Hotel Chick

Still Around and Dusting!

2012-01-15T21:16:00.000-08:00

I got off work a little over 3 hours ago. My feet are sooooo SORE. There was an annoying situation in one of the rooms, where someone spilled coffee with cream all over the carpet as soon as he walked in the room. He proceeded to clean it up with the comforter. Ok, so he calls the front desk 5 minutes into his check-in, and needs house keeping. I have to bring him a new blanket (mind you, this cuts into my daily quota of rooms that need to be done). He doesn't ask for just the blanket, he wants me to make the bed! Not only that, I had to get the steam cleaner up and clean the carpet so the odor from milk doesn't stink it up. After I steam his floor, he throws a bath towel over it and said, "So, I don't forget and accidentally step on it." In my head I'm thinking tsk tisk, but I just smile and get him a new towel.

Some people. I ended up missing 2 rooms, thank god for help!

Hotel Housekeeper Harassment

2011-05-21T20:29:00.000-07:00

I found this article regarding Harassment that Hotel Housekeepers experience, on MSN news when I signed onto the net today. Funny thing is, I guess I'm not the only housekeeper that has walked in to a man jerking off. My "pervert" wasn't naked though, he had Down Syndrome.

Nothing spectacular to update you with.

An Article I saw on Yahoo, Today

2010-11-03T08:56:00.000-07:00

I saw this on Yahoo and had to share! It's EXACTLY what I feel. Funny the blog is similar to what I've been saying all this time!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Confessions of a Hotel Housekeeper
"Instead of Vacuuming, I Picked Up Some Crumbs"

Allison Rupp worked at Yellowstone National Park's historic Old Faithful Inn in 2004.

Three simple letters could inspire the "Hallelujah" chorus: DND, or do not disturb. One sign hanging on a doorknob, and the day's work was shortened by half an hour. Two signs? Pure heaven, but only if they remained there until my eight-hour shift ended—otherwise I'd have to circle back and clean the rooms. My daily list of 15 rooms (out of 325 in the hotel) consisted of DOs (due out) and Os (occupied), which in housekeeping lingo meant the guests were scheduled to check out or were staying another night. An occupied room was less labor-intensive (making the beds rather than changing the sheets saved me 20 minutes), but there was always the possibility the guest would stay in the room while you worked. One man watched me clean his entire room, from scrubbing the toilet to emptying the trash—and told me at the end that I was "building character." Condescension is not nearly as encouraging to a maid as a couple of dollars.

As long as it looked clean
I cut corners everywhere I could. Instead of vacuuming, I found that just picking up the larger crumbs from the carpet would do. Rather than scrub the tub with hot water, sometimes it was just a spray-and-wipe kind of day. After several weeks on the job, I discovered that the staff leader who inspected the rooms couldn't tell the difference between a clean sink and one that was simply dry, so I would often just run a rag over the wet spots. But I never skipped changing the sheets. I wouldn't sink that low, no matter how lazy I was feeling.

A bacterial wonderland
I was disgusted by the many guests I came in contact with through the things they left behind: the hairs on the pillow, the urine on the toilet seat, the half-eaten cookie, the stained sheets. One woman had soiled her sheets so thoroughly that we had to toss them in a biohazard bag—they could never be used again. Rooms where young kids stayed were the worst, with food ground into the carpet and piles of used diapers in the trash. That kind of demoralizing mess could take 45 minutes to clean up. Most maids wore rubber gloves when they worked, but mine were too big, so I discarded them. Unsurprisingly, I got the flu twice.

Not for love—or money
I didn't know maids received tips, so it took me weeks to realize that the coins left in rooms were an intentional gift. My tips were paltry: I almost never received more than $1, and at times guests left religious pamphlets. One day, however, I was shocked to find a crisp $100 bill lying on a table. Although the generous tip put a little spring in my step and compelled me to do a better job that day, it didn't change my work ethic for long. I apologize to you now if you ever stayed in one of my rooms. You deserved better. But if housekeepers were paid more than minimum wage—and the tips were a bit better—I might have cleaned your toilet rather than just flushed it.

Meeting

2010-06-15T04:04:00.000-07:00

I am getting ready for a morning meeting at work. It's about MORE amenities. I'm sick of this shit. The more they add to the rooms, the more shit we have to clean in the same amount of time.

It's not like they are hiring more housekeepers.

So, yesterday, I had 12 rooms, 4 were total disasters. In some states the kids are out of school already. Parents bring their kids on vacation. They go to the beach and then track sand all over the room.

Bad room number 2, a couple had an infant and didn't "wrap" the diapers. So, the diapers were being tossed in the bathroom trashcan. This couple had their Do Not Disturb sign up for the entire weekend. Shitty trashcan. Why don't people just let us take their trash for them before the shit literally starts to ferment?

Okay, off topic. I'm not looking forward to this meeting.

Businesses Should NOT Be Allowed to DISCRIMINATE

2010-05-26T16:01:00.000-07:00

I have noticed many hotel housekeeping supervisors discriminating and hiring non-English speaking people and paying them minimum wage, while I get 2 dollars more. I have also been discriminated against when I started this blog back in 2007 and how the hotel district manager said, "When I heard you speak perfect English, I knew you weren't cut out for this job." I should have made a public complaint, but I didn't think anybody would believe little ole me over a big corporation. I just signed a petition against businesses being able to discriminate based on ethnicity and I'd like to share this email with you...

Dear friends,

On Wednesday, Rand Paul, the GOP's US Senate candidate for Kentucky repeated his claim that a central piece of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was wrong, and that businesses should be free to discriminate against whomever they please.1 Paul and his supporters don't seem to care that without federal intervention, Black people might still be second-class citizens in most aspects of American life: where we eat, where we work, even where we live.

Then, on Thursday, FOX contributor and business anchor John Stossel went even further than Paul and called for the section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that applies to business to be repealed.2 And he's refused to back down.

It's time to hold FOX accountable:

http://colorofchange.org/stossel/?id=2148-1225326

While Rand Paul may have started this outrage, he can be taken care of at the ballot box — FOX News can't.

Stossel's position is an affront to Black America and everyone in this country who believes in racial progress. It's one thing to be a candidate with backwards views. It's another to be employed by a supposed news network and to use that platform to push hateful ideas that our nation repudiated decades ago.

It's time that FOX drop Stossel. It's why I've joined ColorOfChange.org in demanding Fox do so immediately. If after hearing from thousands of people like you and I, FOX refuses to act, it will make clear that FOX stands with Stossel and his values, and ColorOfChange has pledged to go directly after the network with a major public campaign.

Can you take a moment to add your voice to the call to fire Stossel? After you do, please ask your friends and family to do the same:

http://colorofchange.org/stossel/?id=2148-1225326

FOX has a history of providing a platform for bigoted views and race-baiting. Most recently more than 300,000 people helped us hold FOX accountable by stripping Glenn Beck of more than 100 of his advertisers, after Beck called President Obama a "racist" with a "deep-seated hatred for white people."3

But Stossel has arguably gone beyond Beck, echoing segregationist arguments from the Jim Crow era:

"It's time now to repeal that part of the law because private businesses ought to get to discriminate. And I won't ever go to a place that's racist and I will tell everybody else not to and I'll speak against them. But it should be their right to be racist."

