Nicolas Calvo Lozano

Now is the time to look back and see how time flies. I had a good time in China and I learned more than what I thought. A wonderful country with great people that are willing to help and make you feel at home. So many memories that I will never forget. The architecture, the hospitality, and the Chinese culture has so much to offer and to learn from. If you ever come to China, please go to Haidilao. For me, the best restaurant in the entire world. If you are part of the hospitality industry, you will understand why I love this place so much. the attention to the details is mindblowing and the food is amazing.

In terms of school, my semester had several difficulties due to health issues, but I was able to study hard and get good grades for my classes. It is very interesting to be learning surrounded by Chinese students. Also, if you ever take senior seminar, please take it with Yunfei Li. even though is not an easy class, I believe that among all my hospitality courses, this one was the one where I learned the most. She is incredibly experienced, and her way of teaching is very interesting so you will never be bored in her class.

Now that I am graduating, I am pretty sure that I have some qualifications than others doesn’t and that is key to get your desired job. There are so many things that you learn when doing a study abroad, that you will never be able to learn in a classroom at the Chaplin School of Hospitality. I am thankful for this opportunity and I’m ready to share it with my family and friends. Now it’s time to go back to where it all started. See you tomorrow America!

Its been two months since we started the program and I have learned so much about China and about myself. the first weeks were adaptation and everything was new. then, I had the opportunity to travel and now I’m used to the culture. Now that we are halfway there, I start to wake up feeling like at home. China doesn’t celebrate Halloween as we do. Moreover, we wanted to do something for Halloween and there are a few international restaurants like the Hard Rock Cafe where they have this kind of celebrations to attract not only tourist but locals that want a western experience. From a hospitality point of view, this special celebration makes you feel at home and there are enough international people in Tianjin that are willing to celebrate at a western restaurant. The food was good but the service really slow. Even though they had enough employees, the language barrier made it a little difficult to communicate, the music was very loud, and there are some special requests from customers that made it very difficult for them. The average price for an entree and a drink was about 130 RMB and is usually what you pay at a good restaurant. now,  when you compare a 130 RMB  dinner vs a 20 RMB dinner on campus, you feel that you will be broke in less than a week. We have managed our money wisely now that we know the average costs of leaving and the price of some goods. Compared to the first days when everything looked cheap, now I am more aware of what the price should be like. It is going to be very hard when I go back to Miami and instead of paying 2-4 bucks for a meal on campus, I will have to pay 10-15.  I am looking forward to enjoying the other half of the trip and make the most out of this experience.

After over a month of our arrival to Tianjin, we were very excited to have a “spring break” to travel around the country and experience different things. During Fall in China, there is a “spring break” called Golden Week. This special week is a national holiday created to promote and increase domestic tourism and to celebrate China’s National Day. This year, it was the 70^th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China and there were many events before and during the week.

Since it is a national holiday, we didn’t have class, so we were able to explore a little more of our host country. Moreover, China is one of the biggest countries in the world, and in order to explore as much as we could during the week, me and two friends decided to go to a different city each day. In total, we had 11 days of traveling and 8 cities, we took more than 8 trains, 5 flights, many bike and metro rides to move around, and no time to sleep.

The trip was worth it and we had the opportunity to see different unique things that only China has like the Terracotta Warriors, the Sun and Moon Temple, Pagodas, pandas, the second tallest building in the world (Shanghai Tower), one of the most important rivers for trading (Li River), and the happiest place on earth, Shanghai Disney Resort. In addition, we stayed at a luxury hotel in Shanghai (the Hongta Hotel), and we did a tour of one of the most iconic hotels in the south of China, the Intercontinental Hangzhou. It is a sphere-shaped hotel that represents the sun and attracts the energy from the river and brings it to the city to bring success.  Nowadays, Hangzhou is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world and many people believe it is because of their innovation and “feng shui” (how everything is placed in order to attract and let good energy flow).

In conclusion, this week was kind of a field trip where we learned a lot about the Chinese perspective of life, architecture, and hospitality in different cities.

The first weeks of any trip are fulled with mixed emotions. You are anxious, sad, happy, stressed, and everything, just because you are completely out of your comfort zone. This is a hard decision for everyone, and the first weeks are the trial to see if you will be able to fight or flight. During this time, I learned many things about China’s luxury hotels. I had the opportunity to stay at a Marriott Luxury Collection Hotel, and to visit a Ritz-Carlton property here in Tianjin. The expectation was very high since the design of the hotels were nicer than in America.

The Castle Hotel Dalian is one of the prettiest hotels I’ve ever seen. Located in Dalian, an oceanside city in Northern China was built in a mountain facing the ocean, and it was just like a Disney castle. In the hotel, the rooms where very big and the bathroom was very unique. It had a speaker so you can listen to whatever you were watching on the TV while showering, the toilet had an automated system where you sit and it automatically warms the seat; it flushes automatically; and it has a drying system to make you feel clean and fresh.

Moreover, this hotel is part of the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio which means there are certain standards and procedures that have to be followed to give the same experience to their guests worldwide. Things like the 15-5 rule where the associates have to greet or smile to the guests, wasn’t a thing at this property. To be a castle, the hotel has a lot to improve but the location and amenities can make a balance between the service and experience provided.

I also wanted to explore the Ritz-Carlton. A famous worldwide brand where Ladies and Gentlemen are serving Ladies and Gentlemen. The Ritz is one of the brands that can maintain a high quality of service no matter the location.

At this property, my expectations weren’t the best. We went to have lunch at the restaurant, and because it was after 2 PM, the variety was very limited due to local traditions of having lunch between 12-2 PM. I ordered a regular pork sandwich and a pomegranate sparkling juice. The food took a while to arrive, and the service was very unpleasant. First of all, only one server spoke decent English, so it was very hard to communicate. In addition, they never showed interest in our satisfaction. They never followed up and the worst part was my fork was dirty. I was shocked when I saw that I was experiencing that kind of hospitality at a luxury hotel. Days after, I understood that it is not in their tradition to keep checking on our table to make sure everything was ok. Also, I understood how hard it is for employees and companies overall to deliver the same experience at all properties worldwide. Moreover, this has to be improved because the success of a hotel company is based on the loyalty of a guest and the experience they can share with others.

Dirty, weird food, pollution, and unfriendly people. I thought things like this about China, and to be honest, it was the country I never wanted to go to.

However, as a hospitality student, I thought it was important to know about China since it is one of the most populated countries in the world and where everything is made. You see groups of Chinese people everywhere in the world, and I asked myself if we are so different and they come to this side of the world, why are we so scared to go there? At that moment, I decided to join the Marriott Tianjin Program and experience eastern culture.

I am open to anything and everything in China. Hotels all around the world are extremely different and are a great way to understand a culture. China is so unique that I am pretty sure there are many things we can learn from them. I have heard that those hotels do not even have air conditioning (a/c) due to the weather. Many cities in the world follow these guidelines, especially cities that have colder weather such as Merida, Venezuela.

Even a chain hotel might adjust to the city’s standards and change some features, such as a/c. This is something I am extremely curious to explore and to learn how the hotel can accommodate different guests’ needs in a luxury environment where a/c is, for us, part of the essentials. During this trip, I will be blogging about Chinese hospitality in 4-5 star hotels and see what we can learn from them.