Hungarian hospitality is rightfully revered around the world, and for the nation’s hotel workers who personally greet and assist global visitors every day, maintaining this reputation is a cherished mission. To foster this noble goal, Hungary’s branch of the international Clefs d’Or association launched this competition in 2010 in honor of András Gunst, the organization’s founding president. Over 50 young hospitality-industry employees entered the contest this year, culminating in the finals held on Tuesday at the Castle District’s only five-star hotel.
Guest-services work can be stressful, yet the finalists rarely experience such pressure as they faced during this last phase of the competition – one by one, the selected hospitality employees took the hot seat in front of a judging panel consisting of veteran Magyar hotel supervisors, including current Clefs d’Or Hungary president and Corinthia Hotel Budapest chief concierge Tamás Ungár, Budapest Hilton general manager Zoltán Árvai, Hungarian Hotel Association president Ákos Niklai, and Kempinski Hotel Corvinus Budapest chief concierge Tamás Takács.
Each contestant was first asked to offer a multi-day Hungarian travel itinerary for different types of visitors, ranging from single businesspeople to newlyweds to families with small children. Next followed the most exciting element of the competition – mock encounters with hotel guests conducted entirely in English or German, with contestants having no advance notice of what type of situation they would be called upon to handle.
Playing the parts of often-irate hotel guests, Mr. Ungár and Mr. Takács clearly enjoyed pretending to be on the other side of the concierge desk for a change, mercilessly grilling each contestant with variously difficult situations that could actually occur in the course of hotel work. In one encounter, Mr. Ungár assumed the role of a businessman who was supposed to travel by train to a meeting in Balatonfüred, but after being given incorrect timetable information by another hotel employee, he would now be late for the meeting unless the contestant took immediate action. At first Mr. Ungár was given the suggestion to take the next train, much to his chagrin. “That’s not good enough for me,” he bellowed. “I have a very important meeting and I will miss it – I need to go to Balatonfüred right away!” (The contestant eventually solved the problem by arranging for a taxi to bring him to the meeting, partially paid for by the hotel.)
In another encounter, Mr. Takács played a guest whose Audi A4 was scratched while it was in the hotel parking facility, and the contestant made the mistake of asking if it was a big scratch. “It’s a quite new car,” Takács sternly replied, “every scratch is a big scratch for me!” And when Mr. Ungár acted as a guest whose gold necklace was stolen from his changing-room locker in the hotel’s wellness area, he was displeased by the contestant’s offer to review security-camera footage to identify the thief. “So you can see the people changing clothes?!” he asked incredulously. The hapless contestant stumbled with the response, explaining that she had never faced this situation in the hotel where she works. “Lucky you,” Mr. Ungár deadpanned.
However, once the interrogations concluded, the event’s atmosphere soon became jubilant during the subsequent awards ceremony – this year’s first-place winner is Timea Karlik of Budapest’s Danubius Hotel Arena, with Sára Papp of the Hotel Zenit Budapest Palace taking second-place honors and Szilvia Magdics of the Corinthia Hotel Budapest finishing third. After the prizes were conferred, all participants enjoyed a champagne reception and the satisfaction of knowing that they continue to maintain Hungary’s renown for excellent hospitality with professional panache.
