To continue growing as a company and sharpening our expertise for our guests, we sent members of our Cabins for YOU team to take part in the 2017 VRHP (Vacation Rental Housekeeping Professionals) National Conference joined by VRM (Vacation Rental Management) Intel in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. While attending various sessions over the 3-day conference was indeed enlightening, nothing was more pleasing than receiving the outstanding news that our very own Brandi Herbstritt, a truly caring and devoted employee, had been selected as the 2017 VRHP Housekeeping Executive of the Year!
Starting out as a contract cleaner, Brandi has diligently worked her way up the housekeeping ladder over the last 6 years, eventually moving to assistant housekeeping manager and finally transitioning to housekeeping manager late last year. From tending to specific requests daily to meeting with property owners regularly, Brandi works hard to make our guests comfortable and our owners more than satisfied. By combining her cleaning experience with her incredible sense of perseverance, she has not only improved our standard property appearance ratings for our guests and owners but also inspired true excellence in our housekeepers.
With the ability to directly relate with our cleaners on both a professional and personal level, Brandi has enhanced overall communication — which is always key — between housekeeping management and staff. Every month, she holds a housekeeping meeting at one of our properties to discuss housekeeping tips and tricks, review the previous month’s statistical data, and provide supply updates. On top of that, these meetings are not mandatory, yet a majority of our cleaners are more than willing to attend — if not for the information, then certainly for a healthy dose of positivity as Mrs. Herbstritt is one of the most upbeat people you’ll ever meet!
Hoping to raise overall housekeeping scores and quality of cleaning to new heights at Cabins for YOU, Brandi has recently launched a new onboarding process for contract cleaners, which includes an educational session to teach company standards in addition to both in-house and on-site training. Though her main focus is on improvement within the housekeeping department, she still makes time to keep other departments informed of housekeeping goals, plans, and general work to ensure maximum efficiency within Cabins for YOU and in our Gatlinburg cabins.
Pulling in award nominations from our guests, our owners, and our team, Brandi’s efforts have clearly proven successful, and words can’t express how proud we are of her.
“My husband and I have stayed in cabins with Cabins for YOU multiple times, and every time we have stayed, our cabin has been cleaned as if we were the first guests to stay there…we felt right at home.” – Valued CFY Guests
“Since Brandi took over the housekeeping, we have been thrilled. Floors have never looked better…She pays attention to detail, like leaving extra items for the guest and making sure our décor items are put back in place. It is refreshing having someone care about your home as if it were their very own.” – CFY Property Owners
“She has an open door to any of the housekeepers that are having problems with doing their job, and if something else is keeping them from doing the job correctly, she does what she can to help them out. She is kind to everyone but also can get down to the business side of things… I have never had a manager with so much love and compassion for their job and her team.” – CFY Team Member
While we have always been pleased with our number one housekeeping manager, we are overjoyed that she can now officially claim the 2017 title of VRHP Housekeeping Executive of the Year! Congratulations from your Cabins for YOU family, Brandi! We couldn’t be prouder!
2017 VRHP and VRM Intel Live National Conference
Interview with Leslie Adcock, Executive Director of Operations.