Amora Hotel
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Already her high standards have drawn praise from supervisors and guests alike.
But that is not surprising. In her previous position as executive housekeeper at the Copthorne on Oriental Bay Parade, which she held for three years, a company report said her hotel was the cleanest in the Copthorne's chain of hotels.
Mrs Singh was born and went to school in the Fiji Islands. She came to New Zealand in 1990 and worked for the Bank of New Zealand as a teller before moving into the hospitality industry at James Cook Hotel, starting off as a room attendant and later becoming a supervisor. Her new position shows just how far she has come.
Amora Hotel Wellington (formerly Duxton Hotel), is located in the Wellington city centre, close to Cuba Street and Lambton Quay. All 192 rooms have the latest designs and most rooms command unobstructed views of Wellington's harbour or city.
Sashi SinghAlthough Mrs Singh holds the same position she did at the Copthorne, her new job has brought new challenges. For a start, there was the considerable difference in size, as the Amora is one of the larger hotels in the capital.
"There are 118 rooms at Copthorne and 192 at Amora. I thought it would be a good challenge for me to see how I can handle more rooms and look after more staff," she says.
She is now responsible for more than 30 full-time and part-time staff. The guest rooms at Amora had just been renovated and Mrs Singh found some changes were needed in the housekeeping department to meet the high standard of the rooms.
"I found it was necessary to improve the quality and standard of the service of the public areas and the guest rooms. And also, it's my job to look after the staff.
Because the rooms have all been refurbished, we have to maintain that high standard. Dusting is one area where I've been able to bring improvement, partly by using the best products for the task."
She has brought a methodical approach to cleaning the rooms – the tasks her staff should carry out first, second, third and so on – with a written check list to make sure nothing is forgotten. "There was a check list when I began at Amora, however it wasn't followed well, so now we carry out thorough inspections of the rooms every day. The evening supervisor does her own checks and so does the PA. We continuously ensure everything is up to our high standard. It was a method I had successfully used at the Copthorne.
"I am very fortunate to be able to look after the Amora because once a hotel is refurbished, it is very easy to maintain to the right standard. Old hotels take much longer to maintain. No matter how much you do cleaning, they will still look much the same. At Amora, we always aim for 90-plus to 100 per cent in quality."
So how has her staff reacted to keeping those high standards? Mrs Singh says at first they found her a bit strict but quickly adjusted. "In general they're very good. Standard-wise, they are willing to do whatever I tell them – and at the right time. They respect what I'm trying to do. I don't have any problems here at present. I think we're doing very well in the housekeeping department."
Sashi Singh has no regrets about joining Amora Hotel. "I'm quite happy that I've made the right move. It's been a big challenge but we're getting there. Hotel managers say we're doing fine at the moment."
And so do the guests, many of them international travellers including embassy staff, who keep the Amora hotel's occupancy rate very high. Their comments give Mrs Singh a great deal of satisfaction.
"We receive a lot of feedback about the cleanness of the rooms on the guests' comment cards," she says. "They say things like: 'I really like your rooms – they're just beautiful.'
"It makes me feel great when our guests are happy. If you travel and you stay somewhere where it just feels like home – where the staff really look after you – it does make you feel great, doesn't it?"
The Amora Group owns and operates a range of high-quality hotel properties in Australia, New Zealand and Thailand, with a focus on business-class accommodation and superior service.