Stossel went on to argue something that history has disproved time and again — that private business will do the right thing, without being compelled by laws, because no one would patronize a business that discriminates. It's a blind belief in market fundamentalism that just isn't in sync with reality. In the '60s, white-owned businesses that allowed Blacks as customers lost business. Market forces actually perpetuated discrimination; they didn't combat it. Simply put: segregation would still be active in parts of this country if government hadn't stepped in.

And recent history has shown that the public accommodations section of the Civil Rights Act is still needed. In 1994, it was used to hold Denny's Restaurants accountable, after the chain repeatedly refused to seat Black customers.4 Just last year, it was used to go after a Philadelphia pool that prevented Black children from swimming there.5

It's time for Fox News to make a choice. Are they willing to continue to give a platform to racially-divisive rhetoric and revive dangerously outdated perspectives? Or will they move with the rest of the nation into into the 21st century? Please join me in calling on Fox News to fire John Stossel. And once you do, please ask your friends and family to do the same:

http://colorofchange.org/stossel/?id=2148-1225326

Thank you.

References:

1. http://huff.to/cjOnxL
2. http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201005200033
3. http://bit.ly/aoJUUy
4. http://nyti.ms/bpVZZY
5. http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/January/10-crt-033.html

Blue Puke All OVER

2010-02-25T21:44:00.000-08:00

Oh god, this couple went out last night and one of the people in the room vomitted all over the bathroom. And then they left! So, without cleaning up after themselves they left VOMIT in the bathroom and in the vanity sink.

One of the housekeepers paged the housekeeping office and I was in there with the supervisor. All I hear is, "Oh disgusting. Ok, I will send help. Make sure to use biohazard."

She then tells me, "I need you to go help Imelda. Someone vomitted in the room and left. Get extra biohazard bags, latex gloves and maintenance will help you with clean-up. The carpet has to be steamed. Imelda said it was pretty bad."

Fuckity fuck. When I became a housekeeper I did NOT know what I was in store for. I never knew I'd see period blood on sheets, never knew I'd see shit in trashcans, or sex paraphranalia around. I assumed it would be making beds, washing tubs, toilets and sinks. I always assumed people would treat the rooms with respect. I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd be cleaning up puke towels that were left after someone TRIED cleaning up but didn't do anything but smear puke around.

When I got to the room I was hit by the smell of alcohol and puke. It smelled soooo strong. We had the window and balcony door open. Pancho brought up a steam cleaner and was actually much more able to stomach the smell than Imelda and I. We got the towels and dropped them into biohazard bags. The blanket as well had to be biohazard as the person puked on the floor and it splashed onto the bottom of her blanket.

There was blue puke all over the place. I had never seen so much "blue" in my life. So, I have a cold with a stuffy nose, sprained wrists, a migrain headache and nausea from someone's vomit. When I thought things couldn't get any nastier, it did.

2010-02-19T23:16:00.000-08:00

There was a big argument in the front today. I was wiping down the lobby and apparently this couple booked a room, but....big BUT, the room was NOT the room they wanted. They said they wanted a room that faced our swimming pool area, and when they got their key card and found their room it was upstairs.

So the woman is bitching at the receptionist who did not book the room. She's new and didn't know how to respond except to keep saying sorry. The lady was yelling at her and saying, "We came all the way out from New Jersey and I specifically said I wanted a room that faced the swimming pool. I want to be able to freely come and go to the pool as I please. Now I'm up on the second floor and have to take a stupid elevator down and walk around. That's ridiculous. It's called a vacation. I want the luxury of accessing everything as easy as I can...THIS is UNACCEPTABLE."

Good grief.

The receptionist called housekeeping to see if we had any rooms available that were facing the pool. Housekeeping called back and told the receptionist it would be ready in about 35 minutes. The woman was so mad. She was like, "Look we have ALL our luggage. I would prefer some help taking it to my new room since you guys screwed things up." The supervisor came to the front and said all we could do was offer them a luggage carrier cart, but that we do not carry or assist them in their rooms with their belongings. She was yelling, "BUT YOU MESSED IT UP. We had a long trip down here from New Jersey, and we are tired and want to rest. We also had to carry our luggage up the elevator and I think we personally need to be compensated for your screw up."

The supervisor said, "We can discount your stay, but we cannot carry your belongings. The best we can do is provide a luggage cart to you." The lady said, "Whatever." And she got her luggage cart and her room.

I'm sure it will go on TripAdvisor.

Valentine's Day

2010-02-17T10:16:00.001-08:00

My wrists are still strained, but I am able to come in and fold sheets and do walk throughs with the supervisor. I've been doing touch-ups on toilets, shower fixtures and mirrors, but no cart pushing. Also have been running amok for customers. Valentine's day was crazy busy. My wrists were a little worse, but the place was packed.

I had a woman tell me that she rented the room for her husband and herself and left their teenage kids at home. It was a long overdue vacation. I'm thinking I've had vacations I didn't even want. Well, she was really picky about the blankets. She wanted to know if we had any RED ones. The closest thing to red was a floral reddish pattern. She seemed unsatisfied but opted for that over the green comforter. Then she said she wanted to know if we could throw rose petals around for her. I said we don't offer that, but if she ordered rose petals from a local flower shop, then we can do that for her if it didn't interfere with our schedules.

I mean, she wanted me or us or whomever to change the comforter to a red one, have red wine in glasses by 7pm, the cd player on with her cd (which she can do herself but she mentioned it to me as if she wanted me to do it), and see if the cafeteria could have a fruit salad delivered to the room and placed in the center of the bed. Okay, this is a small hotel, with a busy flippin schedule. We offer lower prices than most in our area, and therefore we get booked rather quick. This means more people, more mess and more demands. Well, dressing your room up for the holidays should have been an expense, not a favor.

She didn't understand our schedule apparently. I said, "The hotel is super busy at the moment. It's a 3 day weekend and some of our guests weekend started on Friday. Some of our guests are either leaving or coming in and the rooms have to be cleaned, but I personally cannot set your room up for Valentine's Day while you are out and about. It doesn't fit into my particular schedule." She's like, "But it's a surprise for my husband. It has to be set up or it won't work out as I planned."

I said, "I will see to it that someone gets back to you about setting up your room. I personally don't have the time to do it. I have 50 rooms to work on." Meanwhile, I'm running behind because this idiot is not listening and is whining about how it's got to be perfect.

As a housekeeper, I have about 14 rooms max, but as a "toucher upper, wiper downer" I have 50 rooms to inspect and wipe down any traces of water droplets, hair, dust or dander, and make sure there's no lint and the rooms smell fresh enough, the towels are tightly folded and origami'ed and that blankets are evenly draped on the sides of the beds.

So later on...
Front desk tells me to go ahead and decorate the woman's room. There's a list of directions.

There was a list and I still have it all crumbled up:
1) I need a red comforter.
2) Rose petals are in the refridgerator, please place evenly on the floor around the bed and in the bathroom too.
3) I would like the wine to be set on the night stand, wine in glasses, bottle in fridge.
4) Fruit goes in center of bed
5) Please do not shut my window.
6) Spray my personal air freshener, it's in the the nightstand where the clock is.
7) Leave the vanity light on.

