ANGSANA HOTEL

 

Table of Contents

The History of Angsana

Page 3

My Position´s Relevance

Page 4

Room Attendant Duties

Page 5-6

Relation to My Education

Page 7-8

What I Learned About Myself

Page 9

Career Path

Page 10

 

The History of Angsana

The small village of Palm Cove itself has a very unique history to it. According to the guest services booklet, an adventurous man by the name of Tom McDonald purchased a bit of land in Palm Cove during the 1930´s so that he may be near the business interests of the city of Cairns, but also so he could create a tropical oasis away from those demands. He was very keen of gardening and began planting numerous palms along the beach. Heaps of plants that flowered were also planted such as azaleas and hibiscus. This is the reason for all of the beautiful nature you will see surrounding the resort today. The road that the resort sits along was once farm fields of sugarcane. Elderly locals of the community can still remember those times.

The very creek that lies alongside the resort is famous to all as it was described in the ‘Journals of Captain James Cook’ that are based on his voyage in 1770. Mr. James Cook was a British explorer who was also the first European to discover the eastern coastline of Australia. It is believed that he and his crew had come ashore in search of fresh fruit and had discovered the beautiful creek of which provided “sweet fresh water”. Today it is known as “Sweet Creek”.

Before the resort was signed over to the Banyan Tree company (headquartered in Singapore), it was once a hotel called A Jewel of the Reef. It had become Angsana Resort & Spa Great Barrier Reef in the year 2000. The Angsana is a tall, tropical rainforest tree that is noted for its crown of golden yellow, fragranced flowers. These flowers burst into bloom unexpectedly for only one day, then close, and bloom again without notice at any time. This particular flower teaches us to live life spontaneously, and to savor time as it passes inexorably – a motto the company cherishes most.

The Banyan Tree company are well-known throughout the world for their luxury hotels and spas. Today there are over 50 hotels and over 100 spas, along with 3 golf courses. The company began just over 15 years ago in Phuket by chairman, Ho Kwon Ping, and his beautiful wife. These five-star properties are different from others as they emphasis on ancient Asian cultures and traditions, and preserve the history of indigenous life. Each resort has their own unique appearance, made especially for each location, but it is always a priority to maintain and preserve the Asian roots.

The company has won over 600 awards and accolades to this day. On average they maintain about 40 awards per year. The Banyan Tree cares very much for the environment and in preserving it. In 2007 they began their Greening Communities, which is an organization dedicated to the properties planting trees to help sustainability. The goal is to plant at least 2,000 trees in a year per property! Angsana Great Barrier Reef was one of the first resorts to begin planting these trees. In 2009, a short two years later, over 51,053 trees had been planted world-wide. Angsana Great Barrier Reef was also one of the first of the Banyan Tree resorts to work on energy-efficiency. The light bulbs in the resort are energy-efficient and the air-conditioning is kept at 25 degrees within the suites unless requested otherwise. Recycling is also highly persisted and enforced. 

My Position´s Relevance

I believe that housekeeping is one of the most vital roles to play in a five-star resort. Suites need to be cleaned at a five-star level to meet and exceed any expectations that the guests may have. These people pay from $400-$1,000 a night to stay in our resort. It is important to us and to them that they are getting exactly what they paid for – a clean and spotless room with outstanding daily service!

As I have learned in many of my courses at university, all of the departments of the resort and all of the other businesses in the community are linked together. It is important that the housekeeping staff communicate properly with the maintenance staff and the reception staff on a daily basis. As housekeepers it is our responsibility to report to maintenance if anything is malfunctioning or appears to be broken. The reception staff needs to inform us when guests check out of the resort and when guests have arrived so we can be sure to clean the suites within the specific time that is required. This is to prevent any newly arriving guests from having to wait for their room.

By cleaning the guests’ suites, it allows for them to enjoy their holiday even more. Their daily routine consists of working and coming home to clean. On holiday, no one wants to clean up after themselves! We provide these services to them to help them get the most out of their vacation. We give our time so that they do not have to waste theirs! I see this as being beneficial for the community, also. While the housekeeping staff maintains the guest rooms, the guests are more likely to be spending their money on various local tours, on restaurant dining and drinks, as well as at the shops. The local restaurants and shops need the hotels along with the beautiful beach to bring in their customers and keep their business thriving.

*photo of the Far Horizons (Angsana`s) restaurant,

provided by the Saucy Onion webpage

Room Attendant Duties

In the morning when we first arrive to work it is our responsibility to sign out a master key before we get started. We start the day by packing up the supplies we will need for a day´s worth of cleaning. We pack bags of toilet rolls and tissue boxes, cleaning chemicals and rags, as well as extra amenities incase we need to restock them in any of the suites. We put the vacuum cleaner together and grab a mop before we make our way upstairs.

My job duties vary between performing tasks for arrivals and for services. Arrivals are when the housekeeping staff