Group Reservations Specialist

Sydney, NSW, AUS
Full Time

About Capella Hotels and Resorts.

Capella Hotels and Resorts embody excellence in the craft of hospitality. Our vision is to combine tradition, discovery, individuality, and a twist of the unexpected, to create the perfect stay for each guest. Our destinations are designed by world-renowned architects. Our restaurants offer authentic flavours imaginatively reinvented. From the Auriga spas to each location's dedicated and personal guest services, the Capella spirit is holistic, generous, and bespoke.

Capella Sydney is the culmination of a stunning transformation of the heritage-listed Department of Education sandstone building, into a luxury hotel that will welcome guests and patrons alike into the impressive building for the first time in history. Delivering a guest experience unlike any other paired with lavish amenities, magnificent architecture and refined interiors, Capella Sydney will become the ultimate destination hotel for both local and international guests alike, establishing it as one of the finest hotels in the world.

Position Summary

The Group Reservations Specialist is responsible for selling the hotel and providing information to prospective guests, to capture reservations via various online and offline distribution channels and coordinate details of each reservation, with a focus on group reservations. This role takes ownership of managing group blocks and rooming lists, providing a flawless pre-arrival experience to group clients, and managing business blocks according to contracted conditions. This role collaborates with the Sales & Marketing, Operations and Finance Teams to ensure maximum guest satisfaction and delivering results according to agreed revenue strategies.

The Role

Responsible for the first impression of the hotel and committed to ensuring a professional, flawless and warm pre-arrival experience.
Understand the hotel's group cancellation and deposit terms and conditions and process cancellations and modifications accordingly. Promptly relay information to the relevant team members, to ensure optimal utilization of hotel inventory.
Manages business blocks in Opera Cloud after a handover from the Sales Team, typically once the group turns to definite status. May be required to create and manage a group block for small groups under 10 rooms. Communicates business block changes to Revenue and Sales Teams, to update production reports accordingly.
Ensures that guest profiles and preferences of group guests are managed with the same attention to detail as individual guests; return guests are recognized, defined special codes / traces are actively used to communicate preference and arrival details; payment instructions are clearly communicated to operations teams.
Follows-up with Sales Team to ensure that business blocks are maintained, cut-off and payment is managed according to contract. Provides rooming list reports, confirmation letters and pro-forma invoices as required.
Handle reservations based on prevailing LQA/Forbes and proprietary standards and deliver excellent service performance accordingly.
Identify repeat guests and ensure accurate updates of their profiles under the appropriate CRM system.
Collaborate with Finance and Reservations management to ensure that non-guaranteed reservations are released/washed as required.
Collaborate with the Culturist Team to ensure the highest level of pre-arrival experience.

Talent Profile

Hospitality or Sales/ Marketing qualifications are preferred
Experience in a similar role in the hospitality sector or in customer service capacity
Knowledge of Property Management, Customer Relations Management and Distribution systems
Excellent verbal and written skills
Strong business communication and customer service skills via phone and in writing