A gentleman walks up to me with a glass of complimentary wine in his hand and starts yelling at me.
"I don't have time for this! I need someone to help me right now!"
First off, yelling at me without even telling me what the problem actually is isn't going to get you very far, especially because you're dealing with a person who has 2 days left and nothing to lose.
"What exactly do you need help with, sir?" I ask between clenched teeth.
"I need to get in my room!" he bellows. "Whoever the idiot is that checked me in didn't put my name on it because someone else paid for it. The person who paid is at a very important dinner with his family right now and I need to get in my room to get ready for dinner in an hour. The lady at the desk has his number but isn't calling."
I look over. Yes, there is a line and unfortunately one of the girls is on break. The manager is doing her best to get through the line of people. We had very few check-ins for this day but inevitably all 30 of them arrived at once.
I stared at him for a second and then picked up the phone.
In any hotel in this country it against the law to give out a room number or a room key to a person not registered to the room. I don't care if you are their mom, dad, husband, sister, babysitter - your name has to be on that room and you have to have an ID. If you left it in the room a security officer will escort you and you can describe something in the room. It never ceases to amaze me the hissy fits people will throw to get a room key or someone's room number. Lots of people come to hotels to escape or cheat on their spouse or whatever. We don't judge, we just do our job.
Before I can handle the situation the manager calls me and tells me she's got it under control. The man had failed to mention he was extending his stay. I thought his key just stopped working (the bane of all front desk agents exitstences) or he lost it, but no. Someone else is paying so we can't just extend your stay without permission. Drink your wine, buddy, and calm the fuck down.
Plus, calling my colleagues "idiots" makes me want to just smack you.
What I will never understand is how people have utter lack of patience when waiting in line at a hotel registration desk. This has happened at every hotel I have worked.
At this hotel people will walk into my office and ask if anyone else is working or, my favorite, can you help check in? As if I'm not doing anything else important. The funny thing is, I can check people in, but only because I started off at the front desk. But my other concierge are not able to, and I know if I step in I'm going to get stuck at the desk 45 minutes and ignore all the people who need my help. Anyway, you don't see people walking up to loan agents at the bank and asking them to cash their check because they're sick of waiting in line. People aren't (generally) bitching out stock clerks because the line is too long at the register and can't you check me out?
I don't get it.
But like I said before, there is something about hotels that make people forget themselves.
I thought today, anyone who works a front desk must have some kind of sadistic streak. When things go wrong, its the front desk that bears the wrath.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Employee meals and how they all suck
Let's talk about a little thing called lunch. It's fairly important to eat I would say, but your employer doesn't have to feed you. I never cared that I lived on fast food and ramen. I was in college when I started working at Travelodge, so to me the 2 free pizzas from Papa John's was absolutely fucking awesome! It was the first perk I ever had. It was a welcome one too. I was practically starving what with my cigarette and alcohol needs.
Once I went to the morning shift I started eating the leftover Krispy Kremes. Let me tell you, they didn't have them up North at this point. I never in my life thought I would like any doughnut that wasn't Dunkin Donuts. I was wrong.
But I'm not a pig and when I left I was OK without my free pizza and doughnuts. It was nice while it lasted.
Small version of a huge hotel hotel chain
I worked a short stint at this property and not a whole lot of memorable things happened except I'll never forget my first "walk" in which I made a lady cry. We'll talk about walking later, folks. It sucks monkey's ass if it happens to the wrong person.
Anyway, I needed a job because I had walked out on Traveldoge, literally walked out on my shift which is the first and last time that will ever happened, but that is another story for another day.
My best option for work was to stick with what experience I had, I reasoned. I'd be graduating shortly anyway so why not just do it for a few more months? Little did I know that 7 years later...
It was a thousand times nicer than the other place. It was semi-new, had a partial kitchen, a bellman. It was like a real hotel. Besides the usual front desk stuff, part of my duties were to keep a bowl filled with apples and to bake cookies for the guests. (I do NOT bake), but you know, do what you gotta do.
The best part was that partial kitchen. Free Mountain Dew (and cookies)!!! I had to pay for my lunch, but if I was broke as a joke an apple and a Mountain Dew would suffice.
Soon I moved back home to home cooked meals and a fully stocked refridgerator and pantry.
