Navigating Challenges: Tales of a Reception Intern in a Spanish Hospitality Setting
As a reception intern in a Spanish hotel setting, you’ll encounter various challenges that will contribute to your personal and professional growth. It is a job with a lot of responsibility. Doing such an internship in Spain is a great idea, since Spain has a very well developed hospitality industry.
Personal growth during the internship
The reception desk can be a busy and fast-paced environment, with multiple tasks and responsibilities vying for your attention. Juggling check-ins, check-outs, answering phone calls, responding to emails, and assisting guests requires excellent multitasking and time management skills. Your internship will help you develop these essential skills and maintain composure even during the busiest of times. Spain is a diverse country, attracting visitors from various cultural backgrounds. Understanding and respecting different customs, traditions, and cultural norms will be crucial in providing exceptional service. Your internship will expose you to people from different countries and help you develop cultural sensitivity and adaptability, fostering a welcoming environment for all guests. Reception interns often work closely with colleagues from different departments, such as housekeeping, concierge, and management. Effective collaboration and communication with your team members will ensure smooth operations and enhance the overall guest experience. Learning to work together, support each other, and delegate tasks efficiently will be vital skills that you’ll acquire during your internship. Reception interns are often entrusted with making decisions, such as room upgrades, resolving booking issues, or handling unforeseen circumstances. You’ll learn how to think critically, assess situations quickly, and make informed decisions. These experiences will strengthen your problem-solving abilities and decision-making skills, which are valuable assets in the hospitality industry. Working in a reception role requires professionalism, adaptability, and a positive attitude. You’ll be the face of the hotel, representing its values and providing the first impression to guests. Your internship will instill in you the importance of maintaining a professional appearance, demonstrating flexibility, and adapting to changing circumstances with grace and a smile.
Professional learning points
Spain attracts visitors from all over the world, and language barriers can sometimes pose a challenge at the reception desk. You may encounter guests who don’t speak English or Spanish fluently. However, this challenge provides an opportunity to enhance your communication skills, patience, and ability to find creative solutions to ensure effective guest interactions. Guests often arrive with high expectations for their stay. Handling guest complaints, requests, and inquiries requires strong problem-solving and customer service skills. Your internship will teach you how to manage guest expectations, provide prompt and courteous responses, and handle challenging situations with professionalism and empathy. The reception desk can be a busy and fast-paced environment, with multiple tasks and responsibilities vying for your attention. Juggling check-ins, check-outs, answering phone calls, responding to emails, and assisting guests requires excellent multitasking and time management skills. Your internship will help you develop these essential skills and maintain composure even during the busiest of times. In any hospitality setting, you may encounter difficult or irate guests. They might express frustration, dissatisfaction, or unrealistic demands. Learning how to remain calm, listen attentively, and find suitable solutions will be invaluable skills that you’ll develop during your internship. These experiences will teach you how to handle challenging situations while maintaining a positive and professional demeanor.
Internship with Animafest
We offer internships in Spain in different departments. All of our positions are full time. The minimum language requirements are B2 in English and B1 in Spanish. Accommodation, meals and monthly compensation are provided. Students might be eligible for the Erasmus plus grant, however this needs to be clarified with the university in which they are enrolled. You can find more information and our contacts on the following page. If you have any questions please get in touch with us.
