I went into hospitality because I was studying English at university and at the time I was working in a hotel. When I got my diploma, I became a teacher for a while but I realised I enjoyed going into the hotel a lot more then teaching! This was a bit of a problem, so I decided to drop teaching and stay in hotels. I started cleaning as a summer job to earn extra money and that led to working in reception, which is where I am today.

I like talking with people, being open to them, sharing experiences, hospitality is perfect for my personality. In reception, it’s nice to talk with guests and make them feel at home; I can be myself at work as well as at home. I also like things to be organised and reception is perfect for this, it makes the job much easier and I enjoy that.

I have two proudest moments, a personal and professional one. Last year, the hotel entered a competition to choose the best ibis hotels breakfast in France; we worked hard on that. In the first year we ended up in the top five, so our breakfast wasn’t good enough. Last year, we entered again and we won, which was wonderful! I was happy to share it with clients as well, to explain that the breakfast they were eating had won. Accor ran the competition within several brands.

Personally, years ago one of our guests came to the hotel and he was having a bad day, not enjoying it at all. He got to reception and it was quiet in the hotel so I spent some time talking to him. He came back to me the day after to say that he had had a really rough day but he was happy to have talked to me in reception because that lightened his mood. It’s nice to receive compliments like this and to see the impact you can have on people’s lives.

To be a Heartist® is to be able to go a bit further than just being a receptionist; to be able to show more of your personality and to be empathetic, to stand in people’s shoes and to make things easier.

It is most important to be true to yourself, and sooner or later, it will thank you for it. In the industry, you can  see a lot of receptionists behaving the same way to everyone rather than responding to individuals; they apply a standard, general behaviour to fit in which for me can be a little bit cold. I prefer to stay true to myself and behave more humanly and this got very appreciated by guests and colleagues. Being yourself will reflect on you in a positive way.

I have worked on reception for seven or eight years. Next, I would like to be front of house manager or team manager on reception, to take care of the team but to stay close to reception because I like the contact with people. I don’t see myself shut away in an office!