It has to be perfect. Tip is under the rose petals.

I went to the ~~tip~~, I mean rose petals. They were red petals and I placed them everywhere. I feel sorry for the housekeeper who has to pick them all up later if the couple doesn't clean up. Sure enough there was a $50 bill under the box of rose petals in the refridgerator. I set the room up with the new blanket without messing the sheets. Although it wasn't red, it was cream colored blanket with red rose print. I sprayed her room spray. I called up room service and they delivered the fruit to me. The wine was ready to go and it looked SO BEAUTIFUL.

The vanity lights were on, and I left the room. Supervisor told me that he had discussed with her the schedule, and figured since my wrists were injured that I could handle the lightness of dressing her room up rather than have me running around doing his touch-up, wipe-down job during the last half hour of my work shift. Although it didn't take me more than 10 minutes to do, she paid me $50 to compensate for my time. If more people were so generous...*sigh* LOL

Corporate took me Out for Lunch!

2010-02-07T00:18:00.000-08:00

I went in to pick up my paycheck. My supervisor wasn't there, but they had it waiting for me in the office. I stayed around till lunch time which was 30 minutes, just shooting the shit with someone from corporate office who happened to be in town. She was very concerned about my wrists and my accident. She even asked me if I would like to come along for lunch. What??

I get to eat with the such-n-such, someone from corporate? I didn't turn her down. We actually ended up getting sushi. It was my first time trying it, and I actually liked it. She paid! *headspin*

So, I don't know how we got on a friendly level, but now we're friends on FACEBOOK! LOL We really clicked apparently, but I feel funny being a measly Laborer in an ugly uniform, while she wears a business suit to work.

Rain

2010-02-06T01:11:00.001-08:00

It's raining again and the slick streets have me scared to drive. I still haven't been able to get to work with my sprained wrists. I can't pick my son up either. He's still little, but he's getting big. I just can't hold him because of my wrists.

The chiropractor says I have whiplash and it will be a while before it heals, and usually that it will heal with scar tissue. Great, just what I need.

My wrists are much better and the swelling I had in both is completely down. It still hurts though and I'm actually getting antsy with staying home. There's not much I can do other than push the buttons on my remote control.

I'm getting a replacement car (other than the rental) on Monday. Thank God. In about 2 weeks I should be back to pushing carts at the hotel.

Car Accident

2010-02-02T09:14:00.000-08:00

I got into a huge car accident on the way to work 3 days ago. The guy that rear-ended me didn't have insurance and was promptly taken to jail. He begged me not to call the police and said he didn't have insurance because he couldn't afford it and had just lost his job. That's not my fucking problem though. My problem at the time was I need a damn ambulance and you totalled the back of my car. Not to mention, I now know that I probably won't be getting it fixed because you can't afford to pay for it because you obviously can't afford to pay your insurance premiums.

My neck is totally thrown out and I have bruising on my chest. My wrists were strained. My right knee is bruised from hitting the bottom of my dashboard. Thank God though that I didn't hit my head on the windshield and for the invention of airbags and seatbelts. I did try and work the day after the accident, but they sent me home after my first room.

It was awful. Picture trying to push a cart loaded with a Vacuum, sheets (which do get heavy), soaps, towels, a trash bag full of trash, cleansers, and trying to clean a bathtub with strained wrists or lifting the corners of bed mattresses to tuck sheets...with two strained wrists?

I was having such an issue my supervisor thanked me, and asked me to go ahead and clock out. I'm so glad my baby wasn't in the car. My car is totalled and I'm in a rental and I will be seeing not only my family practitioner but a chiropractor as well today. I've got gauze on both wrists. I can't hardly do anything. I've been wearing teeshirts, sweats and flip-flops because I can't tie or button anything!

December is Just Around the Corner

2009-11-15T09:16:00.000-08:00

December 14th is my retraining just to brush up on my speed and make sure I do things right. Decmeber 15th will be my actual real workday with cart and on my own.

Why am I nervous?

They Hired Me

2009-10-19T00:59:00.000-07:00

They re-hired me, but said I will be working weekends only in December as they are now fully staffed. Weekends are always harder because that's when people get ready to leave, and if they've been in the hotel all week the room is usually torn up. If they were just overnight, then we have to get it whipped back in to shape for the next weekender.

It's not such a bad thing, but I am hoping I can snap back into it. I'm afraid I will be a little rusty. I swear, at home I don't do as much cleaning as I do in the hotel but lately, I've been practicing. When the baby's sleeping in his crib, I break out my little cleaning carryall basket, set it on the coffeetable and see how fast I can get the place into shape, running a rag across all surfaces, pulling the bedsheets tight with hospital corners, washing the tub and wall, the sink, faucets, the toilet, floor and making sure the mirror is wiped clean. My mom thinks I'm nuts. She said I need to stop being so picky about my bedspread and worry about getting sleep.

I think she's probably right.

The Baby

2009-10-01T02:20:00.001-07:00

IT'S A BOY. I had the baby and he'll be 4 months old. I worked for a couple months during my pregnancy in 2008, but it got too difficult to rush around and clean, and being around all the cleansers and putting myself at risk for infections around toilets and whatnot was just too much for me.

I was so scared to go, because of the economy and people not hiring people. Fortunately, housekeeping does have a high turnover rate, and I did not want to leave. Well, I took A LOT of time off and the hotel did promise me that I could come back anytime I was ready. I will continue my ventures and my blog in December 2009 when the hotel needs me during the Christmas and Hanukkah Vacation rush.

I turned in a new application and a letter to my former supervisor (whom will be my supervisor again).

"Dear L*****,

I will be ready to work as a housekeeper for [deleted hotel name] by December 1, 2009. I thank you for the opportunity to leave early during my pregnancy and to bond with my new baby. I enjoyed working with the staff and guests last year and would like the chance to come back and do it all over again. Please consider my position with your company, again.

Sincerely,
[Hotel Chick]"

Until next time...

I am Pregnant

2008-09-11T01:05:00.000-07:00

I am now pregnant, and instead of the actual hard labor of cleaning up rooms by myself, I have been helping the other housekeepers and have also been doing laundry or walking with supervisors to double-check rooms.

The smell of the chemicals, the pushing around the car, lifting the vacuum on and off the cart, scrubbing tubs and moving chairs and furniture to vacuum behind became a bit much.

So, now I am running around making sure other housekeepers are doing their duty. If they aren't, I go up and wipe things down, make sure mirrors have no streaks or spots, pick up that extra crumb that was skipped over, etc. I wish my supervisors did that for me back when I very first started this profession.

It's a drag, the odor of the air freshener STILL gets me queasy, but other than that, laundry and walking the rooms has been interesting. I'm not fond of folding laundry so much though.

Crush

2008-07-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

There is a man who stays in our hotel once a month for a week. He does work out here every single month and has a slight southern drawl, but also speaks so eloquently and crisp like that of a News anchor. He's an attractive man, but I am really not interested.

