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!