Hospitality was definitely my first choice of career. I started working as a waiter in a restaurant when I was at high school and did that for two years before I began a four-year hospitality management course at catering college.

During my studies I needed to do two internships; the first was at front office and the second as a reservations representative in Novotel Rotterdam Brainpark. After my internship I started to work here full time in the same position and I have been here nearly 2½ years.

Mostly, I love the multiple departments in a hotel that together create hospitality – front office, restaurant, kitchen, housekeeping, back office, reservations – there are many choices. And I like dealing with guests; I meet lots of people from the Netherlands and from all over the world.

Being a Heartist® means creating beautiful experiences for guests by doing something extra that makes them feel important, as well as meeting their needs. And when you know why they are here – because they are getting married in two days’ time, for example – then you can do something special for them.

Accor gives you the chance to develop and I would like to do that and to work in new departments, and for my next move I am interested in back office and human resources. I don’t want to travel yet but that is an option with Accor because the group is worldwide.

The highlight of my career is organising hotel stays for big sports events, mostly football teams; we have many of these groups in the hotel. I haven’t met any of my heroes yet though!

I definitely recommend working in a hotel to newcomers to hospitality because there are many departments; you can choose from the kitchen, restaurant, front and back office, registration – there is a variety of options. And there is always something new to do, each day is different.