Comfort Inn in a suburban setting
This place did have a kitchen but it was not meant for the hotel. It was meant for the huge banquet hall. Room service food came from the restaurant that was across the driveway, and it was owned by the sister of the Greek owner of the hotel. Not to say anything bad about the Greeks or the Indians or any race but simply when you work for a family-owned hotel, they do not exactly pay well or give many benefits to the employees. I made less as a supervisor than I did at the hotel before that. I understand why, but well. Let's just squash this part of the post before I say something stupid.
The good thing about this place is they had us set up a huge continental breakfast with everything that could be nuked or toasted. Fresh fruit, frozen waffles, yogurt, danishes, that kind of thing. You could always find something to nibble on. And coffee all day long!
Current property in urban setting
When I heard we had an employee meal program I almost shit myself. They're going to feed me? Everyday? And I have a choice? What started awesome almost 5 years ago has become one of the things I am sick of most.
We don't have a kitchen either (which I learned was odd for a hotel of our caliber.) There is a place for prepping for room service orders in which the food comes from a restaurant we don't own. We are strictly forbidden from grabbing drinks or anything like that. The option for lunch was a little voucher for a small store downstairs that we could get a sandwich and chips or we could use it as $3 worth whatever we wanted to buy. I was known for creating little gourmet meals out of my $3. You'd be surprised what you can do with Lean Cuisines, string cheese, and yogurt.
The other option (which became the only option after a few years) was White Hen. (Oh and it was 2.5 blocks away. This city isn't known for its weather.) We could get sandwiches, salads, soup/chili, soda, chips (not all at once). Here's the thing: you have to like sandwiches. I am not a big fan, hence my Lean Cuisines. But then White Hen started doing pizza! Whoo! We were all a twitter.
Until I got food poisoning.
I have never had it before, and it wasn't that bad I guess, but the only reason I could think of for suddenly getting so sick was from that damn pizza. Shit! Now what was I going to eat?
Today I am saving money. My colleague went to White Hen. My list went something like this:
Chkn soup or chili (if they don't have either then plain chips and a Mountain Dew.)
Turkey sandwich with tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber on white.
Hold the salmonella.
Once I went to the morning shift I started eating the leftover Krispy Kremes. Let me tell you, they didn't have them up North at this point. I never in my life thought I would like any doughnut that wasn't Dunkin Donuts. I was wrong.
But I'm not a pig and when I left I was OK without my free pizza and doughnuts. It was nice while it lasted.
Small version of a huge hotel hotel chain
I worked a short stint at this property and not a whole lot of memorable things happened except I'll never forget my first "walk" in which I made a lady cry. We'll talk about walking later, folks. It sucks monkey's ass if it happens to the wrong person.
Anyway, I needed a job because I had walked out on Traveldoge, literally walked out on my shift which is the first and last time that will ever happened, but that is another story for another day.
My best option for work was to stick with what experience I had, I reasoned. I'd be graduating shortly anyway so why not just do it for a few more months? Little did I know that 7 years later...
It was a thousand times nicer than the other place. It was semi-new, had a partial kitchen, a bellman. It was like a real hotel. Besides the usual front desk stuff, part of my duties were to keep a bowl filled with apples and to bake cookies for the guests. (I do NOT bake), but you know, do what you gotta do.
The best part was that partial kitchen. Free Mountain Dew (and cookies)!!! I had to pay for my lunch, but if I was broke as a joke an apple and a Mountain Dew would suffice.
Soon I moved back home to home cooked meals and a fully stocked refridgerator and pantry.
Comfort Inn in a suburban setting
This place did have a kitchen but it was not meant for the hotel. It was meant for the huge banquet hall. Room service food came from the restaurant that was across the driveway, and it was owned by the sister of the Greek owner of the hotel. Not to say anything bad about the Greeks or the Indians or any race but simply when you work for a family-owned hotel, they do not exactly pay well or give many benefits to the employees. I made less as a supervisor than I did at the hotel before that. I understand why, but well. Let's just squash this part of the post before I say something stupid.
The good thing about this place is they had us set up a huge continental breakfast with everything that could be nuked or toasted. Fresh fruit, frozen waffles, yogurt, danishes, that kind of thing. You could always find something to nibble on. And coffee all day long!
