Millennium Harbourview Xiamen held its first ever F&B Service Skill Competition, where some 26 staff from the F&B department pitted themselves against each other, to see who had the best service skills.

The showdown comprised three parts – grooming standard, tray service, and Chinese banquet setup. The judging panel comprised hotel management as well as key F&B heads.

First, the staff were evaluated on their grooming, including their uniform and hair and make-up, and also on their self-introductions to guests. The next component on tray service tested the servers’ skills where they had to balance six different beverages on a single tray and deliver them to customers. An added challenge was to have them crouch down to pick up something from the floor while holding on to the tray! For the final round, staff were scored on their ability to set up a dining table based on the Chinese banquet style.

After a fierce fight from the participants, Ms Tina Huang from Harbour Café emerged on top.

It was a great and fun way for the F&B team to benchmark their proficiency and see the understand the areas that need improvement, as well as recognising staff that have performed well to raise the hotel’s F&B service standard to a higher level.