By now he's figured out my work schedule, and our lunch break. I never told him but he always asks me where am I going for lunch. I always tell him, "Home." I don't want him to go where I go and he's never asked to go to my home, so that was safe. Well, I lie. I do not go home but go to various restaurants around here to pick up something fast, or I just eat there and then go back to work.

Oh gosh, I made it to a hamburger shop called Rally's. Guess who I see? It's the guy who always gets our best rooms, comes in every single month for a week, and always asks me out. I was already eating, my face stuffed, and he came up with a tray, didn't sit in front of me, but sat at a table within the same booth, and was like, "It's good to see a familiar face. Mind if I join you?" I mean, he had already sat down, so what was I supposed to say, "No?"

Well, I packed my food up rather fast, because I told him I had to get gas and get back to work to clock in on time. I didn't really need gas, but just wanted to go. I don't feel like a hottie in my sweaty maid outfit. I feel like a trashman! Anyhow, it's cool he finds me attractive but it is not going to go anywhere.

Lo and behold, I ended up having to clean his room. His room smelled so nice, like a fresh shower...he never uses the trial size shampoos or soaps we leave. The room smells like the Axe body wash he has in the shower, and the Polo Sport by Ralph Lauren that sits on his vanity. His room also has a hint of leather because of his leather luggage. Guess what, he requested that I personally clean his room because he said I do it better than anybody else." I had noticed that my room schedule had said that Estella got one of my rooms and I ended up with one of hers. We had a room swap.

The man, who I have figured by the paperwork on his nightstand is named Mark, only needed extra towels, as all his towels and washcloths were used. I made his towels extra fluffy, by shaking them out and refolding them. I fluffed his pillows although we were trained to flatten them, and even straightened out his shoes which were in a mess in front of his closet. I had to, he left me a $30 tip on his pillow.

I'm so very flattered.

Coke and an Umbrella

2008-06-13T05:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I went to a checked-out room, and saw TONS of belongings in there. I'm thinking, "Oh, they must have extended their stay," and I moved on to finish up 2 other rooms. Later, my supervisor asked me why I had skipped over the room, after reading over my room-list. It wasn't highlighted (we have to highlight all rooms we cleaned). I said, "It's still occupied."

So, she calls the front desk and they are like, "No, they checked out already." I'm thinking WTF is with all the stuff everywhere?

I went back to the room and found a note that said (verbatim):

Dear Staff,

Thank you for the friendly service this entire vacation. I can't bring all my luggage with me on the airplane because of new baggage fees. The things I have left can be used or donated. I only brought them for my trip. Please do not throw away because everything is in mint conditon. I would like them to be donated or put to good use. I took what I needed. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Mrs. J***** M******* (I bleeped out her name)

She left 2 small suitcases full of clothing (some were brand name and brand spanking new), a bag of lotions and unused lipstick samples and lipbalms, poolside/beach gear consisting of a small plastic table, a rainbow colored beach umbrella, and a folding beach chair (maybe used once or twice), and an ice chest full of Coca Cola and still had a few ice cubes and water in it. My supervisor called for extra help for me, but I really would have liked to been there alone! The housekeepers were on her things like crazy, arguing over who wanted what! They were holding shirts and dresses up. I took the ice chest and umbrella, considering my car was parked within 50 feet of her door.

Housekeeping does have its perks! LOL

I'll Miss You Cashew and Chicken Combo

2008-06-10T14:47:00.001-07:00

For the entire duration of my job at the hotel, I was always able to buy food at the hotel restaurant. The only staff that is allowed to actually sit and eat in there are the head hotel honchos who have business meetings there. I would order food and then take it to the break room.

So, they held a meeting Monday after work and said we couldn't order food from the restaurant anymore. This means no more coffee and muffin for me in the morning. I'm so aggravated. I'm an On-The-Go type of person. I wake up in the morning, shower, throw my uniform on, braid my ponytail and GO. I don't usually even have a real breakfast.

Eating a morning snack and having a cup of coffee or even a bottle of water is always convenient for me. It wakes me up and gets me going. They said it makes the restaurant look "cheap" having staff (housekeepers and maintenance is who they actually meant) in the restaurant. We are also not allowed to use the restroom in the hallway. It's for guests only. We have to take that extra long walk to the break area and go there. I was spoiled for a moment. When I first got here, things were much more lenient.

I guess with the cost of everything going up, they also had to do some cutbacks in order to keep guests happy, like making staff use the restroom that tends to not get as clean as the ones in the hallway.

I am pretty bummed. I won't be able to get the fabulous cashew and chicken sandwich that I was able to order before. Now, I have to eat at Subway or McDonalds down the street. Yuck. I guess I could pack a lunch, but WHO HAS TIME anymore?

When I get home, I try not to work so hard. Standing around on my feet as a housekeeper, you'd think my house would be white-glove clean too. WRONG. I have laundry piled up and eat off paper plates because I GIVE UP on dish washing. I also never make my bed unless someone is coming over...like I really have time and energy to fix myself a sandwich.

At Least the Tres Leches Cake was Great

2008-06-05T02:18:00.000-07:00

There was a huge birthday celebration for the front desk supervisor. Although I've seen him many times, I never really met him or spoke to him other than hello. I sometimes feel the front desk workers look down on the housekeepers just because they have more verbal communication with guests or perhaps they don't get dirty and sweaty like me while working. Either way, it feels uncomfortable sometimes.

We were presented with enchiladas and tacos. The birthday food was Mexican cuisine and very authentic. I chose to sit with some of the front desk and office people just to see how I would fit in to their conversations and perhaps meet someone not in housekeeping. I was actually disappointed that nobody spoke to me and basically pretended I was not there. I wasn't surprised, just disappointed.

Lunch was delicious and I even had a second helping of chicken and cheese enchilada. They had this very moist cake which they said was called Tres Leches Cake (3 Milks Cake). It was the best cake I've ever had.

When lunch break was over, it was back to the nitty gritty. I noticed that one of the rooms facing the pool was extremely wet. They were letting their children run back and forth into their room in wet bathing suits. I normally wouldn't say anything, but I couldn't hold back. I said, "Please use your towel when going back into the room. It keeps the carpet dry and helps keep it from getting moldy." The mother gave me a dirty look and yelled at the children to stop running indoors. I am not sure if what I had said was disrespecting them as guests, but I felt they were disrespecting our property and it felt right at the time to speak up.

I had another room and there was a note on the bed which said, "Please leave the pillows alone. I brought my own and it's not necessary to fluff them or put pillow cases over them. Thanks." I looked at the pillows and they were filthy! They were beat up looking and inside a light brown pillowcase that looked 50 years old. I guess the pillows were like "blankies."

The bathroom was pretty nasty, though. The female was obviously on her period, and did not have the decency to wrap her menstrual pads in paper. They were just sitting there in plain view. Dirty pillow case and not wrapping her pads! I bet she keeps a filthy house. I changed the wastebasket liner for her and felt almost like vomitting. I have seen far worse things, but something about her room just grossed me out and turned my stomach upside down. After dumping her wastebasket into my trash bin, I actually was so disgusted, I took it to "headquarters" to the main dump that our maintenance staff will take to the outside dumpster bins. I couldn't bare to have her blood that close to me every time I pushed my cart or needed something from it.