Current property in urban setting
When I heard we had an employee meal program I almost shit myself. They're going to feed me? Everyday? And I have a choice? What started awesome almost 5 years ago has become one of the things I am sick of most.
We don't have a kitchen either (which I learned was odd for a hotel of our caliber.) There is a place for prepping for room service orders in which the food comes from a restaurant we don't own. We are strictly forbidden from grabbing drinks or anything like that. The option for lunch was a little voucher for a small store downstairs that we could get a sandwich and chips or we could use it as $3 worth whatever we wanted to buy. I was known for creating little gourmet meals out of my $3. You'd be surprised what you can do with Lean Cuisines, string cheese, and yogurt.
The other option (which became the only option after a few years) was White Hen. (Oh and it was 2.5 blocks away. This city isn't known for its weather.) We could get sandwiches, salads, soup/chili, soda, chips (not all at once). Here's the thing: you have to like sandwiches. I am not a big fan, hence my Lean Cuisines. But then White Hen started doing pizza! Whoo! We were all a twitter.
Until I got food poisoning.
I have never had it before, and it wasn't that bad I guess, but the only reason I could think of for suddenly getting so sick was from that damn pizza. Shit! Now what was I going to eat?
Today I am saving money. My colleague went to White Hen. My list went something like this:
Chkn soup or chili (if they don't have either then plain chips and a Mountain Dew.)
Turkey sandwich with tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber on white.
Hold the salmonella.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
May I help you sir?
What would you do if you saw a sleepwalker?
What I have always heard is not to wake them. They may have a heart attack, right? Well, if you didn't know would you want to be the one to find out that's true? This may be an old wives tale, but when the staff had a sleepwalker one night they wondered the very same thing.
So this man manages to sleepwalk out of his room, down the hall to the elevator, and down to the main lobby. With guests and staff looking on, this man walked right through the lobby naked as the day he was born.
I shit you not.
He hung out in the lobby for a bit and then turned around and went back upstairs. They all watched in horror as he walked away.
(This was told to me by my overnight staff and who knows if they were exaggerating about him sleepwalking. He could have just been a pervert. But the fact that a man walked through the hotel in his birthday suit is absolutely true! I promise. And apparently it wasn't pretty.)
What I have always heard is not to wake them. They may have a heart attack, right? Well, if you didn't know would you want to be the one to find out that's true? This may be an old wives tale, but when the staff had a sleepwalker one night they wondered the very same thing.
So this man manages to sleepwalk out of his room, down the hall to the elevator, and down to the main lobby. With guests and staff looking on, this man walked right through the lobby naked as the day he was born.
I shit you not.
He hung out in the lobby for a bit and then turned around and went back upstairs. They all watched in horror as he walked away.
(This was told to me by my overnight staff and who knows if they were exaggerating about him sleepwalking. He could have just been a pervert. But the fact that a man walked through the hotel in his birthday suit is absolutely true! I promise. And apparently it wasn't pretty.)
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Joe Schmoe
I am probably the only one happy to be working, and not watching, the football game in the entire city.
See service industry workers tend to develop a drinking problem. Not all of them but the reasons are obvious. You deal with the general public and work stupid hours long enough you get through the shift with the promise of a (cheap) drink at the end. Luckily there are places you can go that won't break the bank because the bartenders understand. Of course then you have to tip well and the money just goes back and forth among the industry workers.
Anyway, I have a friend in town and have been on a bender for a couple days. I knew coming into work all the peeps at the hotel would be at the game and I could just, well, blog and stuff.
I literally can't even think about alcohol without getting a headache.
All right, let me tell you a story. I have been dying to write about some of the celebrities I have met/encountered what have you, but seeing as I have less than two weeks of employment here I do not need to risk getting fired.
However, I will talk about my first week here because its pretty harmless,yet amusing all the same.
I had just started and barely knew the phones. Well, I barely knew anything really. I knew how to smile and nod and say "checking in?" But this phone was ringing and I noticed nobody was answering it so I picked it up.
"Hello, this is Hotel Worker at the front desk. How may I help you?"
A man's voice says, "This is the manager of Joe McIntyre. I know your gym charges for a day pass. If Joe wants to use it can the fee be waived?"
