Apprentice of the Year | Sharing the Successful Hospitality Career of Our Head Receptionist
Are you interested in discovering the rewards that come from a successful hospitality career?
At Balmer Lawn Hotel, we’re delighted to share one of our staff members' shortlisting as a finalist in the Apprentice of the Year Awards!
Keep reading to find out more about our head receptionist and why she’s up for the award:
Hospitality Career | Meet Maria, Our Hotel Receptionist
Our head receptionist, Maria Hajduk is in the final three shortlists of The Country Inns Apprenticeships Awards, thanks to her incredible hospitality career. Her nomination is due to her consistent hard work and personal growth throughout her time at Balmer Lawn Hotel.
Since joining our team in 2011, Maria has helped improve our hotel exponentially. She's transformed our onboarding process, established a high-quality service and overseen the incredible growth of our room sales.
Maria’s role includes carrying out tasks such as budgeting, competitor analysis and managing room occupancy. She also helps new employees feel welcome and comfortable in their roles.
She’s shown incredible passion for her hospitality career, improving her personal development and growing in confidence year after year.
So far, Maria has devoted more than 10 years to improving and maintaining high-quality customer service at Balmer Lawn Hotel. With her help and hard work, we've transformed our 4-star hotel into an award-winning establishment.
Hospitality Career | The Apprenticeship Awards
Maria's nomination is in The Country Inns Apprenticeship Awards, part of the Brilliance in Business Awards 2022.
An annual event, the awards seek to recognise staff and businesses in the New Forest for their outstanding achievements. They focus on apprentices, apprenticeship champions and apprenticeship employers.
Alongside two other New Forest apprentices, Maria is due to attend the awards evening on Thursday, December 1st at Brockenhurst College, where they'll be announcing the winner.
As well as this, Balmer Lawn Hotel will be sponsoring the Outstanding Contribution to the Visitor Economy award. This award is for businesses that offer high-quality experiences and enhance our local environment.
Hospitality Career | The Response From Our General Manager
Our general manager, Michael Clitheroe, spoke about Maria’s shortlisting in the awards. He said: “Maria has established herself as an integral member of the Balmer Lawn family and is a wonderful human being.
She’s kind, caring, devoted and remarkable with guests. She’s admired by the wider hotel, is an inspiration to others – and would be a more-than-worthy winner.”
The Reflection From Maria
Commenting on her hospitality career and personal growth, Maria said: “It's been an amazing decade. I’ve worked with many staff and have enjoyed building and establishing relationships within the wider community.
I can’t thank Balmer Lawn enough for everything they’ve done to help in my development. I initially struggled with confidence and doubted whether I had what it takes to progress. However, that's now changed, and I couldn’t be happier or prouder to see how far I’ve come.”
The Future for Maria
Although Maria has had a blossoming hospitality career so far, there are still many opportunities awaiting her.
As deputy head of the department, Maria is working with our revenue manager, Pauline, to develop the effectiveness of the customer journey–both inside and outside the hotel.
As well as this, she’s also started training for her Hospitality Front Office Level 4, which she’s set to complete in 2023.
At Balmer Lawn Hotel, we’d like to express a huge congratulations to Maria for her shortlisting in the awards. We’re looking forward to celebrating with her at the awards ceremony!
If you’re interested in discovering a career in hospitality with us, please contact a member of our team.
Alternatively, take a look at our previous blog to meet Kirstie, our head spa therapist.
