- 22-yr-previous Carmen Barbera is a receptionist at Burj Al Arab, “the best resort in the earth.”
- She begun out in the luxury hospitality marketplace two many years back as a butler in the Maldives.
- Here is what it is like to do the job in the legendary Dubai vacation resort, wherever suites price tag up to $25,000 a night time.
The difference in between a five-star resort and Burj Al Arab, which has been described as the world’s “only seven-star hotel,” is not the gold-plated ceilings or complimentary Hermès perfume. After you’re at the best, accurate luxurious is outlined by provider.
Which is what Carmen Barbera, a 22-calendar year-old receptionist from France, tells me. Recently crowned the UAE’s 2021 Receptionist of the Calendar year, the younger professional speaks fluent French, Spanish, and English. On the mobile phone, even her voice sounds magnificent.
It is a repertoire that comes in handy when she checks in jet-environment company to their Burj Al Arab suites, which selection from $1,200 to $25,000 a evening. To enter the hotel property, site visitors cross a guarded bridge, and attendees frequently get there by means of a chauffeured Rolls-Royce escort or personal helicopter.
Whilst one could envision that catering to Dubai’s affluent travelers would come to be tiresome, Barbera claimed speaking to Burj Al Arab’s friends is her preferred element of the occupation.
“From the very first working day I stepped in, I understood that I was so passionate about it … I adore to meet men and women from all over the world,” she told Insider.
“What is wonderful about this resort is the fascination that it makes in people’s eyes,” she afterwards additional.
David Cannon/Getty Photographs
Barbera began doing the job for Jumeirah Inns & Resorts, which owns Burj Al Arab, two decades back as a butler in the Maldives. Ahead of that, she labored portion-time at the 4 Seasons in Paris although studying entrepreneurship at Emlyon Small business School.
But it was in the middle of the Indian Ocean the place she attained her stripes. For six months, Barbera accomplished butler schooling at Jumeirah Vittaveli, renowned for its non-public overwater villas with water slides connecting them to the sea.
When the resort forever shut throughout COVID-19, she transferred to Ozen Life on Maadhoo island. The all-inclusive luxury vacation resort with 24/7 provider has a different, scaled-down island for employees, according to satellite imagery.
Google Maps
For the duration of schooling, Barbera stated she rotated through the beverage, housekeeping, and entrance business departments, introducing that butlers are envisioned to memorize the overall resort layout.
Beyond logistics and functions, Barbera mentioned the key to achievements in the hospitality field is psychological intelligence, as each and every day — and each and every visitor — is various.
“You won’t be able to actually predict something and you have to constantly respond quite rapidly to any predicament,” she told Insider. “Because when you are a butler, you are the person in the eyes of the visitor who is ready to clear up almost everything and make everything take place.”
A number of regulations of thumb when it comes to guest interactions, according to Barbera: regard privateness and confidentiality, read the space, and go to the guest (under no circumstances have them really feel the want to appear to you).
“Some visitors would like to have a powerful existence through their working day from their butlers and some friends would like to have additional discretion,” she claimed. “So you have to seriously use your psychological capabilities to recognize the anticipations.”
In her latest purpose as a receptionist, a regular function working day starts at 7 a.m. and finishes at 4 or 5 p.m. In purchase for reception to remain open up 24/7, team rotate concerning day and night time shifts. Burj Al Arab’s lodge team outnumbers guests with a 6:1 ratio, as Insider has earlier described.
Planning foremost up to guest arrival commences a working day or two just before they get there. There are dinner reservations to be booked, suite preferences to organize, and transportation from the airport to prepare.
Though Barbera was hesitant to disclose her income, she explained Jumeirah has an energetic fascination in guaranteeing personnel can afford to pay for to stay in Dubai, as it impacts team mind-set at do the job.
Glassdoor estimates that butlers at Jumeirah’s Dubai location make in between $544.51 and $816.77 a thirty day period, with additional shell out of $3,267.08 a 12 months. There is no present details accessible estimating the hotel’s receptionist salaries. A spokesperson from Burj Al Arab did not answer to several requests for comment on the accuracy of this estimate.
“Listed here at Burj Al Arab we intention to give what we simply call ‘service outside of anticipations,'” Barbera mentioned. “This is exactly where hospitality experts can make a distinction … you can alter a journey from a pleasing or snug journey to an exceptional a person.”
Do you get the job done in a luxury resort or exclusive hotel? Call this reporter at [email protected] to share your story.