I'm thinking, Joe who? Oh right. The New Kid who is making a comeback as a Christian rocker.
I say, "Well, this is my first week and I am not sure. I will have to ask a manager."
The thing is, it's not our gym. It's a national chain and they give our guests a "discount" day pass. In the end we would have to pay for it. I didn't know if they ever made exceptions or what.
He says with a smirk in his voice, "Oh? You're new? Well, this will be a great experience for you to learn how to deal with celebrities."
I roll my eyes. Get real, guy. I'm like maybe Joey McIntyre was a celeb for 15 minutes back in the day, but I was not a New Kid fan and to me he's just a person. If this guy thinks JM is such a celebrity then he should be able to afford the fucking $10. Right? I will never understand how people who are famous expect everything for free. What I think is that it's not really the famous person who wants it for free. It's their managers and entourages and whoever else tells them they look pretty all the time that wants to save a buck.
So I tell the dude, "I'm sorry. We can not waive the gym fee. There is a lovely jogging path along the lake if you would like to know how to get there."
"That's OK. I don't think he'll have time to work out anyway."
Yeah, I thought so.
On the other hand, later that week LL Cool J came to me for a room key. He was nice and very good looking in person. I smiled at him and he smiled back. Very good looking.
See service industry workers tend to develop a drinking problem. Not all of them but the reasons are obvious. You deal with the general public and work stupid hours long enough you get through the shift with the promise of a (cheap) drink at the end. Luckily there are places you can go that won't break the bank because the bartenders understand. Of course then you have to tip well and the money just goes back and forth among the industry workers.
Anyway, I have a friend in town and have been on a bender for a couple days. I knew coming into work all the peeps at the hotel would be at the game and I could just, well, blog and stuff.
I literally can't even think about alcohol without getting a headache.
All right, let me tell you a story. I have been dying to write about some of the celebrities I have met/encountered what have you, but seeing as I have less than two weeks of employment here I do not need to risk getting fired.
However, I will talk about my first week here because its pretty harmless,yet amusing all the same.
I had just started and barely knew the phones. Well, I barely knew anything really. I knew how to smile and nod and say "checking in?" But this phone was ringing and I noticed nobody was answering it so I picked it up.
"Hello, this is Hotel Worker at the front desk. How may I help you?"
A man's voice says, "This is the manager of Joe McIntyre. I know your gym charges for a day pass. If Joe wants to use it can the fee be waived?"
I'm thinking, Joe who? Oh right. The New Kid who is making a comeback as a Christian rocker.
I say, "Well, this is my first week and I am not sure. I will have to ask a manager."
The thing is, it's not our gym. It's a national chain and they give our guests a "discount" day pass. In the end we would have to pay for it. I didn't know if they ever made exceptions or what.
He says with a smirk in his voice, "Oh? You're new? Well, this will be a great experience for you to learn how to deal with celebrities."
I roll my eyes. Get real, guy. I'm like maybe Joey McIntyre was a celeb for 15 minutes back in the day, but I was not a New Kid fan and to me he's just a person. If this guy thinks JM is such a celebrity then he should be able to afford the fucking $10. Right? I will never understand how people who are famous expect everything for free. What I think is that it's not really the famous person who wants it for free. It's their managers and entourages and whoever else tells them they look pretty all the time that wants to save a buck.
So I tell the dude, "I'm sorry. We can not waive the gym fee. There is a lovely jogging path along the lake if you would like to know how to get there."
"That's OK. I don't think he'll have time to work out anyway."
Yeah, I thought so.
On the other hand, later that week LL Cool J came to me for a room key. He was nice and very good looking in person. I smiled at him and he smiled back. Very good looking.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
The Irish and the magazine kids
One day at the Travelodge a family from Ireland decided they wanted to stay at the hotel for awhile. It must have been an extended family because they took up quite a few rooms. It was just getting warm out so the men had found construction jobs leaving their wives and kids at the hotel.
After a couple weeks we started hearing stuff from our maintenance guy that the Irish girls were prostitutes. This guy tended to exaggerate and well, straight up lie, so we kind of blew it off. But he swore up and down that they kept calling him to their room to fix things and while he was in there they would sit in a provocative manner and would not be wearing underwear. I'm thinking he is just trying to get a reaction out of us and then one day I come into work and my boss is just sitting at the desk just shaking his head.
