Cristina founded Mandarina in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in May 2012 and brought it to Canada when she relocated to Vancouver in early 2016.Drawing inspiration from luxury hospitality, we create journeys of excellence to elevate your client’s experience with your brand. We develop concepts, standards, and processes from the inside out — positively impacting your clients, partners, and team. Our approach involves provoking reflections and inspiring each individual in your team to… Show more Cristina founded Mandarina in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in May 2012 and brought it to Canada when she relocated to Vancouver in early 2016.Drawing inspiration from luxury hospitality, we create journeys of excellence to elevate your client’s experience with your brand. We develop concepts, standards, and processes from the inside out — positively impacting your clients, partners, and team. Our approach involves provoking reflections and inspiring each individual in your team to genuinely transform their internal attitude. Your team will ensure a seamless execution, attending to every detail that is woven into your customer’s journey. In doing so, we cultivate a cohesive service culture that aligns with your brand’s essence. We are a consulting firm that operates within three pillars of service excellence:Concept and StrategyEnvisioning your customers’ experience within your established business model.Journey of ExcellenceDesigning your service standards, processes, resources, and environments - the key to creating excellent journeys for your clients, partners, and team.Human TransformationCreating high-performing, engaged, and client-centric teams by transforming each individual’s attitude.- Training Courses- Lectures- FacilitationGet in touch and discover what we can do for your business.Mandarina. Experiences that connect. Show less

Cristina founded Mandarina in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in May 2012 and took it to Canada when she relocated to Vancouver in early 2016. Mandarina continues to operate in both countries, driving remarkable results for their clients.

Having had the opportunity to take many Neurolinguistics Programming courses, since 1993, such as Practitioner, Master Practitioner, Trainer, and Coaching with NLP, it was a great honour to be invited to be an instructor for the Practitioner Course for the first time in 2014. NLP helped me build strong relationships, draw and achieve assertive goals, negotiate, mediate conflict, develop skills, help others do the same, just to mention a few benefits. It is a dream come true to be able… Show more Having had the opportunity to take many Neurolinguistics Programming courses, since 1993, such as Practitioner, Master Practitioner, Trainer, and Coaching with NLP, it was a great honour to be invited to be an instructor for the Practitioner Course for the first time in 2014. NLP helped me build strong relationships, draw and achieve assertive goals, negotiate, mediate conflict, develop skills, help others do the same, just to mention a few benefits. It is a dream come true to be able to share this with others, and continue to spread this life-changing knowledge. Show less

Took on the instructor role for two Food & Beverage courses on the Advanced Program. Each course consisted of daily half-day classes during three weeks. Courses taught:Managing Service in Food & Beverage OperationsPlanning and Control for Food & Beverage Operations

I had the pleasure and honour to return to the company where I learned the best practices in hospitality for a 3-month project. I was acting as Resort Manager for approximately 3 months, during the highest season, while waiting for the permanent Resort Manager to arrive to the property. I supported the General Manager in multiple projects, coordinated operations, mainly focusing in the Rooms Division, continuously developing people and revising processes in a tireless pursuit to provide… Show more I had the pleasure and honour to return to the company where I learned the best practices in hospitality for a 3-month project. I was acting as Resort Manager for approximately 3 months, during the highest season, while waiting for the permanent Resort Manager to arrive to the property. I supported the General Manager in multiple projects, coordinated operations, mainly focusing in the Rooms Division, continuously developing people and revising processes in a tireless pursuit to provide guests with exceptional experiences. Show less

