel. A vision is an almost impossible dream and a mission is a written statement of the purpose of a company or organization. The mission statement guides the actions of the organization, it sets its overall goal and it guides decision making for every level of management. Its the direction for the company for within at least five years. Their vision is to provide the finest personal service and facilities, for their guest who will always enjoy a warm relaxed yet refined ambience. If you see this sentence you can conclude that its almost impossible. Their mission is to instill the well-being and fulfill even the unexpressed wishes and needs of their guests. 2.2.3 Mission Statement in practice The mission statement is definitely reflected in my department. Every morning we had a briefing about all the things that happened with out guests, good and bad things. So for example when it was someones birthday, everyone of our department kept that in mind so when someone came across the guest he congratulated him and gave him a little present. That is an example of fulfilling the unexpressed wishes of the guests. Every morning we also had a value of the day. Which was one of the 11 service values. For example: I own and immediately resolve guest problems. 2.3 Market segments 2.3.1 What market segment(s) does your hotel focus on? Hotel Arts Barcelona can be put in the luxury segment. They aim for well fortuned guests who are willing to spend from 400 up to 10.0000 euro per night. They make use of demographic segmentation because when you divide the market on a demographic base you get groups like: age, gender, life-cycle, occupation, race, income, education, religion and nationality. Hotel Arts has a mix of business guests and leisure guests. In the summer time its mostly leisure but trough the whole year there are big conventions being held in the meeting rooms. 2.3.2 Characteristics As I explained in the previous sub-title, there are different characteristics of demographic segmentation; age, gender, race, life-cycle, occupation, income, education, nationality. Hotel Arts is focusing on the upper-income guests and business guests. If you compare the demographic characteristics with other types of segmentation you will get the following things. When you look at the psychographic segment you can find a relation with the demographic segment. In the psychographic segment they are focusing on the social class, lifestyle and personality. When we talk about the targeted social class for the hotel, its the upper-level. If you look at the products the hotel is offering like, like. With geographic segmentation, they focus on geographic variables like: countries nations, states, and cities. Ritz Carlton is a brand that is known all over the world, thats why its not necessary to adapt to geographic variables because it doesnt matter. The mission statement does reflect on the market segment where Hotel Arts focuses on because the guests want to be treated like a king because they are used to a certain luxury standard. They say in their mission statement that the genuine care and comfort of their guest is their highest mission and that they pledge to provide the finest personal service and facilities, and those things are exactly what the luxury guest wants. When I started with working they let me walk with a colleague who showed me everything in my department. The first day was just looking, I didnt do anything but observing my colleagues. In my department we didnt have SOPs because the department itself was new. We did have standard procedures of working but it wasnt written down on paper. When a guest arrived we had a certain operating procedure. The cab with the guests came driven to our main door. One of my colleagues opened the trunk and took the luggage out. He told me trough a little microphone the name that was on the tag of the luggage and I opened the door of the cab and greeted the guest with the name that was given to me trough my earpiece. We first asked how their trip was to Hotel Arts and after that we asked if the guest wanted us to take care of the luggage. If yes we gave the guest one half of an orange ticket with a number on it and the other half we put on the luggage. It was an amazing system and it gave the guest mo re than just a warm welcome. We exceeded the expectations of the guest from the beginning by saying their name when opening the door of the cab. My managers were kind and open-minded, one came from Brazil and the other one from Belgium. They were natural leaders because they never acted like they were the boss or the manager but you always knew that you didnt want to disappoint them. They had a lot of conversations with the employees. If they had the feeling that there was a problem they always invited you for conversation. They asked a lot about how things where going personally and that was really nice. Because its good that your manager supports you and cares about you. We always had a group meeting 10 minutes before starting the shift and we always had a evaluation about the day after the shift. They also give you the room to improve yourself by giving you several responsibilities. For example after the first month I got the responsibility of welcoming the and taking care of the luggage of the band Coldplay. It took me a lot of planning and off course a little stress but it was nice to know that my manager had trust in me . One thing that I very much appreciated was the fact that my supervisor had arranged a Spanish class for me and a couple of my other foreign colleagues. I dont have the feeling that there are a lot of thing to improve for my managers. They were very talented and as a matter of fact when I left the hotel they got a promotion as Rooms Division managers 3.1.4 Guest Satisfaction When guests checked out they were asked to fill in an questionnaire with a few question about every department. Sometimes people got a phone call after there stay. Every month we got a report back about the answers that were given by the guests; this is called: the Gallup Report. Customer feedback is obviously an important part of the improvement process. Simon Cooper, president and chief operating officer, states, When it comes to customers, feelings are facts. The Ritz-Carlton deploys multiple methods to capture the customer experience, such as comment cards and a follow-up survey call from Gallup to guests after their stay. In addition, the staff discreetly look, listen, and ask for feedback during transactions and moments of truth to build upon the Ritz-Carlton knowledge-management system. In addition, theres a follow-up survey conducted by Gallup, which provides third-party validation. Finally, mystery shoppers circulate though the various properties to critique the processes.  [5]   3.1.5 Problems, complaints and solutions We had to take care of that the luggage went into the right room, which was sometimes a lot of work because of the arrivals of big groups (100 people at the same time). We made a sheet with all of the guests names and room numbers and after that we tagged all the luggage and made sure it was brought up. We had to take care of the parking as well, sometimes it was a problem for us because we had to park guests their cars but at the same time other guests wanted us to retrieve their cars. What we did to make sure it wouldnt be to busy with the parking we always asked if the guests were using their car during their stay. If not, we put them down in the big garage, if yes, we parked the cars in front of the hotel. Barcelona has a big problem with pick pocketing, because we where the first employees to come across when guests came back to the hotel, we were the first to listen to the problem. We had to send the guests to the concierge because he dealt with these problems but we always had the responsibility to follow up on the guest if we would come across him/her. We didnt have a point of sales system in my department because were werent selling anything, we were just providing service. I know from the times that I helped as a bartender we had Micros which was linked to the Opera system of the whole hotel. On Opera you could find everything of the guests. You could see what their preferences are in terms of their coffee, their newspaper and so on. With this knowledge we created a thing which was called Mystique. This is accomplished by having the empathy to know what thrills guests and how the staff can make the visit memorable. This is accomplished in conversations with guests and by maintaining a knowledge-management system that records the preferences of every guest. These preferences were all saved on Opera and it is accessible for Ritz Carlton employees all around the world. Maybe its a favorite magazine or wine, or dessert, or cappuccino. Whatever the case, employees know how to surprise the guests, which leads to strengthening the relat ionships with them. I have to make sure that all the employees are good ambassadors of the hotel, we must give arriving guests a warm welcome and a fond farewell. We can either make or break a holiday from the start and at the end. For example if people leave the hotel and nobody can order a taxi for them or help them with the luggage they will leave with a bad feeling. My responsibility is also to give my employees, like you for example, a warm welcome as well and to help you with problems. Welcoming the guests is a really strong point. We use a special system for this. The cab with the guests comes driven to our main door. One of my employees opens the trunk and takes the luggage out. He tells the doorman trough a little microphone the name that is on the tag of the luggage and the doorman opens the door of the cab and greets the guest with the name that was given to him trough his earpiece. We first ask how their trip was to Hotel Arts and after that we ask if the guest wants us to take care of the luggage. It is an amazing system and it gives the guest more than just a warm welcome. Simon Cooper, president and chief operating officer, states, When it comes to customers, feelings are facts. The Ritz-Carlton deploys multiple methods to capture the customer experience, such as comment cards and a follow-up survey call from Gallup to guests after their stay. In addition, the staff discreetly look, listen, and ask for feedback during transactions and moments of truth to build upon the Ritz-Carlton knowledge-management system. In addition, theres a follow-up survey conducted by Gallup, which provides third-party validation. Finally, mystery shoppers circulate though the various properties to critique the processes.  [6]   I think these are good performance indicators because if they say that they got noticed and helped immediately when they arrived it says a lot about giving a warm welcome. When they say the time of waiting for a taxi it says a lot about how fast people were getting helped. If their named was used when they left you can say that they got a fond farewell. Because every department gives its own specific service, and ours is welcoming guests, anticipate on needs of guests and giving guest a farewell, its good to be judged on specific indicators about our own department. If we score high and fits with our mission statement of giving the finest service to our guests. Because the hotel was situated in a an area where a lot of restaurants and nightclubs are, there were always people around the hotel. We always had a line of taxis right next to the hotel who were especially for our guests. If people from a restaurant from nearby came to our entrance and asked for a taxi we werent allowed to help him. We had to deal with that a lot. One day I started at seven in the morning and 10 minutes after I started a young man came to me. He got pick pocketed by a criminal gang, he lost his mobile phone and his wallet. He asked me to let him call with the hotels phone at the entrance but he was not a guest. If you look at this trough the JUSTICE way I couldnt let him make use of the phone because he was not a guest. Above that, the young man looked like he had drank to much. But if you look at this trough the CARE way, even though the guy had drank some alcohol he was really calm and friendly. On the other hand he was also really desperate because he couldnt ca ll for help. I could see the sadness in his eyes and because he asked me this in such a friendly way I decided to help him and let him make one quick call with the phone of the hotel.

