A Home away from Home
When Matthew came out of high school
most of his friends were doing Bachelor
of Commerce Degrees at Otago. This
however was not for Matthew.
“I wasn’t really interested,” he says.
Matthew did a lot of career forums. A hotel
management school based in Switzerland
was mentioned and so Matthew started
his journey.
“Immediately as you walk in the door I
was hooked”.
Matthew traveled a lot with his parents
for work and loved seeing the different
hotels. This gave him great insight into
hotels and how they work.
“Things changed in each hotel from place
to place,” he says.
Matthew then got his Bachelor of Hotel
and Events Management.
“The Swiss aren’t like us kiwis, they drill
you to a fine degree of what service
quality is. We did a lot of internships, 6
months study, 6 months internship.” ask for the owner and he says “also me”
He gained valuable experience through
these internships. The last 6 months Quest business has
really taken off. Matthew’s goal was to be
one of, if not the top provider in Whangarei.
Matthew has a strong backing from family
and friends. Quest has 3-4 housekeepers,
one receptionist and Matthew.
“One day the builders were still putting
insulation around the pipes, then we got
a night of -12 degrees and all the pipes
froze. So no one had a shower, that was
just chaos and the hotel was full. Small
detail’s like that are what you remember.”
He came back to New Zealand when
his visa ran out and worked at Sky City
Grand for a year and a half. He then
got the position at Quest headquarters
in Auckland. Matthew loved the way
Quest operated and at the young age
of 26 he started up Quest Whangarei.
“Some people say I’m too young to do
this, a lot are surprised when I say I’m the
manager,” he says. When people want
to talk to the manager he has to explain
to them he is the manager. They then
“I had a customer come to me the other
day and say to me that she won’t be
staying anywhere else, that’s the cream
to me hearing customer satisfaction,
that
beats
any
review
online.”
http://www.questwhangarei.co.nz
-MAHENO KAKE