Chantel Wessels, Residential Specialist for Camps Bay Collection, seems to be able to do more multi-tasking than seem possible. She is unbelievably capable, at times irreverent, and above all, passionate about Village n Life. Here are all the things that make her an incredible Residential Specialist:
1) A Wealth of Institutional Knowledge
Throughout her 11-year Village n Life career, Chantel has managed most of the serviced apartments in the Village n Life group. She has built up a deep institutional knowledge of all things Village n Life.
Currently, she manages the Camps Bay Collection.
While she loves all the properties in the collection, she says her favourites are:
– Camps Bay Village, because it was the first property she managed.
– The Crystal, because she was involved in everything from the beginning. She calls this one, “her baby”.
– The Glen Apartments, because she has built some hard-won relationships with the owners and trustees.
The Crystal is one of the serviced apartment properties in the Camps Bay Collection.
2) Unbelievable Energy and Enthusiasm
What Chantel accomplishes after hours is more than most people can finish in a day’s work.
“It’s rather challenging to explain a day,” she says. “I do maintenance, protocol, facilities, body corporate, housekeeping, liaise with homeowners, training and hiring staff, and probably a lot of other things too.”
She has even been known to conduct job interviews in her car while driving.
Luckily, Chantel thrives in this environment.
“If I had to work in an office sitting still all day… let’s just say it would drain every bit of positive energy I have.”
3) Passion for the Job
Chantel says there is no training to do what she does now. Everything she knows, she learnt from experience. Because of that, her biggest challenge is that it is hard to train staff to keep up with her.
It’s challenging to train someone on how to multi-task, cope with pressure and prioritise at the same time.
As Chantel says: “You have to live your passion. Otherwise, work becomes work.”
An aerial view of Camps Bay, where Chantel’s work is focused.
4) The Key is Relationship Building
Aside from her multi-tasking and her institutional knowledge, people skills are what make Chantel incredible at her job.
“The key to my job is relationships. It is all about turning people around, managing the expectation, and maintaining the relationship.”
These relationships Chantel maintains include those with guests, homeowners, trustees, and staff.
The key according to Chantel? “Don’t just hear what people say, listen to what they say.”
She credits her boss, Maree Brink for teaching her how to spot the small details that have an impact on the bigger picture.
“I deal with everyone in a respectful manner. Be firm, but always treat people with respect, even when they aren’t treating you with respect. You have to manage staff, guests, relationships with owners and trustees but the golden rule remains you cannot let them manage you.”
Read more about Village n Life staff members on our blog.
Chantel is awesome. I have worked with her and learnt so much from her