"What's that look for?" I asked.
Rameez goes, "I had to tell one of the girls to put a shirt on this morning."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, one of the girls apparently thought this was a nudist colony and was walking around topless, no bra or anything. I only found out when one of the guests asked me what kind of hotel we're running."
"What the...? What did she say when you told her to put on a shirt?"
"She was shocked! She acted like there was nothing unusual at all about being topless and walking around outside."
Welcome to America! You're so free you don't even have to wear clothes!
So that was one day at the Travelodge. Not too long later we got another big group that wanted to stay for about 2 weeks. Of course, we like that kind of business, steady revenue.
We dealt with a couple people who seemed like they were responsible adults and were there on business. Then we saw the kids check in.
There were 50 kids between the ages of 16 & 18 piling into our rooms. Every phone call was, "I need an extra pillow and blanket." I'm guessing they put like 6 kids to a room to save money.
We asked what kind of business it was. They told us they were selling magazines. I guess they recruit kids with like no future or something and travel around the country selling...something.
One day I drove into work and there were ambulances and police cars everywhere. I mentioned before all our parking was underneath the two buildings and then one of the buildings had the office, laundry, and breakfast/swingers club room. I saw all the emergency vehicles and quickly ran to the office to see what was going on. The office was locked so I found Rameez with one of the police officers and he threw me the keys with a look like 'I'll tell you later.'
A bit later he walks into the office just laughing his head off.
"What happened?" I ask anxiously.
"One of the magazine people fell into the courtyard from the third floor. He was drunk and trying to walk along the railing and slipped."
"I knew one of those kids were going to do something stupid!" I say.
He goes, "No. It wasn't one of the kids. It was their boss. And he's fine. He was so drunk he didn't even feel it."
I just sighed. At least he had his clothes on.
After a couple weeks we started hearing stuff from our maintenance guy that the Irish girls were prostitutes. This guy tended to exaggerate and well, straight up lie, so we kind of blew it off. But he swore up and down that they kept calling him to their room to fix things and while he was in there they would sit in a provocative manner and would not be wearing underwear. I'm thinking he is just trying to get a reaction out of us and then one day I come into work and my boss is just sitting at the desk just shaking his head.
"What's that look for?" I asked.
Rameez goes, "I had to tell one of the girls to put a shirt on this morning."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, one of the girls apparently thought this was a nudist colony and was walking around topless, no bra or anything. I only found out when one of the guests asked me what kind of hotel we're running."
"What the...? What did she say when you told her to put on a shirt?"
"She was shocked! She acted like there was nothing unusual at all about being topless and walking around outside."
Welcome to America! You're so free you don't even have to wear clothes!
So that was one day at the Travelodge. Not too long later we got another big group that wanted to stay for about 2 weeks. Of course, we like that kind of business, steady revenue.
We dealt with a couple people who seemed like they were responsible adults and were there on business. Then we saw the kids check in.
There were 50 kids between the ages of 16 & 18 piling into our rooms. Every phone call was, "I need an extra pillow and blanket." I'm guessing they put like 6 kids to a room to save money.
We asked what kind of business it was. They told us they were selling magazines. I guess they recruit kids with like no future or something and travel around the country selling...something.
One day I drove into work and there were ambulances and police cars everywhere. I mentioned before all our parking was underneath the two buildings and then one of the buildings had the office, laundry, and breakfast/swingers club room. I saw all the emergency vehicles and quickly ran to the office to see what was going on. The office was locked so I found Rameez with one of the police officers and he threw me the keys with a look like 'I'll tell you later.'
A bit later he walks into the office just laughing his head off.
"What happened?" I ask anxiously.
"One of the magazine people fell into the courtyard from the third floor. He was drunk and trying to walk along the railing and slipped."
"I knew one of those kids were going to do something stupid!" I say.
He goes, "No. It wasn't one of the kids. It was their boss. And he's fine. He was so drunk he didn't even feel it."
I just sighed. At least he had his clothes on.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
I'll show you professional
Let's fast forward to present day...
