Banquets Operations Trainee - Banquets Department

Hotel Okura Amsterdam is an international five star hotel which sets great store by quality, eye for detail and service with a smile.  Together, all 380 employees make sure that every guest, on average 1000 guests per day, are being given the personal attention that is essential in our business.
Being the city’s largest employer amongst hotels, Hotel Okura Amsterdam is always looking for enthusiastic colleagues to reinforce the team.

 Hotel Okura Amsterdam is looking for a Banquet Guest Relations Officer Trainee for our Banquet Operations department. The Banquet Operations department of Hotel Okura Amsterdam is the largest Banquet Operations department among five star hotels in the Netherlands and is market leader in banquet revenue and quality. The Banquet Operations Department consists of approximately fifteen employees, of which one Banquet Operations Manager, one Assistant Banquet Operations Manager, five banquet Supervisors, Banquet Housemen’s and one Banquet Guest Relations Officer.

As Banquet Guest Relations Officer Trainee you are the liaison between the Conference & Events department, the Banquet Operations department and the meeting planners. You are responsible for exceeding the expectations of the guests by looking at what is most important to them. You ensure smooth and efficient events through closely monitoring each event detail and communicating any changes efficiently and effectively. Among other tasks, you are responsible for  maximizing revenues by selling the hotels restaurants and services, communicating with all operational managers, Banquet Operations and Conference & Event managers, creating a cooperative and harmonious work environment and providing  each guest with 5* quality services. You assist each guest, co-worker and vendor efficiently, courteously and professionally and you make a difference by focusing on the small details.

 tasks and responsibilities:

• Welcoming guests and foreseeing the needs of contact persons and VIP’s pro-actively

• To be the contact person between the conference contact and the hotel during their stay

• Pro-actively welcoming and directing guests to their destinations

• Developing a log with regards to recurring meetings, their planners and needs and points of attention

• Checking all events by means of function sheets

• Set up pre-conference meetings

• Arrange all special requests such as late check-outs, restaurant reservations and transportation

• Assisting in Banquet Operations during unusual and large events

• Work closely with external vendors

• Providing Wifi connections, parking tickets, menu cards and name cards and managing box deliveries

• Managing signage and electronics

• Ensuring that all telephone and internet lines are properly installed

• Ensuring that all maintenance is kept up to date

• Maintaining contact with conference contacts

• Maintaining the excellent communication with all other departments

• Attending meetings

• Evaluating conferences and events

• Operational assistance when required

What do we offer?

·         Contract: Trainee contract of a 6 month period starting from February 2023

·         Salary:            Trainee compensation of €500 euros (gross) per month based on a full time traineeship

·         Holidays: With an internship agreement of minimum of 6 months, you will receive 1 day off per month

·         CAO: The Uniform Conditions for the Hotel and Catering Industry

·         Extensive development opportunities to improve day by day. We offer an online e-learning system with more than 300+ courses. Moreover, we offer specific courses from our Training Manager, such as: Lean White Belt Training and the Extraordinary Guest Experiences training;

·         Room to share initiatives, ideas and improvements, based on the Lean philosophy. Doesn’t matter if you have worked with us for a week, month or year: We want to hear your thoughts;

·         Daily free lunch;

·         Once per year 50% staff discount in one of our restaurants (lucky you!);

·         The whole year round 20% staff discounts in one of our restaurants;

·         Great staff events (annual staff party, Sinterklaas, team outings, bootcamp);

·         Vitality days and monthly health days;

·         Possibility to do cross trainings to learn more about other departments, for example, take a look at the Japanese kitchen;

What we ask:

• You are in possession of a diploma from the Middelbare Hotelshool or a similar education

• Excellent knowledge of both Dutch and English (oral and written)

• You employ excellent communications kills

• You have a commercial work attitude

• You have at least one year experience within a 5* hotel

• Relevant knowledge of Word and Excel and PowerPoint