The 6 last rooms I had were so very easy as they were all stayovers and those are always easiest. I ended up helping some of the other staff clean some rooms and the day went by extremely fast.

Porn In Room 233

2008-06-03T23:08:00.000-07:00

I had a very sexually active room. Apparently, last night there were complaints about one of the rooms and the people in it were being loud, there were loud noises, radio was blaring and lots of laughter and sounded like a lot of people. Come to find out they had a party in there.

However, when I went to clean up the room today around 2:30pm, I noticed that the room was still occupied, but the guests were out and about. They had 3 cameras, 2 angled at the bed and one on the couch. It was absolutely disgusting...at least what was going through my mind.

There was a bottle of warming oil and two used condoms on the coffee table. I LEFT it there. Yes, I am a housekeeper and yes I am to clean up after people, but to deliberately leave a condom on the table is just downright disgusting. They are to stay overnight anyway, so I hope and pray that one of the occupants throws their condom in the wastebasket.

When I got to the bed to make it, I had to get out the biohazard bags. I removed the blanket because I believed it needed to be thoroughly washed and replaced for the room, as the bed area smelled of sex to me. The pillows were piled up as if it was used to boost someone, and there were DIRTY vibrators of multiple colors sitting on the nightstand. On the dresser was some strange glass device which I later learned during our lunch break was another form of sex toy. I cleaned around it and did not touch it. I thought it was a sex toy, but I had no idea. The bathroom vanity had hand prints on the mirror.

The women were laughing at me in the breakroom as I described this room to them.

I guess they were taping a movie of some sort. Apparently, there are some gentleman who rented the room for the week who put it on their business debit card which sounded like a porn production company. So the inside of one of our hotel rooms will be in some porn movie. Just totally crazy.

When Families Sneak kids In.

2008-05-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

Considering I CHOSE to work on Memorial Day, they let me have a 3 day weekend this weekend. I'm not at work.

I had such a dirty room Thursday. The room was only supposed to be occupied by 2 people, but they snuck about 4 other people in. There was a makeshift bed on the sofa, and 3 on the floor! The bathroom was sandy on the floor and in the tub. When I began to scrub the tub, the water wouldn't go down because of the sand. I had to call maintenance to the room so they could clear the tub out as I cleaned the pigsty room.

There were crackers and chips in the couch, red stains on one of the sheets on the floor, and the culprit was Flaming Hot Cheetoes fingers, as I found the bag shoved under the couch. The trash was over-full, and come to find out, the couple had their DND sign up for the entire week they were here, for obvious reasons. This is why hotels charge more for having 2 extra kids than 2 extra adults, because kids tear up the place a lot more.

The family had wet mildewy towels fermenting in the closet. And boy were they RIPE. I had to open the window and sliding glass door to breathe. Well, that is my story for the day.

I Almost killed His Fish!

2008-05-28T19:31:00.001-07:00

I am such an ass. Today, I was carrying an ironing board into one of the rooms. There were conjoining rooms. One was obviously occupied by a child while his parents had the other room. They were out and about and I decided to bring in an ironing board because theirs was rusted and wouldn't shut. We have 4 new ones so I thought I'd replace theirs out of courtesy.

I accidentally bumped a small beta fish bowl off the end table onto the floor and literally the water soaked right into the floor. I grabbed the fish which was flopping around and then stopped but his gills were still opening and stuffed him back into the fish bowl and put tap water in so he could breathe.

I really feel like such a jerk. Anyway, during my lunch break, I went to a PetSmart which is not even a mile away, and got a $25 gift card and put it in their room, JUST IN CASE. I actually left a note for the family because I'm sure the water needs to be treated or it could die from shock or something.

Hopefully I did the right thing. I felt bad for the little guy!

So Many Changes

2008-05-25T16:16:00.000-07:00

We got new uniforms. They are an olive colored scrub-like top, with black pants. It's to match the new Japanese zen feel they are adding to some of the rooms. I keep thinking how I'm going to keep my shirt from staining. So far, I've been okay, but sometimes the comet would leave pale stains on my black uniform shirt.

Along with this zen approach, they've now taught us how to fold objects out of our washcloths, what they call, "Washcloth Origami." We're to make 1 of 3 designs in the Japanese rooms. It's so annoying. I prefer to make the fan as it is the easiest to do. The other rooms with less ammenities get a folded up washcloth stuffed into a hand towel. It's so much easier.

The weather has been rather chilly, so guests have been leaving their heaters on for a more "comfortable" temperature, and it's seriously killing me. I leave extremely sweaty in some of the rooms.

We have a new manager, as our last manager put in his 2 weeks notice a month ago, and this one is less lenient about things, but all the while better than my first hotel job. The guests who have stayed with us before notice the obvious changes in everything from attitude, to decor and atmosphere. I would like to move up or get a raise in this job, but haven't been here a year. I am kind of impatient and my bills are piling up at home due to economic changes. I may have to get a second job.

Cursed Me Out

2008-03-17T13:39:00.000-07:00

Friday, I went into a room that was occupied. The woman was on the phone. The door did not have a "Do Not Disturb" sign, and I knocked, said, "Housekeeping." I heard nothing, and went in. When she saw me, she told the person she was on the phone with to hold on. She then proceeded to say, "Who the fuck said it was okay to walk in my room without permission?"

I then said, "I am sorry. You didn't have your sign on the doorknob." She said, "Sign or no sign, what gives you the right to walk in someone's room?" I said, "It's standard procedure in hotels for housekeepers to clean your room and give you new towels." She said, "I have never heard such bullshit before." I asked, "Have you ever stayed in a hotel before?" And then she screamed I was insulting her intelligence. I said, "I'm sorry you feel that way. If you are in need of clean towels, extra shampoos or lotions just call the front desk and I can bring it to you." She said, "Fuck you and I won't be needing your services."

That was a first. I wonder if she had a mental illness, but it certainly ruined my day and I actually went home and cried because I let her get to me. You never know how your day will be with Housekeeping. There's a surprise every day.

Gone

2008-03-03T01:18:00.000-08:00

E. left our hotel this past Friday, right after getting her paycheck. She announced it was her last day and threw in the towel. I guess after being written up twice, she gave up. Our hotel is decent, doesn't have too many ammenities, and work gets done. The supervisors are good at praising when we do a good job, as opposed to the godawful hotel I worked for last August (they ALWAYS told you what you were doing wrong). Well, E was getting praised, but after I had anonymously written corporate about her use of dirty towels from the floor to vanity, she had been written up twice. We get a fair amount of rooms and sometimes have projects on the side such as cleaning up the library (a teeny, tiny book room).

Now for my most memorable day this past week. Thursday, we had an elderly man who couldn't hear all that well, but kept talking. When I asked him if he wanted me to make his bed (he had towels and his luggage on the bed) he asked me if I had said, "naked bread?" That was the funniest thing I ever heard, and I couldn't keep my smile from forming on my face. Naked bread, come on, who ever says that! I said, forming my words better, "Would you like me to MAKE YOUR BED?" He said sure and he moved his things.