I have worked in an urban boutiqe type of hotel for nearly five years. It's not really that much different than the Travelodge except it's owned by an actual hotel company, there's a lounge, a few more employees, a higher class of celebs, but that's pretty much the difference. I don't care how much money a person spends for a room, when they check in they tend to leave their brains on the sidewalk out front.
Every single day I hear someone who has stumbled in our lobby wonder out loud, "Am I in a hotel?" It's odd to me, that a person can walk into a building and not know where they are. Maybe the city is overwhelming, maybe they are drunk, I don't know, but I stopped speculating on that years ago.
So we got a new management company several months ago and they are trying make us more classy or something. Every year AAA has awarded us 4 diamonds, so it's not like we sucked before. Our old company let us have an actual personality. The new company doesn't even want us to talk to each other, which should make for some interesting times. I love staring at the wall. Absolutely can't wait for our new office where I can just stare into space waiting for perhaps one guest an hour because it's January and we're dead!
I certainly am going to have to be careful about blogging.
Anyway, I have worked at 4 different hotels and I am dying to share stories about each place. It's hard to know where to start so I'll probably go back and forth from the past and the present with maybe a little of my friends' stories thrown in.
Let me just close with this, since our new managment took over, they have hired and fired 2 different executive managers (because they sucked ass!), were about to be sued for copyright infringement, and have driven away half of employees that have been here for 2 or more years. We used to have the least turnover I ever heard of so you know its bad when they lose employees that have been here since it opened.
Til the next post!
I have worked in an urban boutiqe type of hotel for nearly five years. It's not really that much different than the Travelodge except it's owned by an actual hotel company, there's a lounge, a few more employees, a higher class of celebs, but that's pretty much the difference. I don't care how much money a person spends for a room, when they check in they tend to leave their brains on the sidewalk out front.
Every single day I hear someone who has stumbled in our lobby wonder out loud, "Am I in a hotel?" It's odd to me, that a person can walk into a building and not know where they are. Maybe the city is overwhelming, maybe they are drunk, I don't know, but I stopped speculating on that years ago.
So we got a new management company several months ago and they are trying make us more classy or something. Every year AAA has awarded us 4 diamonds, so it's not like we sucked before. Our old company let us have an actual personality. The new company doesn't even want us to talk to each other, which should make for some interesting times. I love staring at the wall. Absolutely can't wait for our new office where I can just stare into space waiting for perhaps one guest an hour because it's January and we're dead!
I certainly am going to have to be careful about blogging.
Anyway, I have worked at 4 different hotels and I am dying to share stories about each place. It's hard to know where to start so I'll probably go back and forth from the past and the present with maybe a little of my friends' stories thrown in.
Let me just close with this, since our new managment took over, they have hired and fired 2 different executive managers (because they sucked ass!), were about to be sued for copyright infringement, and have driven away half of employees that have been here for 2 or more years. We used to have the least turnover I ever heard of so you know its bad when they lose employees that have been here since it opened.
Til the next post!
Monday, January 8, 2007
The beginning
I began working in hotels when I needed a job during college and the local Travelodge was hiring. My friend and roommate at the time had also applied and eventually we both got the job. He in the AM and me in PM. We quickly realized we would be handling a lot more than just answering the phone and checking people in. I was pretty used to handling high volumes phone calls but this fucking phone rang off the hook.
The owners of the this particular hotel were an Indian family, as in India. At first I guess the owner's brother was running the show, but he decided he didn't want to anymore and took off with a bunch of money. The owner was forced to take over management because he had a 50%stake in it. However, the owner and his wife lived in Mississippi running a lucrative convenience store, so he sent his 3 children to take over.
The GM was the eldest son, Rameez, and he had just finished medical school. It was his responsibility to his family to take a year off and run this hotel. His sister, a law student named Sapna, and his brother Safal were sent to help.
Let me paint a picture of this place, located off a major highway and across the street from a crack motel, we got quite a few weirdos in off the street. But we had the Travelodge name and we had...a swimming pool! This was a big draw, this damn pool. It was outdoors and somewhat nice, but it sat in front of an abandon building that had the potential to be some nice suites. (Potential if this family would ever learn to put money back into the hotel.) And let me clarify it only qualified as a hotel because it had 3 levels and the ground floor was all parking.