Military Technology Essays -- Technological Research Persuasive Essays

Military Technology   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Technology in the military has greatly increased strength and eased the ranking among world powers and effected the development of new military weapons. The term â€Å"Survival of the fittest† means that the strong will succeed but the meek will not, this is the case with military technology. The U.S. has the best technology in the world, therefore we are the highest military power.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Technology is a very important part of warfare. Technology is driven by the military. The army's race during the cold war, spawned some of the greatest technical achievements in human history. Space travel for example is a result of the X-plane project. The Internet was produced by the military as well. If we stop investing in military technology, we risk our safety. If other nations had more advance technology than we do, they would have more power than we do. If that was to happen, we face the threat of that nation taking over us.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Military technology may be divided into five categories. Offensive arms harm the enemy, while defensive weapons ward off offensive attacks. Transportation technology moves soldiers and weaponry; communications coordinate the movements of armed forces; and sensors detect forces and guide weaponry.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many types of technological developments in the military happening at all times. They range from new aircraft to sophisticated guidance systems. Teams of specialists work for years to develop some of our simplest equipment. These people’s everyday lives are devoted to the safety and protection of the citizens of the U.S.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Aircraft are one of the biggest areas of advancement in the past. Military aircraft have become more sophisticated in variety, effectiveness, and maneuverability techniques in recent years. After it was found that aircraft could be very useful in war, they started to become a necessity of war. After World War 2, technological advances in aircraft began. The advances include stealth, targeting, maneuverability, etc. With stealth technology, many new and extremely effective aircraft have been developed for air warfare. One of the very first stealth aircrafts was developed for Operation Dessert Storm. This stealth fighter jet was the F-117A. The U.S. sent out 43 of these jets, and all of them returned and with not as much as a scratch on them. During Dessert Storm, the F-117A pr... ...litary uses. Military technology has been effecting the rules of war for years and it will for years to come. In medieval times, there were many advances that today we would not think of as technology but they are. Chain mail armor was invented to prevent injuries from sword fighting, catapults were used to throw objects over castle walls and break down doors. The American Revolution had an impact on technology, the first guns were just being made, without this technology we would be nowhere today. In WWI machine guns were invented by the Germans, and then more finely tuned for WWII. Since WWII, there have been so many developments that they can’t even be counted. The future has a good outlook for new technology in the military. Many possibilities include the unmanned war, where all the fighting will be done by robots and computers. Other possibilities include, space travel, new fuels, vehicles, and more. Military technology has greatly improved our world and has put ahead the strongest nations. Many other uses come from these developments far from what they were originally designed for. Technology has been the largest influence on the world since the beginning of time. Military Technology Essays -- Technological Research Persuasive Essays Military Technology   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Technology in the military has greatly increased strength and eased the ranking among world powers and effected the development of new military weapons. The term â€Å"Survival of the fittest† means that the strong will succeed but the meek will not, this is the case with military technology. The U.S. has the best technology in the world, therefore we are the highest military power.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Technology is a very important part of warfare. Technology is driven by the military. The army's race during the cold war, spawned some of the greatest technical achievements in human history. Space travel for example is a result of the X-plane project. The Internet was produced by the military as well. If we stop investing in military technology, we risk our safety. If other nations had more advance technology than we do, they would have more power than we do. If that was to happen, we face the threat of that nation taking over us.