Local Jobs - job08

POSTED: Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008

TOURISM: Cross-training abundant at Lakeway Inn

Remember when hotels used to be about providing a room for a good night's sleep?

Today, a midsized, full-service hotel like the Best Western Lakeway Inn plays host to weddings, business meetings, class reunions, small conventions and other groups. It welcomes individual guests and 50-member football teams. It runs a restaurant, bistro and in-house catering. It makes it all work by juggling staff as the seasons change, relying on flexible scheduling.

"The real trick is to have a database of people you can call on," says Steve Brenk, Lakeway's general manager. "And there's lots of cross-training going on."

More housekeeping and front-desk employees are needed in the summer, and more catering and kitchen staff in the fall and winter for special events that use up to 11,000 available square feet of banquet space.

Kate Carson learned about the breadth of the business in school. She's a graduate of Whatcom Community College's new hospitality program, which offers classes in customer service, meeting and event planning, marketing and other aspects of the industry.

She started work in 2007 as a paid intern and now is the sports team coordinator, arranging lodging for the many teams that stay at the hotel.

"The program gave me some wonderful knowledge of terminology," she says, "so I was able to understand the lingo and know what people were talking about."

The Lakeway Inn, in its 30th year, has 85 employees, about 55 full-time, and the job count has remained fairly consistent the last few years, Brenk says. Industry turnover is typically high, about 50 percent a year, and his facility, which employs many college students, follows the trend.

The hotel, like many others, has hit a holding pattern because of the rise in gas prices, Brenk says. "Revenues have flattened out, and occupancy levels are down across the industry."

Housekeeping and laundry personnel make up the largest department, about 20-25, and earn from $8.50 up to $13 an hour. Front-desk and kitchen also start at about $8.50. The service staff in the restaurants and catering receive minimum wage because they receive tips.

For front-line employees, customer service naturally ranks high among hiring priorities. Brenk looks for the proper attitude in the interview process.

"The more times they mention the customer or the client is important," he says. "It's innate, that desire to serve. We can train them in the process, but the other part they've just got to have it."

The hotel sometimes hires graduates from Bellingham Technical College. Executive chef David Peterson has two line cooks who went through the school's culinary program. He's impressed with how much students learn about the art of cooking, but cautions that "no matter how much education you have, you don't learn the hard knocks until you get here."

Hotel reality, it seems, doesn't always mesh with image or preconceived notions.

"A lot of times people are enamored with the hotel business because of TV shows they've seen, the idea that it's glamorous and celebrity-filled," Brenk says. "It's actually a lot of hard work, with a lot of hours in the evenings and weekends. Our schedules are determined by the guests."

Bob Carter is a White Rock, B.C., freelance writer and former editor for The Bellingham Herald.