Fasano has been the benchmark brand for luxury in Brazil for over 100 years. This very traditional group started with several restaurant operations, until it opened its first hotel property in São Paulo in 2001. Fasano now runs 3 properties in Brazil as well as one in Punta del Este, Uruguay, and it is expanding its hotel operations to set foot in NYC and Miami in the near future.During almost 5 years, Cristina managed the bars and restaurants at Fazenda Boa Vista, a very high end gated… Show more Fasano has been the benchmark brand for luxury in Brazil for over 100 years. This very traditional group started with several restaurant operations, until it opened its first hotel property in São Paulo in 2001. Fasano now runs 3 properties in Brazil as well as one in Punta del Este, Uruguay, and it is expanding its hotel operations to set foot in NYC and Miami in the near future.During almost 5 years, Cristina managed the bars and restaurants at Fazenda Boa Vista, a very high end gated community 1 hour away from São Paulo, she participated on the post-opening process of Hotel Fasano Rio de Janeiro and opened both Fasano properties at Punta del Este - Las Piedras and Fazenda Boa Vista, in Porto Feliz-SP.Cristina acted as interim New Opening, Training, Development and Quality Director, while running the opening process for the hotel at Fazenda Boa Vista simultaneously to its restaurant and bar operations. Cristina designed all the processes for these departments, and facilitated the process of creating and implementing fundamental HR instruments, such as: operating procedure manuals, behavior-based training programs, brand service standards, performance reviews and solid processes for hiring, developing and retaining valuable talent.Cristina developed the New Opening area for the group, creating a committee and coordinating the design and implementing important tools to make for a smooth opening process. Amongst these tools, we can mention the design of funcional operations architecture programs, minimum requirements for IT and Engineering, Opening Critical Path Schedules, FF&E and OS&E listing, as well as the purchasing process, in addition to mass hiring and training programs.This was a very rewarding and challenging job and an important step on Cristina's career. Show less

At Marriott, Cristina implemented the new Club Level, which offers special services for the executive floors at Renaissance Sao Paulo Hotel.Cristina managed seven departments, a team of 70 people, including 6 leaders; she reorganized the procedures, created tools that allowed for the team to recognize guest's preferences, consequently, growing their fidelity. Her team not only bit every upset and Marriott Reward's programs, but also learned to lead with more aggressive room sale… Show more At Marriott, Cristina implemented the new Club Level, which offers special services for the executive floors at Renaissance Sao Paulo Hotel.Cristina managed seven departments, a team of 70 people, including 6 leaders; she reorganized the procedures, created tools that allowed for the team to recognize guest's preferences, consequently, growing their fidelity. Her team not only bit every upset and Marriott Reward's programs, but also learned to lead with more aggressive room sale politics and techniques. Show less

I took over this amazing challenge, when the Guest Services department had gone through very difficult times, which resulted in a full re-structuring of the department.To this day, I thank my former Rooms Division Director, Colleen Fisher, for having trusted me to this challenge. Colleen was incredibly knowledgeable, and a very strong director. She had high expectations, and at the same time, she provided all the tools and support I needed to overcome the obstacles.I was the… Show more I took over this amazing challenge, when the Guest Services department had gone through very difficult times, which resulted in a full re-structuring of the department.To this day, I thank my former Rooms Division Director, Colleen Fisher, for having trusted me to this challenge. Colleen was incredibly knowledgeable, and a very strong director. She had high expectations, and at the same time, she provided all the tools and support I needed to overcome the obstacles.I was the first lady to ever manage this department, composed by 25 Bell, Door and Valet Attendants. Some of them had been working for the hotel for over 20 years.This was one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. The team and I were able to exchange a lot of knowledge, and, as a result, we re-organized the department, re-gained trust and, most importantly, re-built the morale and team spirit that made the day to day life at work a very pleasurable one. Show less

I took this position in an effort to broaden my knowledge within Rooms Division. What I did not know is that I would completely fall in love with the Front of the House and there would be no way back.During this period, I was responsible for the Front Desk operation, together with the Front Office Manager and two other Assistant Managers. We would work as Manager on Duty everyday after 6 pm, when most of the other department heads would leave the hotel. This was great learning… Show more I took this position in an effort to broaden my knowledge within Rooms Division. What I did not know is that I would completely fall in love with the Front of the House and there would be no way back.During this period, I was responsible for the Front Desk operation, together with the Front Office Manager and two other Assistant Managers. We would work as Manager on Duty everyday after 6 pm, when most of the other department heads would leave the hotel. This was great learning, since we had to deal with all different types of problems and matters and this broaden up my vision of the hotel as a whole.We also took all of the same day Reservations decisions, managing a very busy high season and always seeking for those delightful perfect fills, when the hotel would sleep 100% occupied. We supported the PBX operations and worked very closely with Concièrge and Guest Services.We were responsible for all group accounts, as well as individual, blocking of rooms and ensuring that our guests had the best experience always. We also ran a great up-selling program which incremented hotel revenues. I found especially interesting and rewarding to deal with guest complaints and to ensure that a problem, no matter how big or small, would turn into something so special that the guest would remember the happy end forever!Very busy, lots of lessons learned, great days to remember. Show less