The building was falling apart, but a maintenace man was hired to keep the place running, as in painting the rusted railings all blue. There was two buildings connected by walkways and surrounded a courtyard with no trees or grass or anything.
So back to the phone. I learned how to make reservations, balance the room types we reserved, handle people's bills. I also learned how to fold towels, deal with smelly Indian food that was always cooking, and say "the check's in the mail." I realized that when the cable goes out it's probably not the cable company's fault.
This family would do anything for a buck, including but not limited to okaying a swingers party in our breakfast area.
Check back for that story and more!
The owners of the this particular hotel were an Indian family, as in India. At first I guess the owner's brother was running the show, but he decided he didn't want to anymore and took off with a bunch of money. The owner was forced to take over management because he had a 50%stake in it. However, the owner and his wife lived in Mississippi running a lucrative convenience store, so he sent his 3 children to take over.
The GM was the eldest son, Rameez, and he had just finished medical school. It was his responsibility to his family to take a year off and run this hotel. His sister, a law student named Sapna, and his brother Safal were sent to help.
Let me paint a picture of this place, located off a major highway and across the street from a crack motel, we got quite a few weirdos in off the street. But we had the Travelodge name and we had...a swimming pool! This was a big draw, this damn pool. It was outdoors and somewhat nice, but it sat in front of an abandon building that had the potential to be some nice suites. (Potential if this family would ever learn to put money back into the hotel.) And let me clarify it only qualified as a hotel because it had 3 levels and the ground floor was all parking.
The building was falling apart, but a maintenace man was hired to keep the place running, as in painting the rusted railings all blue. There was two buildings connected by walkways and surrounded a courtyard with no trees or grass or anything.
So back to the phone. I learned how to make reservations, balance the room types we reserved, handle people's bills. I also learned how to fold towels, deal with smelly Indian food that was always cooking, and say "the check's in the mail." I realized that when the cable goes out it's probably not the cable company's fault.
This family would do anything for a buck, including but not limited to okaying a swingers party in our breakfast area.
Check back for that story and more!
Sunday, January 7, 2007
End of an Era
The hotel I have been working for the past 5 years is changing. It is becoming somewhat of a trendier, more upscale type of hotel. That doesn't sound so bad, but if you ask anybody who's ever worked here, stayed here, or just walked in here you would be met with a "What? Why?" and an incredulous look on their face.
As I walk around this shell of a hotel it once was, I am sad, so many memories have been made in my time here, and I don't want to forget them. I start to think about all the crazy things that have happened, and I realize that I can not keep them to myself. Since my college days I have worked in some type of hotel or another and regardless if it's a off-the-highway motel or an urban boutique hotel the guests are always going to provide some sort of entertainment.
(Crap. My new GM just introduced himself to me. Did he notice me minimize this window just now? Ah well.)
Although I think my hotel career is near an end, I still have plenty of friends in the business and I know between my old experiences and their new ones I will definitely have some material to share.
Why is it an end of an era then? Well, at some point or another my 2 best friends and my boyfriend have worked at the place I'm currently at. It's where we all met and where "it" all began as far as my adult life is concerned. One friend was fired, one was promoted and moved away, and the boyfriend was, well, also fired. But that's not the point. I am the last one left!
So if you want to hear about bitch managers, stupid/impatient/rude guests, psycho employees, and celebrities read on...
As I walk around this shell of a hotel it once was, I am sad, so many memories have been made in my time here, and I don't want to forget them. I start to think about all the crazy things that have happened, and I realize that I can not keep them to myself. Since my college days I have worked in some type of hotel or another and regardless if it's a off-the-highway motel or an urban boutique hotel the guests are always going to provide some sort of entertainment.
(Crap. My new GM just introduced himself to me. Did he notice me minimize this window just now? Ah well.)
Although I think my hotel career is near an end, I still have plenty of friends in the business and I know between my old experiences and their new ones I will definitely have some material to share.
Why is it an end of an era then? Well, at some point or another my 2 best friends and my boyfriend have worked at the place I'm currently at. It's where we all met and where "it" all began as far as my adult life is concerned. One friend was fired, one was promoted and moved away, and the boyfriend was, well, also fired. But that's not the point. I am the last one left!
So if you want to hear about bitch managers, stupid/impatient/rude guests, psycho employees, and celebrities read on...
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