When I had cleaned his vanity, I noticed he still had some shampoo and conditioner, but I asked him anyway, "Do you want more shampoo and conditioner." He said, "Shampoo my dishes?" We don't even have kitchens in the rooms, let alone do we shampoo dishes! I corrected him and did the same formation with my mouth, "WOULD YOU, like MORE shampoo, and CON-DITION-ER?" He said, "Oh, I'm sorry, it's my hearing aid. It ain't no good."

I think I laughed in a few rooms alone after that one. He was just hilarious to talk to.

Bloop

2008-02-19T06:19:00.000-08:00

This weekend I had a friend visit me from out of state. She stayed at Super 8 Motel and I happened to drop by for a visit. It was early in the morning and housekeeping was already making their rounds about the motel. My friend was soaking in the jacuzzi when I got there. The night before I also had made a pitstop to the bathroom in the room and heard a Bloop sound when I flushed the toilet. I didn't think anything of it, other than "Oh what a weird noise."

The morning at the jacuzzi, I went to her bathroom again and this time upon flushing, the toilet didn't make that Bloop sound, but started filling to the rim and over-flowing. Then the bolts on the back of the toilet were spewing water. I panicked, as I watched the water fill up.

I stepped out of the bathroom and looked around and grabbed used Motel towels to stop the flow that was already going into their room and inches away from their luggage. I ran outside and found a housekeeper and when I yelled for her help, she looked at me like I was crazy. I kept saying, "The water in the bathroom of room 138 is spraying out of the toilet and all over the the room. I need maintenance." Come to find out the housekeeper had no knowledge of the English language and no clue what I was saying. My friend found the maintenance worker, who happened to be carrying a pipe snake. I wonder if his cleaning out another room's clogged toilet had forced her toilet to backup?

I ran to my friend at the jacuzzi and boy was she livid. She had no idea how bad it actually was. Some of her souvenirs were damaged when we got back to the room. Also, when at the front office, they didn't say anything but, "We can move you to a different room." She had clothes that were drying in the shower, because they got wet at the pool, and the maintenance guy was pouring toilet water on her clothing. She was so mad.

I told her to file a complaint and maybe she will then get some type of pay in gift card or tickets to a show or dinner or something, due to damaged goods and inconvenience. She told me it was not me who backed her toilet up because she had also heard that Bloop-Bloop sound in the toilet the first time she used it.

Filthy Housekeepers

2008-02-14T02:09:00.000-08:00

I had not been updating, and while I am now awake and taking the day off to spend with my husband (I chose Valentine's Day) I have decided to type about a recent event at the hotel that really stands out.

I had finished all my rooms for the day because I only had stayover rooms, and went to help E. one of our newer employees, who has been housekeeping for 17 years, and was given 15 rooms for some reason. I have only been housekeeping since last summer, but I think by now I know my stuff. This 17 year veteran with a chip on her shoulder, because she can make a bed in a really short time, was NOT doing her job correctly. I noticed while I was cleaning the vanity that she was using the used (dirty from the previous guests) towels to wipe down the bathtubs and toilet, then the floor. She not only did that, but I noticed she was only spraying glass cleaner on the toilet seat, but not using the toilet brush.

I also noticed she was restuffing some of the hand towels with washcloths. What if someone had dabbed their face with the hand towel? That is absolutely disgusting. I swear I will never sleep in a hotel comfortabley again. I will always request fresh out of the dryer laundry. Housekeepers like that make me sick, and are an embarrassment to my profession.

I think I will write an anonymous note to corporate.

Heath Ledger

2008-01-22T22:51:00.000-08:00

Today, "Brokeback Mountain" star Heath Ledger was found dead by his housekeeper and massage therapist. That is one of my biggest fears. I do not want to find someone dead in their room. I have met other housekeepers who have, and last year someone had a heart attack in the hotel and even that shook me up a lot.

I've seen so many strange and bizarre things, and some very tame things, but I just don't want to be the one to discover a body. That's just horrible. I wish the Ledgers my condolences.

I loved the couple movies I've seen him in. He'll be missed.

Racists In Room

2008-01-16T22:18:00.000-08:00

I entered a room today and it was occupied by racists. They had literature with swastikas on it, and I almost felt sacrilegious cleaning up after them. I felt like I was walking on egg shells in their room, although they weren't even in there. I was seriously just scared. Hate has an energy that remains even when the people aren't around.

The bedroom was disarrayed, and I had to make the bed. They had their clothing on the bed, and I called my supervisor to get an opinion. He said move the clothing, make the bed, and put the clothing back on the bed the way I found it. I did so, but felt very creeped out by the White Power patch on the sleeve of the jacket.

How do people survive as racists when the world is such a mixture of people and even the hotel they are staying at is run by minorities? I don't get how one can hate, when they are being cared for and respected by people who don't hate them. Anyway, I was so stressed out by that room, I skipped the vacuuming and went on to my next room.

A Surprising and Eventful Day

2008-01-07T18:31:00.000-08:00

I am now home and boy was it a really cool day. They have these new hotel gratuity envelopes and it's rather helpful as a matter of fact! They are these little blue envelopes in the stationery/restaurant guide notebook and I think it has worked wonders.

They also finally washed many of the blankets (trivia: in a hotel they don't wash the blankets after each use), so I had to make a lot of second trips from the laundry facility to the beds with blankets. That's a drag, but since it was a good day, I can't complain.

All the housekeepers got a lunch on the hotel. They ordered a huge submarine sandwich, ordered Chinese food, and we also had a delicious chocolate cake that was actually made in the hotel cafe. It was a surprise party for one of people from corporate's birthday who happened to be staying at the hotel this week for training.

I had a "special project" today and that was to clean the patios off with cleanser. There's this plasticky gray paint/coating on the patios for easy clean up, but since it had been raining and windy, ALL the patios were fairly nasty from rain splatter.

Now on to the crazy room of the day. It was still occupied, but the people were out. I went straight to the bathroom to start on the tub and toilet. The bathtub had this pinkish-purplish-fuschiaish film around the bottom of the tub, I was hoping it would come out, but it was stained. I think it will come completely out the next time. I was like wtf is it?

So, I quit as to not kill my back (working this job has me needing a chiropractor or massage lately), and then went for the trash and toilet. I found the staining culprit in the trashcan. This person had dyed their hair a purplish hair color and apparently rinsed their coloring into the bathtub. The towels were in a pile they had hidden under one of the beds and I pulled them out. One was totally stained as they used one of our bathtowels to protect themselves. I called my supervisor and they will be charging the towels to the couples' account.

I feel like such a snitch, but what a drag, seriously. Other than that, it was an eventful and fun day.

Massage and the Cross Dresser.

2008-01-04T04:01:00.000-08:00

I knocked on the door and said, "Housekeeping!" I heard a man's voice say, "Come in." When I went in to the room, it was set up with a massage table in the room, a woman giving the guy a massage, and candles everywhere. It smelled like cinnamon applesauce in the room.

It was a make-shift spa set up. I just stood there and said, "Where can I begin?" The massage table was totally in my way, and the massage therapist would be in my way if I were to try and make the bed. So, I said I would go clean the bathroom first. The bathroom was obviously just used because of all the steam in there. He had left his clothes on the bathroom floor.

