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The story of Nicoletta Viscardi is about professionalism, attention to detail and the will to constantly improve.

She’s the housekeeping manager at Castello del Nero Hotel & Spa, in Tavarnelle, and this is where she has grown professionally and continues to move forward in her career.

“I came to Tavarnelle from Bergamo with my family in 1970 – Nicoletta says – My husband is from Tavarnelle, and I feel this land has adopted me”.

“I’ve worked in various sectors- she says – for almost 18 years, for example, in a knitwear factory. The closest job to the one I do now? Shortly before coming here I worked as a housekeeper, but in a much smaller place”.

At the Castello del Nero she coordinates two departments: “The chambermaids and the porters, about twenty people in all”.

The chambermaids are all women, while the porters are men, and they all have direct contact with the guests.

“We have high standards to follow, as part of “The Leading Hotels of The World”- explains Nicoletta – the service is excellent and so is the attention to detail. When you enter a room at a Leading Hotel, they should be recognisable all over the world: there are special details in the rooms and the service must be of the highest standard”.

The department managed by Nicoletta has many different duties, from laundry to a tailoring service. “We always do our best to meet our customers’ needs”.

Services include welcoming the guests, accompanying them to their rooms and taking care of the luggage. But also the maintenance of the external areas and the swimming pool. And everything is always done with the maximum care.

Who are the twenty employees managed by Nicoletta? “They’re from the area, they are fluent in English and receive constant training. The most important thing we have to do is maintain a consistently high standard, guests shouldn’t notice if it is not always the same person making up the room. In the secret visits that Leading does every year, we can proudly say that the housekeeping department gets the highest score, even at the Italian level”.

Nicoletta has grown up, along with “her” girls and “her” boys, year after year: “The Leading Hotel standard is the basis – she says – not the goal. For us it’s just a starting point. I started as a chambermaid in 2006, during the inauguration, and then I slowly moved up the ladder, from maid to laundry, and finally in 2011 I became a housekeeper. It’s a stimulating environment to work in, where you’re encouraged to express your ideas”.

“We must always remember” she concludes, “that for a guest the hotel room is like a home, regardless of the length of their stay. We do our best to make it as comfortable as possible. Certain guests clearly explain their preferences, while at other times we have to understand them from the way they “move” into the room. We must anticipate their desires, pamper them, and make them feel at home”.

Matteo Pucci

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