Avila Hotel

Placement organization

Name of organization: Avila Hotel
Town/city: Willemstad
Country: Nederlandse Antillen
Website: http://www.avilahotel.com

Student

Name of student: Elke de Kramer

Specialist area: ITTI
Placement period: 2012-2013

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Hotel
Organization’s activities: Accommodation
Target group of the organization: Leisure, Business, honeymoon travel
Company culture: Colleagues generally are very open, respect each other. Everyone refers to the management with Mrs. or Mr. and the ‘’formal you’’, other colleagues are called by their first name and the ‘’informal you’’. My position as a student was not other than other employees, I was fully accepted in the company.
Number of employees: 150
Dress code: formal
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Front office, Food&Beverage, Housekeeping, Sales&Marketing, Conference&Banqueting, Maintenance, Security, Accounting, HRM, General manager, Director of Commerce, owners.
I worked in Sales & Marketing.
Brief description of your daily activities: Update media overview, update mailinglist, weekly comment card analysis and make Guest Hapiness Tracker, Update Alibi-loyalty program, weekly rates comparison of competitors, answering e-mail, take phone calls, update tablestands in the Avila café with ads, work on assignments.
Brief description of your company assignment: Create a loyalty program for the hotel.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: The supervision of the organization is good. If I have any questions they are all willing to help me. If anyone has any feedback my company supervisor will get back to me with this feedback.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, social, flexible, representative, take initiative, creative. Driving license is strongly advised due to the nature of the island
Additional company requirements for this placement? Word, Excel, Powerpoint, internet, Adobe, preferably Opera (hotel reservation system)
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages: Dutch should be excellent, Spanish and/or German are preferred

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Myself, via internet
How did you go to work every day? by car

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No
Do you need a work permit? Yes
How did you arrange the necessary documents: I arranged the documents myself, but you can also do this via an agency (which will cost you about €280,- + the costs of the documents necessary)
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents?
Did you need certain vaccinations? No

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? No
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? n/a

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 850,00 including an extra piece of luggage
Accommodation (monthly): € approx. 370,= (studio with own bathroom + kitchen, WIFI and airco, incl. water, excl. electricity)
Local transport (monthly): € approx. 200,= per month ( I shared a car with a roommate)
General costs of living (monthly): € 200,00 (depends really on how you live, groceries are more expensive, but going out for dinner can be very cheap, around EUR 15,= incl. drinks + tips)
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: € EUR 100,= (for documents you need to collect)
What did the company pay for/to you? EUR 350,= per month and warm lunch.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? At first I really had to adjust to the working culture, everything goes slower. I asked several times if somebody had something to do for me since I fulfilled my tasks quicker than they expected. Furthermore there is much more hierarchy in the company than I expected at first, from my point of view it is a little more old-fashioned. No open door policy (even though the door is open), small talk with management colleagues is not very much appreciated. I was once told by my company supervisor (she is Antillean) that I talked to our HR-manager (she is also Dutch) as if she was a friend of mine, but I think this was just because we are both Dutch and our culture is a bit more open.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: 110116@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Don’t be a tourist! If you have the opportunity learn the language, locals appreciate this very much. Even though Dutch is commonly spoken, some locals don’t like to speak Dutch to you (or can’t even speak Dutch).
Within the company; be open, social, excited. Smile!

Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Enough leisure possibilities, the island is small so you can cross the island easily to visit beaches, the city, excursions etc. Highlights are Klein Curaçao, Full Moon party every last Friday of the month, all beaches, Hato caves, Dolphin Academy, etc. Furthermore I would recommend everyone to go diving; it’s beautiful!

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link