Rachel Burt
Director, Front Office, Fairmont Royal York, Toronto
Rachel Burt’s hospitality career began as a Human Resources co-ordinator at The Westin Bayshore, Vancouver at the age of 18 during her co-op semester at the University of Victoria. It was a role that was supposed to last only one month, but Burt turned it into three-summer stint, working on projects within the Sales & Marketing, Reservations, Engineering and F&B departments. The time Burt spent at The Westin Bayshore, Vancouver ultimately fuelled her passion to pursue hospitality management after graduation.
From there, Burt was accepted into the INSPIRE Management Trainee Program as a Rooms leader at Fairmont Empress in Victoria. The program was split into assistant-manager rotations in housekeeping and front office. Eventually, Burt moved into the assistant Front Office manager role full-time where she managed scheduling, purchasing, upsells and the Accor Live Limitless (ALL) loyalty program. Soon after, she became the property’s ALL loyalty champion. Burt also had the opportunity to join the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge in the fall of 2020 on a taskforce to enforce safety procedures and provide support before taking on the role as the assistant director, Guest Experience & Loyalty at the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto.
Today, as the department head for Front Office, Burt oversees the Front Desk and Royal Service teams comprised of more than 40 colleagues and nine leaders. She also co-chairs the Star of the Month Committee where she manages initiatives to recognize colleagues, leaders and teams of the month.
