I started in gastronomy and restaurants when I was very young and have always enjoyed being with people, both in customer service and I’m also an enthusiastic traveller. I love working with tourists and I thought hospitality would be a great place to do that.  

I studied sinology in my home country because I was fond of learning languages – English, Russian, Chinese, and in Austria I learned German. I wanted to do something with my language abilities and to be in hospitality and tourism, so I studied language and customer service experience.  

Before Accor, I worked in a hotel for another big chain, and then I answered an advertisement for a position in a Mercure hotel in the centre of Vienna, where there were more tourists. I started at front office as a Receptionist and shortly after moved into reservations, where I don’t see many customers, but I help colleagues in the front office when they have meetings or a training programme; it is a joy to have a change and to work with face to face with people.  

There are many things I love about Accor and hospitality. I like the diverse backgrounds of my colleagues, which gives us a better understanding of each other from the point of view of age and nationality. Most people have worked here for many years – a decade, decades, even, which is a sign that Accor is a good company and it gave me some comfort and security from the beginning. We function like a family.  

Since I joined, almost 3 years ago, I have participated in the training programme and am a Heartist®. My most recent course was revenue management and I represented the hotel in a sales event in Prague – that is part of the motivation. Also, we benefit from advantageous rates when we travel around the world.  

I recommend hospitality because it is heartwarming; we work a lot with people, and we don’t communicate in a formal way. We are also dealing with guests’ stay, their travels, so we take care of their comfort and safety and we help them make memories – every night they stay away from home is a memory; it is nice to know that you are responsible for that and it motivates you to do better.  

A Heartist® is someone who enjoys hospitality from the heart and does the work with love. If you are working for Accor, you are truly a Heartist®. Like all our employees, I do believe that everyone I have seen and met from other hotels are all true Heartists®, they are sympathetic and I have easily connected with them.  

The time I represented the hotel I felt very proud and explained and promoted our house in the heart of Vienna; it is a freshly renovated, modern quiet hotel. And 1 ½  years ago I participated in a team group workshop and that was definitely most memorable because I got to know my colleagues better and we found a good understanding of each other; I am proud to be part of that team.  

You need tolerance to work with people who are travelling for a variety of reasons; people who have planned holidays and those on business trips have different requirements and you have to be flexible with guests’ scenarios. It takes some patience but if you do it with heart, it shouldn’t be difficult.  

Working in reservations needs a lot of concentration because even with a printed list of reservations, behind every name there is a trip someone has booked and planned, so be careful and meticulous with every one; you are the bridge between the hotel and guest until their arrival and if you make a mistake you make life difficult for your colleagues.