Tenerife…where my life changed

Obviously this is a blog about behind revolving doors, not just about how I got into the hotel industry.

With that said, I cannot not talk about my internship between year one and two in a four star resort in Playa de las Americas in the south of Tenerife. Back then the North of Tenerife was more German tourists and the South British. Am sure it is still the same but boy did this experience have an impact on my entire life, professionally and personally.

I was required to complete a 3 months internship in order to graduate. My classmates chose Switzerland or the mountains of Austria but I wanted to get far away. In college I befriended a Spanish guy who became like my brother and he also, and am to this day grateful, helped me with the application in the hotel. Of course Spanish was a requirement however with my 2 hours a week my Spanish at that time was non existant. So my friend basically did help me with thr application and even, and I still remember being in a phone booth in the college village, accepted the offer on my behalf in Spanish. As mentioned he became one of my best friends and influences in my life and though now over 27 years later we are not in touch, I will never forget him.

Also in order for me the get to Tenerife, I didn’t just fly from Vienna there, no, as my friend had to relocate anyway back to Madrid after graduating I drove with him from Austria to Spain. This was one of the most memorable experiences of my life driving through Italy, overnighting in a highway car park in France and finally going the straight line from Barcelona to Madrid. It was amazing and wished I had an iPhone back then but those memories and impressions will stay with me forever. I did spend couple of nights in Madrid with him and his family (he always frequently came to my parents place in Austria) and I got immersed into the Spanish culture, food, his friends, going out. I just loved it and Madrid for many years till today is one of my most favorite cities in the world.

As a thank you from his parents of acccompanying him from Austria to Madrid, they actually arranged my flight from Madrid to Tenerife. The internship did not cover the cost, the only thing the hotel provided was a small room shared with someone else and 20k pesetas a month. I think connverting it to now it’s about 100 euros a month. I had my “pocket money” from my parents and if I remember correctly also my first credit card as a safety net. It did help that my sister worked in a bank.

So there I am after an amazing time in Madrid in Barajas airport boarding my Iberia flight to a Tenerife Sur airport. I had no idea what was going to expect me. I had never been on an island except Britain during a school trip and I had never been away so long from my family. I was excited as much as sad, but the excitement just got to me seeing the ocean from the plane and landing in Tenerife. Until then the only time I had seen an ocean was during an ad hoc holiday with my parents in Carole Italy. But that was it. I had no idea what to expect above all I had no idea what to expect from working in a hotel, as I had only stayed twice in my life until then in a hotel, and fun fact it was at the Marriott in Vienna during a Vienna trip and the Hilton in Berlin when serving the noblesse in Berlin during New Year’s Eve as part of our education.

Well here we go, hola Tenerife!