Hospitality teams take part in the ‘Battle of the Brands’ games between hotel staffs

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Side by side competitions took place between front line workers in the hospitality industry to demonstrate their work skills at a special after-Labor Day event.

They competed at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort in the rotunda area. DJ Darla Bea kept the pace active with music. It started with all the teams coming through with a lively entrance of dance, screaming and confetti.

Hotel Californian General Manager Warren Nocon said this event started in 2018 after the mudflow disaster and a slow down in the industry. It was to boost the employee morale across the board but after that, the pandemic hit, causing another set back. It continued with nine teams but there have been more in the past.

The tasks included bed making, drink balancing and cake decorating. For those not skilled in those areas, golf putting took place. Teams were also bought out to make some youth bikes on the spot, right out of a box. The bikes were later donated to the LEAP youth group.

Adrian Isais from the Hilton was part of a duo that finished first with a new bike. He is a biker around town and said he  "never built this kind of bike. I like this competition  so I am trying something new. Pretty fun, good time here at the Hilton all the hotels here having a good time. "

Nocon said, "we wanted to have a couple of components that we  give back to the community  so that is one of the main ones that we do  but it is also a way to get our maintenance and engineering staff involved and use their tools which is what they enjoy doing every day."

Other workers like Cony Duarte from the Rosewood Miramar said her bed making technique was simply that she "has the energy and gives it her all." That competition involved tight tucks and fluffed pillows perfectly positioned.

The agility and performance events show what the workers do at various levels for their guests but not always at competitive speeds in order to maintain accuracy and efficiency.

The teams competing were from:

Hotel Californian

Mar Monte by Hyatt

Inn at Mattei's Tavern

Rosewood Miramar

Hilton Santa Barbara Beachside Resort

Ojai Valley Inn

El Encanto a Belmond Hotel, Santa Barbara

Kimpton Canary Hotel

Visit Santa Barbara

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