Southern Star Rises At Novotel Gardens Queenstown

Southern star rises at Novotel Gardens Queenstown

Longtime Novotel Gardens Queenstown employee Wendy Standish has a wealth of experience to bring to her new role as Rooms Division Manager at the expanding hotel.
 
Wendy will assume executive responsibility for the smooth running of the hotel's 274 rooms (Front Office and Housekeeping) from 1 October 2007.
 
A good Southern girl from Dunedin, Wendy has been an ACCOR employee since its inception in New Zealand 10 years ago.  She is currently acting as the hotel's Human Resources Manager, guiding the hotel team through an $11.5 million expansion and refurbishment process, has also been overseeing Housekeeping and championing the property's quality and staff training programmes.
 
Over the past decade Wendy has trained up to 600 employees at Novotel Gardens. 
 
General Manager Carl Braddock says Wendy is "definitely" the right person for the job.
 
"Wendy's a natural leader and has honed her skills during her time in hospitality," he says.
 
"She leads with a spirit of conquest, overcoming labour shortages in Queenstown and mentoring trainees through the 'Bridge to Queenstown' programme.
 
"She also maximises Internship New Zealand's access to European hospitality trainees by sourcing students from international universities to intern in our hotels.
 
"She really is a star - always enthusiastic, supportive and an incredibly hard worker. With two small children, she starts at 6am every morning and juggles her work/life balance so that she can be with her kids from 3pm."
 
Wendy says she's thrilled with her promotion and is looking forward to the challenge.
 
"Ten years at Novotel has gone by so quickly," she says. "I would never have guessed I'd still be here and heading up the corporate ladder.  It seems like only yesterday that I was 14, working weekends and school holidays with my Mum as a housemaid in Mt Cook." 
 
The Novotel Gardens Queenstown development started in October 2006 and is on target to be completed by January 2008.  An additional 70 rooms will mean the hotel has 273 rooms on offer catering for up to 546 guests - a 34% increase in potential guest numbers.  The extension will officially make the hotel Queenstown's largest accommodation provider.

ENDS

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