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Military technology may be divided into five categories. Offensive arms harm the enemy, while defensive weapons ward off offensive attacks. Transportation technology moves soldiers and weaponry; communications coordinate the movements of armed forces; and sensors detect forces and guide weaponry.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many types of technological developments in the military happening at all times. They range from new aircraft to sophisticated guidance systems. Teams of specialists work for years to develop some of our simplest equipment. These people’s everyday lives are devoted to the safety and protection of the citizens of the U.S.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Aircraft are one of the biggest areas of advancement in the past. Military aircraft have become more sophisticated in variety, effectiveness, and maneuverability techniques in recent years. After it was found that aircraft could be very useful in war, they started to become a necessity of war. After World War 2, technological advances in aircraft began. The advances include stealth, targeting, maneuverability, etc. With stealth technology, many new and extremely effective aircraft have been developed for air warfare. One of the very first stealth aircrafts was developed for Operation Dessert Storm. This stealth fighter jet was the F-117A. The U.S. sent out 43 of these jets, and all of them returned and with not as much as a scratch on them. During Dessert Storm, the F-117A pr... ...litary uses. Military technology has been effecting the rules of war for years and it will for years to come. In medieval times, there were many advances that today we would not think of as technology but they are. Chain mail armor was invented to prevent injuries from sword fighting, catapults were used to throw objects over castle walls and break down doors. The American Revolution had an impact on technology, the first guns were just being made, without this technology we would be nowhere today. In WWI machine guns were invented by the Germans, and then more finely tuned for WWII. Since WWII, there have been so many developments that they can’t even be counted. The future has a good outlook for new technology in the military. Many possibilities include the unmanned war, where all the fighting will be done by robots and computers. Other possibilities include, space travel, new fuels, vehicles, and more. Military technology has greatly improved our world and has put ahead the strongest nations. Many other uses come from these developments far from what they were originally designed for. Technology has been the largest influence on the world since the beginning of time.

Friar Lawrence is the only character to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Do you agree? Essay

Romeo and Juliet is a tragic love story between two ‘star-crossed lovers,† written in 1596 by William Shakespeare. It is set in the town of Verona, Italy, where two households – the Montagues and Capulets- are involved in an ancient feud. One character who was in the middle of it all was Friar Lawrence, whose actions are put to blame for the death of Romeo and Juliet. Shortly after Romeo and Juliet fell in love with each other, their next intention was to marry. friar Lawrence agreed to marry them hoping it would stop the family feud and bring peace. That, however, was not the case after the death of Tybalt on Romeo’s behalf which caused Romeo to be banished from Verona, and Juliet to be distraught. Especially since she was now being forced to marry count Paris, with agreement from Friar Lawrence even with his knowledge of Romeo and Juliet’s marriage. Showing his carelessness for other people and his selfish ways to make sure only he is happy. Which a re two flaws that he shoes through out the play, and why he is the the only character to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Naive is having or showing lack of judgement, or information. Which describes The Friar and his decisions he makes throughout the play. Friar Lawrence’s decision to marry Romeo and Juliet was an ambitious one due to his choice of not asking both parent’s, or talking to them before hand. This decision, however, made a huge impact on the rest of the play. The Friar’s thoughts were that marriage would stop the family feuds, as he had said to Romeo that the ‘alliance may so happy prove, to turn your households rancour to pure love.† Although he had good intentions, this thought soon turned deceitful, due to the parents not having knowledge of the marriage. This dishonestly towards them was due to his naive behaviour and just another reason for why he is to blame for the deaths or Romeo and Juliet. Foolishness is a key feature in many of the characters in the play. Friar Lawrence is a character who’s foolishness would have been one if his main regrets. After Romeo’s banishment from Verona, due to him murdering Tybalt, Juliet was told she was to marry Paris on thursday. Juliet’s reaction to the  news when the nurse informed her of the marriage was, â€Å"i pray you, tell my lord and father, madam, i will mot marry yet.