Daniel Gutierrez started working at Garza Blanca Puerto Vallarta in April of 2018 as Assistant Manager of Food and Beverage. After just a few months, he was promoted to Experience Manager, Food & Beverage at Hotel Mousai.
Read on get to know Daniel and learn more about what he does at Hotel Mousai.
Daniel, tell us a little bit about yourself.
I am always active; I’m constantly in movement. I like to always create new things for the hotel, like activities and things to do. Our guests need something new every year.
I like to give personal follow up to our guests. I have actually become friends with many of our guests here at Hotel Mousai. This is part of my responsibility as Experience Manager; I need to be in close contact with the guests, and that is also something I really enjoy. Sometimes even from a complaint we start to chat and talk, and then we become close to the point that I will often receive a phone call from a guest or from my supervisor to express the good quality of service that we are giving here at Hotel Mousai.
I like to have close engagement with my staff. I am always talking to the hosts and hostesses, waiters, supervisors, managers, always checking in with them.
Right now, I’m studying for my master’s degree in agaves of Mexico, which are the plants the tequilas, mezcals, and raicillas are made from. There are thousands of different kinds of agaves in Mexico. My school is in Oaxaca, but the classes are online. I travel to Oaxaca every two months for two to three days for in-person classes or presentations.
Hotel Mousai is an adults-only hotel, so our members and guests are usually couples, romantic getaways and young people, so we needed to think of activities to share with this kind of demographic that they would be interested in.
What activities does your department currently provide for guests at Hotel Mousai?
Right now, the Food and Beverage department provides four activities for guests each week:
- Thursday Mixology Class – Our mixologist teaches guests how to prepare margaritas, micheladas and other drinks, and then lets the guests make them on their own.
- Friday Champagne Nights – We fill a hot tub full of bottles of champagne as a promotion, and we offer a discount of 15-20% off the price of a bottle. A purchased bottle also comes with free Spanish style tapas, so you have something delicious to eat while drinking your champagne.
- Saturday Latin Sensations – Five musicians play together all different types of Latin music including salsa, bachata, and more. We have decorations, lights, ambiance and of course, dancing.
- Sunday Coconut Stand – We have natural coconuts cut and served fresh. We also have a special drink menu with all kinds of cocktails based on coconut with spirits such as gin, tequila, vodka and more, served in a whole coconut.
What is coming up at Hotel Mousai that guests can look forward to?
Every year my department updates the menus at all of the restaurants at Hotel Mousai. This year in August we will update the menu at The Rooftop, in September we will update the Suite Service menu, in October we will update the Hiroshi menu, and in November we will update The Terrace menu. By the end of the year, guests will have fresh new dishes to try at all of the restaurants.
Another thing I’m really excited about is the opening of Hotel Mousai 2. I’m really involved in the projects in the Food and Beverage department, the kitchen, the restaurants, the concept. It’s quite amazing for the hotel to give me the chance because it’s a lot of information to process and a lot to learn.
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Thank you, Daniel for taking the time to talk with me and share your story with guests of Hotel Mousai!
You can find Daniel around the property at Hotel Mousai, usually in the restaurants interacting with the staff and the guests. When you have a chance to meet him, say hi! He will appreciate getting to know you!
