Guest House | Meet Coba Rohm

By the newsletter team

Coba Rohm is absolutely devoted to the hospitality industry and feels no greater joy than serving the needs of her guests and interacting with people from all walks of life. She runs a beautiful boutique hotel in the heart of the lowveld, and took some time out of her busy schedule to tell us a bit about herself.

Starting out
Coba says she was made to work in the hospitality industry. “I was born with this fuzzy feeling in my heart,” she explains, saying she loves welcoming people into her circle of influence and spending time with them so she can learn about their life’s journey. She started her career as a business coach in the hospitality industry, and lived in the Kruger National Park with her family from 1987 to 1993. The experience showed her the joy of interacting with all sorts of people and ignited a passion for settling down and working in the industry. Coba became the general manager of Sheppard Boutique Hotel, a 5-star establishment that won the 2009 regional award for best medium-sized hospitality product.

A calling for hospitality
Coba’s strong religious beliefs inspire and motivate her to work very hard at her job. She is truly devoted to the career and finds it exciting and invigorating. “As a general manager, I am never bored or depressed because I simply spend very little time behind my desk and manage by wandering around – getting involved in the tasks of the departments and praising, coaching and mentoring when needed.” She loves the diversity of interacting with people from all walks of life – from international billionaires and ambassadors to the casual staff.

The work is challenging: “It is never mundane, never a repetitive routine because the demands differ, the departmental challenges are totally diverse and the outcome is immediate. You work with uncontrollable factors such as human behaviour and simply have to manage the reality at hand.” She admits that trying to lead a balanced life is virtually impossible and that the job can get lonely. She also finds her physical limitations frustrating, saying, “You cannot work 18-hour shifts without paying the price of gradual burnout, but if you surround yourself with strong, energetic individuals you feed from each other’s strengths.”

Empowered by the course
After taking the UCT Guest House Management course with GetSmarter, Coba felt confident “because I have affirmation that I have been doing most things right. I took it as a personal vote of confidence because one often questions your own behavior and the systems in place.” She plans to improve her existing communication and customer service strategies by using the “great and fun” pointers from the course material. She has already recommended the course to other guest house owners and managers because she found it so empowering.

Final word
Coba offers a final piece of advice to aspiring guest house owners: be genuine. “In the hospitality industry, I have seen many plastic, insincere behavioural patterns – staff members greeting a customer with well-rehearsed , insincere clichés and not making eye contact. Please don’t resort to that! Show the customer that you have a passion for what you are doing and that you ARE happy to see them. Greet them with a smile, a handshake and be truly happy to see them.”

Back to SmartyPants Newsletter - August 2010 Edition
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution license.