Juggling the demands of seven different parties in seven separate banquet rooms at once might seem daunting. When the parties in question involve the very well-heeled who are used to pampering, the challenge becomes even more intense.
But Luis Arellano, banquet captain at The Shore Club, which is one of Miami Beach's swankiest hotels, manages it all with single-minded aplomb.
''We take care of the big ones and the little ones. Everybody is the same,'' he said.
So if a group has scheduled a 7 a.m. breakfast, Arellano, 47, arrives by 5 a.m. to make sure nothing is overlooked. If executives from MTV, for example, plan a week of activities at the hotel with a smattering of meetings and parties in the banquet rooms, Arellano will take care of them for their entire visit, overseeing any last-minute changes.
Ask him any question about his position, whether it's the strange requests that a hotel like The Shore Club surely must get from its often rich and sometimes celebrated clients, or what's the toughest part of his job, and his answer is invariably the same: ``I have to make sure you're happy. That's my concern.''
Which might explain why he was recently chosen from hundreds of employees -- ranging from concierges and security guards -- as this year's top lodging employee by the Greater Miami & The Beaches Hotel Association.
Originally from Nicaragua, Arellano first came to the United States in 1979 to study business administration at the University of Texas in Austin. After graduation, he stayed for 14 years before moving to Costa Rica and back to Nicaragua to start an electronics supply business. When Nicaragua's shaky economy hit the skids six years ago, he returned to the United States, picking Miami over Austin after learning there were better job prospects here. At a friend's suggestion, he took a look into the hotel industry and found a job as a banquet server at The Shore Club. Gradually working his way up, he was named banquet captain last year.
In his position, he oversees the banquet staff of seven, greets guests and walks them through the hotel's facilities. Parties can be as small as 10 or as large as 200 or more for a party.
''We work a lot of hours,'' he said. ``I have to make sure the event, if you're there and have a meeting, that it goes well and everything is . . . perfect.''