† This was due to the fact she was still married to Romeo. The Friar also had knowledge of this but agreed to marry count Paris and Juliet anyway. Which also was deceitful to the parents. This, however, upset Juliet because of his dishonesty towards her marriage with Romeo. The Friar’s choices he made at this point show his foolish ways and his incautious decisions he had done which led up to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Selfishness and carelessness means having no care or concern for anyone but yourself. And Friar Lawrence showed he had these features when he made one of the biggest decisions in the play that has made him to be the reason for Romeo and Juliet’s death. It was The Friar who gave Juliet the sleeping potion to fake her death, knowing just as well that she was a heartbroken teenage girl who was not facing reality in her decision in wanting to die. He trusted Friar John to deliver a letter of great significance to Romeo, explaining the plan to him so that he would not believe Juliet is dead. Friar John was unsuccessful in delivering the letter and shows his incompetence when he says â€Å"I could not send it – here it is again.† These unthought and carless events resulted in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Thus mistake of Friar Lawrence’s was his worst through the entire play and why an important decision such as faking a death should be dealt with personally. Not only does Friar Lawrence fail to give Romeo the letter which would have saved both their lives, but he selfishly leaves Juliet at the tomb, where she needed someone the most, because he does not want to get caught by the watchmen. Putting himself before Juliet and leaving her for his own benefit. And having her take her own life alongside her husband, with the Friar having mo waited a little longer, he might have been able to have stopped Juliet from using Romeo’s dagger to kill herself, and saved both lives of the teenagers. Many characters had a part in the lead up to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Although, the character with the overall blame for it, was Friar Lawrence. His actions and choices through out the play all ended all ended up with the deaths of the two teenagers, who trusted him the most. These actions were  made due to his naive, foolish and selfish behaviour that was shown through the play. From his dishonesty of not informing the families of the marriage in the first place, and agreeing to marry off Juliet to another man, and having her threaten to kill herself if he doesn’t help her to not marry him. It all led up to his worst decision, of giving Juliet the potion after she threatened to take her own life, and not caring enough to organise a better plan then he had, which all eventually resulted in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Making him the only character to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.

The Prohibition Of Marijuana And The United States

Cannabis began being outlawed all across the U.S. during the 1900’s and has remained illegal ever since, until recent years when states began legalizing it (huffpost.com). Although many people believe that the reason behind the prohibition of cannabis was based on genuine concern for the possible consequences it may have on the well-being of people if it remained accessible to all, the truth is that the drive behind the U.S.’s prohibition of cannabis was founded on racism. During the early 1900’s cannabis was considered an â€Å"ethnic drug† due to the fact that many Mexican immigrants smoked the plant (huffpost.com). With the tension in Western states regarding the migration of Mexicans into the states, laws concerning the use regulation of†¦show more content†¦because of the Mexican Revolution. These immigrants brought along a new culture and customs one of them being the use of Marijuana as a medicine and relaxant. Marijuana which had been know n as â€Å"cannabis† by Americans was not illegal in the U.S. and was in fact commonly used for industrial and medical purposes. Citizens in the Western states were uneasy of the newcomers and with rising tensions in those states it was not a difficult task for the media to take advantage of the citizen’s unease and pit them against the newcomers and their customs. Harry Anslinger, who is considered the father of the war on weed was a prominent figure of prohibition during the time, used the media to demonize marijuana by using racist tactics. He made several racist claims such as, â€Å"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S. and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others†(huffpost.com). In succeeding in painting the Mexican immigrants in a bad light, the media also manage d to arouse people’s fear towards the unknown effects of Marijuana The outlawing of marijuana would provide authorities with an opportunity to control Mexican immigrants.( Although the prohibition of marijuana was founded on racism one has to wonder if things are really the same today. Facts have continuously managed to show that