Woodland Beach Resort, Donsol - July 2 & 3

This is the first hotel on my schedule. They have 16 duplex style cottages, 8 with fans, 8 with air conditioning.











The front office

Cottages

Pictures of the beach in front of the resort
















As of today, I'm the only guest here so it's really quiet. Part of the work plan included my providing customer service training, however there aren't any employees here to train as it's off-season right now.

Marichu, who I'll be working with, runs the day-to-day operations, so my plan is to meet with her this morning to discuss what I'll be working on for the two days I'm here. The owner lives in Manila, and the resort doesn't have a full time manager. This is one of the problems facing them. Marichu works very hard, but has alot on her plate and little authority to make decisions.






Marichu and I after our meeting on Day 1.

Later...

After talking for a couple of hours, we decide I'll do the following:

• review and update their registration form


• review and update the guest house rules to be posted in each room

She finds her job quite stressful and doesn't feel like she has time to do everything, so we also discussed how she can become more organized.

Even though I wasn't doing any training, we still discussed some customer service issues. We discussed the types of complaints they receive. I suggested she keep track of all complaints and review them on a regular basis. This way, they can prioritize and try and improve their service.

Finally, we discussed goal-setting and how she can use this to improve customer service. I made her a template she can use - a simple version showing how to set an objective, and then how to plan and implement the changes.







Doing some work on Day 2.

One other great opportunity I had my last evening at Woodland was to go firefly watching in the river of Donsol. Ato, our guide for the whaleshark, was my guide again. Firefly watching is another important nature-based attraction in Donsol and the Philiippines is one of only 3 countries in Asia that offers this type of tour. It was one of my favourite experiences. Quietly rowing on the river, we were the only boat there except for local fisherman on rafts trying to catch shrimp. All you could hear was the bugs singing away and the paddle in the water.

Here is a picture of thousands of fireflies surrounding a tree. This sight is repeated multiple times as we go down the river.

On Tuesday evening, we take the 1-1/2 hour drive back to Sorsogon City. From there, it's a further 20 minute drive to the municipality of Gubat, where Rizal Beach Resort is located.