Day in the life: Ritz-Carlton Dubai's Maria Haggo
Maria Haggo, director of spa at The Ritz-Carlton Duba, explains her daily routine
07:30 — I start my day with yoga practice.
08:00 — I check my emails before breakfast and act on any urgent matters. I also update my daily list of tasks.
09:00 — I arrive at the spa and do a walk-through and greet the team.
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09:30 — I participate in the morning line-up of the rooms department where we discuss our daily ‘Commitment to Quality’ (CTQ) and ‘Wow Stories’ — memorable stories crafted by The Ritz-Carlton team all over the world.
09:45 — I respond to important emails which may include purchasing, our website, group bookings, upcoming events, journalist visits or accounting matters from yesterday.
11:00 — Morning spa line-up, where we go through CTQ pages, items for the day, bookings, goals and month-to-date performance.
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11:15 — I catch up with the team and provide them with any mentoring they might need.
12:30 — I do a detailed quality walk-through with the assistant spa manager to assess the overall spa performance and condition both front of house and back of house.
13:30 — Lunch time.
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14:15 — This tends to be the time for project work — which is one of my favourite parts of the job as it allows me to be creative.
15:00 — I meet with some of my colleagues from various departments to discuss a very special project that we are currently working on together.
16:30 — I try to find time to just close my office door for 10 minutes and meditate. It is not long enough to go really deep but it’s enough to clear my mind of unnecessary clutter and to enhance my productivity.
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16:45 — I allocate this time to meetings and to ensuring that any unfinished tasks during the day are addressed accordingly.
18:00 — Back to project work, this time I have my door closed so that I can really focus on what I’m doing. One of my New Year’s resolutions was to spend one hour a day with my door closed and I am still working on that.
19:30 — I wrap-up for the day and prepare for the next. I catch up with the spa reception team and the spa manager on duty to see where we stand with sales and get their feedback for the day.
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20:00 — I drive home and reflect on the day. This is my time to relax and unwind with a delicious meal, some nice music and burning aromas.
22:00 — I receive the daily revenue report so I spend some time reviewing that and then prepare the daily goals for tomorrow before I go to bed.