I asked him if it was okay if I moved them into the closet and he said Sure. I really felt like I was intruding. I am not comfortable with touching other peoples' belongings. I opened the closet and he had women's clothing in there. I guess he was a cross-dresser? I'm not sure, but it was something interesting, considering the room was made for one person and it seemed like only one person was staying there (the stuff on the bathroom vanity was all masculine).

Upon further notice as the massage therapist moved the sheet off his behind, I noticed he was wearing a woman's THONG! I know I shouldn't have been looking, but I did. I was making the bed and dusting. Maybe this was his fantasy? Having women see him wear women's clothing and, yet, not say anything at all?

I went ahead and dusted, leaving him a few more linens, shampoo and conditioner. Sometimes when you think you've probably seen everything there's always something else.

Peed the Bed

2007-12-19T10:59:00.000-08:00

Someone peed the bed yesterday. There was a note on the table saying, "My son urinated in his sleep and we are so very sorry. Check out is today so I took all the blankets and sheets off the bed. Please accept this tip. Thank you. Sincerely, Dawnya."

There was $20 sitting on the note. I was ultimately peeved anyway, because she should have said something to the night auditor or guest services. And if her son had a urination problem, she should have been more properly prepared with pull-ups or some other sort of bed sheet protector. We don't keep plastic on our beds, but this thin mattress protector made of some polyester or polyurethane cottony material. That was soaked and pulled off the bed as well.

I called my supervisor from the room phone and she sent an employee up. I cleaned what I could, but they actually had to steam clean the bed and disinfect it. This is just so absolutely gross to me.

Upon taking the biohazards down to the laundry room, a guest asks me for condiments from our kitchen that we don't carry on our carts. The diningroom is only about 15 steps away from their room. You would really think they could just walk over to it and ask someone working in there. No, they ask me, who is dragging 2 biohazard bags behind me.

The last thing I want is someone who does not have clean hands, who is holding biohazards to touch my ketchup and mustard. Ew, ew, ew.

Japanese Room

2007-12-15T03:14:00.000-08:00

A couple from Japan had been staying in the hotel for a week. Their room smelled extremely weird and foreign every day. They had a habit of leaving a quarter tip on the bed every day. That's okay, but the not-okay part was the gigantic fish-thing they left. I think it was a giant stingray which was like a beef jerky. It was dry and laying on the coffee table. I didn't know how to pick it up. It looked like a carcass to me and I am very squeamish about certain things. A stingray would be one of them.

The room had a very fishy smell. On the side of the nightstand in their room was a small dish with a partially eaten fish on it. Also was a Japanese newspaper with toenail clippings in a pile. These would be things you normally throw away.

The temperature has been rather cold here. I couldn't help but open the curtains and the balcony door to let the air in. The room, even after the carpet freshener, the Windex, the toilet cleanser, and the air freshener, it still has a strange fishy smell.

My supervisor said to leave the balcony door open. At the end of my work day there was still a STRONG fishy odor. We may need to burn incense in there without ventilation, perhaps that should kill the stench?

Down's Syndrome Guest w/ an Erection

2007-10-16T06:41:00.000-07:00

UPDATE FOR YOU PENIS FLASHER WEBSITE PEOPLE 2/6/2010
I noticed I have been getting hits from a porn forum website where guys like to flash their wieners at random people. The person asked in the thread: "I wonder if the guy really had Down's Syndrome." Yes, he did. I remember him ALL TOO WELL. He looked like Corky from Life Goes On.

You really have to wonder about people with Down's Syndrome who stay in a hotel. It was a double bed room, there were 2 beds, and a sofa. I walked into the room (I have my own cart now), and there was an adult guy with Down's Syndrome, but you could tell the room was being occupied by 2 people. I really think this was a case where he needed adult guidance, even though he was an adult.

He was watching the porno channel when I walked in and I asked him if it was okay if I came in and changed the bed-sheets. He said, "Yes please." I ignored all the moaning on the TV set, and I was praying to God that he wouldn't take it upon himself to sexually harass me.

I made the bed, and then I went to the bathroom to wash it. I took the trash out and on walking to the cart, I had to walk back through the living room again and he had this gigantic boner and was sitting there staring at the TV and moaning like the guy in the movie! He wasn't masturbating, but was just sitting there making grunt noises. I really felt queasy and like I was invading this person's privacy. He's an adult, granted...but I really felt like he was childlike as he sat there not even realizing his erection was inappropriate and that his tv viewing was probably something you do in private, not when your housekeeper is in the room with you.

I finished cleaning the bathroom, and I skipped out on the vacuuming and cleaning in the livingroom because I figured he should have his privacy, and I was uncomfortable anyway. I marked down on my room schedule that I did not finish the room due to guest needing his privacy.

I'm Housekeeping Again

2007-09-28T00:18:00.000-07:00

I got a job housekeeping 2 days a week, every weekend (except for today because I went in for training). This job is okay, busy, but okay. Today while on training, we all stopped to help a man. He was what appeared to be having a heart attack. Luckily for him one of the housekeepers was in the hallway when he crawled out of his room.

She said he collapsed on the floor, and that's when she dialed front office to get the paramedics in. He wasn't able to speak and was just lying there on the floor in the hallway. Nobody knew what to do. I'd say about 8 minutes in, the Paramedics came in and helped him. I hope he's okay. He looked pretty bad.

That particular Housekeeper went home early. She told the supervisors that she was feeling anxiety and wanted to go home.

Anyway, the hotel I am working at is near a touristy area and so it's busy, but it's not like the 4-5 star hotel I was working at before. This one is smaller and does not have Presidential Suites or kitchens in the rooms. Clean up time is right on and I have had nothing but praise since I've been training. I will be getting my own cart next Saturday. I'm so happy.

Raised Arms Day

2007-09-12T20:09:00.000-07:00

My shoulders, neck and arms are killing me. I had a Labor Ready job at the same hotel today, too. This day was different, it wasn't room cleaning! I was told to wash all the inside and outside windows on the first floor within arms' reach. Of course I wasn't the only laborer doing this. I had 4 other helpers.

After we got the bottom floor windows cleaned, we were told to wipe down every single door frame we could possibly do. I'm rather short, so I'm on my tip-toes with the door frames. My arms are raised upward most of the day, and I am so achy tonight. I don't think I can do Labor Ready tomorrow. I might take a little bit of the money and get a half hour massage instead.

Day 2 Housekeeping Help

2007-09-12T01:21:00.000-07:00

I helped again yesterday in housekeeping through Labor Ready, but then I was sent to do laundry. The first room I went in was obviously occupied by a woman. The rooms are all non-smoking rooms, but this room smelled smoked in and definitely was lived in. She wasn't there.

She had so much stuff in there, I really didn't know where to start. To dust I would have to move her magazines and books off the coffee table. I didn't want to touch her stuff, but Noemi the housekeeper told me to do it anyway and put her stuff back on the table. I did as was told.

The balcony had burn marks on it where this woman obviously left cigarettes on the edge of the wall. I think that is so tacky, but oh well. I was told to WASH the balcony floor. My knees were so sore and my pants were wet from the water. They don't give you a mop and bucket. You have to literally spray the hell out of the balcony with commercial grade cleanser that is rough on the hands, and then bend down and scrub the hell out of the floor with this plastic scrubber with a brush on the end. After Noemi told me to dry the floor because I can't leave it wet in case the guest comes back and can slip.

