I would consider the "All day dining " and "Banquet " as the "Wild horses " of the F&B department in any hotel.
Before sharing some of what happens in these two venues , i would be fair to say that the staff working in these two venues should get better pay or incentive plan as they tend to be the lowest paid Vs other Speciality restaurant's staff. They also get the lowest tips and work the hardest.
An all day dining restaurant's opens as early as 6.30 am which means opening staff should report on duty around 5 am and start the set up duties.
Closing time would be around 22-23h which means closing staff won't leave before Midnight or later as they have to reset all tables and prepare for breakfast set up !
The way this venue operates is amazing and more like an army , at the time of closing down breakfast which is around 11 am and time of preparing for "Lunch" which is 12 or 12.30 , stewarding , Kitchen and service teams work like machines to clear all breakfast and set up for lunch , starting by the buffet ( set food , ice chests and cooling pads and all service Utensils) , displays and tables etc...
That is the toughest period for operation as in a span of an hour the whol restaurant will have tp be ready , not to forget that some late breakfast diners might be still sitting in the restaurant and asking for service and lunch set up can't be delayed for Lunch diners !
If you have a hotel / resort that has high expectations from the restaurant manager of an All day dining and expects perfections , a manager might work at least 12 hours a day if not 15 and more! When i managed one of the busiest all day restaurants in Dubai and the GM was expecting me to be present on the floor at all times i used to start as early as 6 am and leave as late as 23h!
Coming to the "Banquet " which is another example of how Army would work ! "Discipline" and "Hardwork " are the minimum expectations from this team.
In a busy banquet operations business that has back to back daily events , you can't imagine the level of stress and challenge that this department might face !
If you have an event and they are supposed to leave by 3pm and you have to prepare for an evening cocktail reception after that but the customers stay until 5 pm ! Imagine the pressure of turning around the venue by fully removing all tables and setting up the place following the new event's requirements which involves a long list of details ...
In other cases , if a hotel has an outdoor space and hosts outdoor events / weddings , when it comes to weekend , you might have to set up for next day and cover the tables after the end of a wedding or a party that ends at 2 am !
I remember the many times when the sun has rises on the following day and we were still setting up the tables for next day's event in one of the busiest banquet and conference and events operations in Abudhabi resort .
Some hotels tend to hire outsourced agencies in order to assist during busy periods but this is not the case for many high end hotels that prefer to pay extra rates for their internal staff in order to maintain the quality of service but still the biggest pressure lies on the permanent venue's staff.
The minimum requirement for any staff working in these venues they definitely need strong physical endurance and ability to work under pressure and carry some weight , but i say that most of these venue's staff are not faily paid against their efforts and dedication and many of the reader's might not be aware of the challenges that the staff of these venues face as they only see what they see .
Comments