Marcie Pokocky had been working as an Executive Housekeeper for over ten years when I became her assistant.She is the finest professional in this area that I have ever met. Impeccable leadership skills, focus on results, detail obsession and top notch logistics and resource managing are just a few of her qualities, not to mention her captivating personality.She develops her assistants tirelessly and generously.I feel very lucky to have had someone like Marcie to look up… Show more Marcie Pokocky had been working as an Executive Housekeeper for over ten years when I became her assistant.She is the finest professional in this area that I have ever met. Impeccable leadership skills, focus on results, detail obsession and top notch logistics and resource managing are just a few of her qualities, not to mention her captivating personality.She develops her assistants tirelessly and generously.I feel very lucky to have had someone like Marcie to look up to and learn from.During this experience, we had rotating responsibilities, which allowed for me to be responsible for back of the house, event space, rooms and corridors, organization of storage spaces, schedules, vacation schedules, purchasing, payroll, maintenance follow-up, room inspections program, among many other projects, such as changing of set-ups, changing of furniture, general clealing, planning of capital expenditures... very enriching. Show less

This was my first of four promotions with Four Seasons. I was thrilled to be able to experience a new reality after almost a year in Housekeeping.This was a hotel that ran at 90% occupancy a year. There were no no-shows, since the hotel had a two-week cancelation policy. We had to be very responsible with room blocks and work with all arrivals blocked days ahead. Blocking the last room was Mission Impossible. After managing this inventory everything seemed like a piece of cake to… Show more This was my first of four promotions with Four Seasons. I was thrilled to be able to experience a new reality after almost a year in Housekeeping.This was a hotel that ran at 90% occupancy a year. There were no no-shows, since the hotel had a two-week cancelation policy. We had to be very responsible with room blocks and work with all arrivals blocked days ahead. Blocking the last room was Mission Impossible. After managing this inventory everything seemed like a piece of cake to me.I was mainly supervising the daily operation at the desk, including group check-ins and in-room check-ins as well.This position brought to me a lot of the Four Seasons guest service philosophy. It was there that I learned how to deal with guests with extremely high expectations. I also learned how to be discrete, for a great part of our guests were very important businessman and celebrities world known.A great experience. Show less

I felt so lucky to have gotten a job in the first resort of this top notch hotel chain, not to mention the location. The resort was 10 years old when I started.For the first three months, I did a rotating trainee program, where I was able to work for a week or two in each department, at line positions, wearing each uniform. It was a perfect way to start, as it is fundamental to understand how each department can contribute best to the operation of others. It was genius that this… Show more I felt so lucky to have gotten a job in the first resort of this top notch hotel chain, not to mention the location. The resort was 10 years old when I started.For the first three months, I did a rotating trainee program, where I was able to work for a week or two in each department, at line positions, wearing each uniform. It was a perfect way to start, as it is fundamental to understand how each department can contribute best to the operation of others. It was genius that this happened right during the busiest season, so I was able to truly experience the challenges of each position.I then moved to Housekeeping as an Assistant Housekeeper. I was responsible for the public areas. Keeping open public areas clean at Four Seasons standards was a great learning experience. We were right at the beach, we had sugar cane burning part of the year and had a lot of vegetation around. It was then that I stated to understand what detail obsession was. Fluffing each pillow to perfection, looking at every corner for dust, tirelessly walking the areas to ensure all was tidy and spotless. I also helped the Room Attendants quite frequently, as all flights came into the island very early and left very late, generating a very tight rooms turn around for the hotel.As we had many children and return guests, this is when I learned how to personalize e room's experience at arrival and during the stay. Guests were very demanding, and many of them are known figures to the public.This property was incredibly successful and ran close to 90% yearly occupancy, which kept us on our toes when it came to time management, maintenance follow-up and logistics.We managed a staff of 125 people from different nationalities and right during this experience is when I found my passion for developing people, helping them to find an opportunity to grow in their careers, understanding their needs and priorities and finding ways to make their busy day to day a great part of their lives.Great 1st Show less