Having just arrived in Prague a bit more than a month ago, I am still looking at turning a daily routine. Taking over a hotel such as the Kempinski Hybernska, which is heavily depending on the so called ‘soft ware’, the people running the daily operation, means getting to know who is who first. With a room count of 75 keys in our hotel, and the number of employees being at around 65 in total, it shows that each room has almost one member of staff looking after it. At first, after arrival, I therefore decided to stay in the hotel and get acquainted with the team and their routines, in order to understand their needs and also areas where improvements could be made. So my typical 24h is based on a Monday during the time when I still stayed at the hotel, which is pretty much similar to any other Monday, even when not living in the hotel any longer.

07.00am

The alarm rings, the most horrible part of day, as I am a typical night person and rather go early to bed than early out of bed. But such is live, work will start in an hour, so no time to moan, get on with it.

08.00am

Taking my early walk through the corridors of the hotel, checking if the maids are already assigned to the guest floors, greeting them with a friendly ‘Dobry den’ and receiving a friendly smile back.

08.30am

A quick breakfast in the breakfast room, coffee, juice and a small sandwich, which will do until lunch time for me, followed by a chat with the supervisor to see how breakfast is going. Back to the office, with a tour through the kitchen, making sure that all is going well and set for the day.

09.00am

One of the more crucial hours, as all the head of departments (9 in total) get together for the daily briefing. We discuss the previous day financial results, any operational issues, compliments as well as complaints or problems that occurred, followed by an outlook of the day, who is due to arrive and what functions or visitors we might have at the hotel. As it is a Monday, we review a full weekend, and we outlook for the full week, so it is always a bit longer.

10.00am

Time to catch up with all the e-mails, getting up to standards with hotel issues and corporate affairs that are pending. Kempinski is a growing hotel group, currently having 61 hotels worldwide, with 11 new ones due to open in 2010 and by the end of 2013 expected to be 110 hotels. So there is a lot of news, procedures and ‘action plans’ to be done. In-between of e-mails I will make a round through the house again, see what the kitchen is up to preparing for lunch and especially how the garden looks. It’s such a gem-stone in the heart of Prague Old Town, but needs a lot of attention.

12.30pm

Quick lunch with the staff in the canteen or alternatively having a longer lunch with a client in our winter-garden or the garden itself, depending on the weather. If time permits and the sun is out, for sure have a coffee in one of the loungers of the garden and forgetting the world for 15 minutes.

01.30pm

Starting following up on the morning discussions with the team, making sure that the targets and promises made earlier as agreed are kept. More walk through the hotel, checking on the afternoon shift, welcoming the new arriving guests to the hotel and making sure that regular guests which are in the restaurants or the garden are greeted. Most of the afternoon is a sequence of this, interrupted from time to time by checking up on e-mails and following up on calls.

07.00pm

Starting a final round of the hotel, checking the booking status in the restaurant, having a short pep talk with the chefs in the kitchen and making sure that all are in good spirit. Naturally, if there is a dinner arrangement with a hotel guest or local client, will enjoy some of the specialties of our Executive Chef, Marek Fichtner, in our Le Grill restaurant. It is always a great experience; just have to watch the waist line, if I go there too often, as all the food is so tempting.

08.00pm

Twelve hours over at work, just another normal day has gone by and I am looking forward to a quiet evening at my private rooms. Catching up in the evening with private e-mails, keeping in contact with world-wide friends thanks to Skype and Facebook. It’s always a nice way to end of the evening with a little chat with old friends, be they in China, Hungary, Estonia or the United States. My work has made me travel to almost all areas of the northern hemisphere, so that I have a friend or associate almost in all corners to talk to. If I did not have dinner in the Le Grill, I order a sandwich from room service, quick and convenient.

Way past Midnight

Falling asleep in front of a running TV and waking up the next morning promising to go to bed next time rather than using the sofa again. But hey, it’s comfy, so why not.