Groups and Events

Today was my first day in my new and final department- Groups and Events. At 7:15 AM I hopped on my train and arrived at London Victoria at 8:30. Plenty of time to catch the underground one stop to The Ritz... or so I thought. After waiting in the jam packed station for 30 minutes without moving, I pushed my way out of the huge crowd and started walking (well more like running) to The Ritz. Through the fog, past Buckingham Palace and across Green Park I sped until I finally arrived at work. Once in my uniform I arrived at the Groups and Events office where I met the wonderful five women I will be working with this week. The Groups and Events Team is in charge of any parties in any department greater than nine people, weddings, business meetings, tours of the hotel, large room bookings, and The William Kent House. The William Kent House (aka WKH) is the 18th century building added to The Ritz's property five years ago. It contains the most deluxe suites the hotel offers as well as all the large banqueting rooms. WKH is where most events take place in The Ritz, such as weddings.
Once I arrived I immediately started working with Anna on organizing and confirming events. I spent time on the computer organizing the details for guest bookings, designing custom menus as requested by clients, and typing up the new 2010 Wine List. I then organized Bridal Packages for the many brides that hope to plan their special day at The Ritz. After spending time in the office I went upstairs with Tracy where we met with multiple brides-to-be and gave them a tour of the hotel rooms they will be using. After lunch and more planning, the entire team and I went upstairs into the Wimbourne meeting room in WKH where we discussed recent accomplishments, to-do lists, and goals for this month and year. Before leaving I had the task of looking through brochures and websites for our competitor, five star hotels in the London area. In order to keep at the top of the list for luxury hotels, The Ritz is constantly seeing how they can improve, so studying similar hotels is a great way to stay on top of the competition. The Groups and Events team is always (secretly) checking in on other hotels to compare rates, service and many other components of their department. They're taking prank calls to a whole new level. I can't wait to get started on my hotel investigations tomorrow!