Shaun Bertram Tregoning has joined the Westin Hotel Cape Town team as its new Director of Operations, with his job to ensure that the award-winning hotel runs like a well-oiled machine.

“It’s an all-encompassing role. I meet and greet staff and guests, hold roundtable discussions with the executive team, conference and group organisers, and a plethora of things in between. It’s my job to make sure that everything runs smoothly, that everyone is happy and that our hotel always meets the highest standards,” he says.

Shaun is no stranger to hospitality; he first fell in love with the industry while working in a hotel after matriculating in 1990. Shaun proceeded to complete a certificate in Hotel Management through Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), followed by an internship at the Ritz in Sea Point and the Protea Hotel Knysna. Since then he’s been around the hotel block, working for large hotel groups, including the Southern Sun; Protea Hotels; as well as Sun International in South Africa and Zambia.

Of his new role, Shaun says he enjoys that no two days are the same – there’s something new and exciting in every day. And when operationally everything runs according to plan, with little or no comebacks, he acknowledges that he’s doing something right. But every role comes with a handful of challenges and Shaun says maintaining and constantly improving the hotel’s standards set out in-house and in-line with the standards of Westin Cape Town’s management company Marriott International is one of them.

“Every job in every industry comes with challenges, how we deal with them is what matters most. When you have a strong team working alongside you, everything is easier,” Shaun says.