Citytrip Barcelona

Placement organization

Name of organization: Citytrip Barcelona
Town/city: Barcelona
Country: Spanje
Website: http://citytripbarcelona.com

Name of student: Martine Mekers

Specialist area: MT
Placement period: 2014-2015

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Accommodation
Organization’s activities: The organisation is the intermediate between websites such as Booking.com, Expedia.com and the owners of the apartments. The company is specialized in the rental of apartments in Barcelona. The main point is to give the guest a very comfortable stay, also in the service during their stay.
Target group of the organization: 20 – 100 yrs
Company culture: The company has the two owners. Besides the owners the company also has a cleaning department with four employees. There is also a technician. There is one employee at the administration-department, one nightwaiter and there is the reception desk. At the reception desk there is one full-time front-office manager and one intern.
The company is informal, as well as the dress code, you can wear casual clothes.
Number of employees: 10
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? I am working at the reception desk for the customer service.
Brief description of your daily activities: The main activities are answering e-mails, answering phone calls, check-in / check-out, update social media.
Brief description of your company assignment: My company assingment is a customer satisfaction survey and the position finding of the company.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: I work with the front-office manager at the reception desk. She will give supervision with the help you need at the beginning, during your internship you will work more independent.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, sociable, flexible, stress-proof
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office, writing skills in English
English: Advanced
Spanish: Intermediate
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Myself
How did you go to work every day? By foot

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents:
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents?
Did you need certain vaccinations? No
How long in advance?

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? Yes, I had a language course in Spanish in the evening twice a week. I would recommend it because it helped me a lot!

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 110
Accommodation (monthly): € 450
Local transport (monthly): € 30
General costs of living (monthly): € 250
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Financial compensation of €250 a month.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
The holiday before the internship started, I went to Spain including one day Barcelona, to visit the city.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? Yes, you will have a late lunch

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: 121398@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Book your flight in advance. I would recommend Transavia or Vueling.
Search for a room in advance. For searching a room I would recommend to have a Skype conversation so you can see the room and the building.
I lived in the middle of the citycenter, Barri Gotic. In my opinion it is better not to live in the city center because of the many tourists who will visit the city. I would recommend the areas Gracia and Borne.

I did a Spanish course in the evening, two times a week, which was very helpful.

Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: The city has many nice spots to visit. Just walk through Ciutat Vella and you will see them!

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link