I don't know what it was about this room, but it gave me bad vibes. Perhaps it was such bad Feng Shui (not like I practice that at home), but it was so ridiculously gross in there. I felt claustrophobic, nauseous and slightly agitated.

To make the bed, I had to keep hopping over her suitcase which was open and clothes were spilling out the sides. It was so inconvenient. There was no way I could vacuum the full floor, because she had stuff underneath the coffee table, a bicycle in the corner, a makeshift bed on the floor (I guess she sleeps on the floor sometimes?), and she had a laptop computer, printer and all kinds of paper in a pile on the floor as well.

It was easy to clean her room because we were out of there fast, but the fact it stunk and was so over-crowded was nauseating to me. I just wanted to get out of there ASAP.

I didn't really like Laundry. It's really warm down there in the laudry room and it's fast paced as they keep throwing laundry at you. Housekeepers and the other Labor Ready people were constantly bringing more laundry. It never ceased to end. Laundry is NOT my favorite chore, as I have a family of 5 and do the laundry at home. To stand and do laundry for 4 hours was awful. I would rather clean rooms.

Hotel Work - I felt Appreciated

2007-09-10T23:48:00.000-07:00

Doing a job search, I finally was able to get a hotel job, FOR THE DAY. Labor Ready called me in and I was sent to a local 4 star hotel. I got to help in Housekeeping. Lucky for me, the weather has been great and I was the help and not under any microscope. In fact, the procedure was the same in the way the beds are made and the floor was vacuumed. The only things different is how they do their soaps, shampoo and towels. It was a good day.

I got to split tips with the housekeepers. That was kind of them. I won't be hired though. Apparently 3 housekeepers called in sick, and two took vacations off this week. They aren't permanently hiring, so it was just a one day thing

The only unusual thing I saw was pornographic DVDs in 2 stacks on a dresser in room 414 on the 4th floor. I had to dust around them. Haha

As a helper, I felt appreciated. Back to a job search on Tuesday.

Lackluster Gateway Inn

2007-09-04T12:35:00.000-07:00

My guy and I stayed at the Gateway Inn in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was convenient to where we were and the first place accepting non-reservations on a weekend (the busiest time of week). All we needed was 1 night, before we got back on the road.

Knowing me, I had asked if we could see the room before we stayed there. There was a young Indian woman/girl in the window, and she said, "Sure." She grabbed a key and took us to the room, which was near a corner of the parking lot.

The room had all the typical room ammenities: bed, comforter, pillows, lamps, dressers, table, chair, ashtray, television, and A/C. It's hot as hell in Nevada so it's important that the A/C works. The room was hot, so I asked the woman, "Does the air conditioner work?" She said, "Yes."

The room had a shoddy appearance, but since I was only going to stay the night, I thought it was fine. It didn't have to be luxurious and Gateway is nowhere near a Venecian. So be it.

We got the room. The moment we went back, he used the toilet and I started the water to take my shower. I got in the shower, noticed there was no shampoo or soap. I told him, "They have no soap or shampoos! Can you look in my bag and get the small bag out that has Burt's Bees stuff in it." (Head to Toe Starter Kit - 1 kit., (Burt's Bees)) He flushed the toilet and I felt instant hot water pouring on me. He then said, "Oh shit, the toilet is backing up." And then the water went completely down, while scaring us that it was going to overflow.

I noticed the water in the shower was starting to rise above my feet as it was not draining into the bottom of our tub. No, it wasn't toilet water, but the fact dirty water was collecting around my ankles was gross. I had noticed we only had one set of towels. There were two of us in the room. I guess we had to share.

I got out of the shower and stepped near the sink, the floor felt like it was sinking or soggy. It wasn't wet, but it was definitely spongy. I got dressed to go out to a casino, and then walked into the room. He was on the bed watching television, and asked me to turn the volume up because there was no remote control. We semi-joked that this was the worst room we had ever stayed in.

He got up and we decided to get to a cool casino and restaurant. We expected that the room would be cold by the time we got back. We headed to the Riviera and ate at the World's Fare Buffet, then headed downstairs to the casino after dinner. Neither of us are smokers, and I had a cigar smoker on one side of me and a cigarette smoker on the other side of me at the slot machine. My nose began to hurt and I rubbed it, only for it to begin bleeding. I pinched my nose and found my man playing horse races on a machine. He said, "Yeah, I'm ready to go too. I don't mind smoke, but this is crazy." So, we got back in our car and headed back to our room.

It was dark by this time, and we decided to turn in. The air conditioner still hadn't cooled the whole room. It only cooled the general area it was blowing in. He undressed and threw himself on the bed. When he did that, the entire bed shifted and nearly fell off. He lifted the blanket and we noticed there was not a box spring holding our mattress, but a wooden platform that was broken.

After disbelief and a few chuckles, we threw the comforter off the bed and laid naked in the sheets before our trip back home.

Craigslist's Creeps - The Search Continues

2007-09-04T02:43:00.000-07:00

I have not received any phone calls about my resume. Getting a job is like winning in a gamble. I'm down to E on my gas tank and I have no money in my bank account. Lucky for me, I have a thousand dollar credit limit on my debit card, but still, I'm in debt. I need a doggone job. I'll take any legit and moral job at the moment but my goal is the hotel industry.

So, I put my resume out on Craigslist in the "Resume" section of my city. Needless to say, I got a PIMP response to my resume. My resume was professional and all about front desk, clerical, administrative. This pimp tried to recruit me by asking me this:

Hey [HOTEL CHICK] how are you doing today? If you are cute also and preferably single, we send girls to hotels and resorts all the time for private gigs such as dancing, massages, and girl on girl action. If you are ready to take your game to the next level, you can start at about $250/hr with us... reply back for an interview, or send your interview request in at [A DIRTY WHORE SITE NOT WORTH PLUGGING] talk to you soon!

~Stephan

I told him he was offensive and insulting my intelligence and he was wasting his time. Of all my online searches, this is my first response! What the hell!?

Amy Winehouse's Room Searched for Drugs Daily!

2007-09-03T10:30:00.001-07:00

Singer Amy Winehouse has been sobering up in St. Lucia with her husband, at Jade Mountain Hotel. After her first night in the hotel, guests complained of smelling something strange. So hotel workers took it upon themselves to check her €733 room daily. Not to mention, they did not find anything, DAILY.

If I was spending $1000 a night (€733), there's no way in hell I would tolerate them invading my space that way, DAILY. That is preposterous.

Sex Offender Charged in Hotel Killing

2007-09-02T00:28:00.000-07:00

An Alabama man was charged with murder yesterday in the death of a woman whose body was found last week under a bed at the Hotel Carter in Midtown, the police said. The man, Clarence Dean, 35, was arrested late Friday in Midtown. He had an outstanding warrant related to a rape in Alabama and convictions for sex offenses in Texas, Tennessee and Florida, the police said.[read more]

This guy is a total moron. Did he not have to give a credit card and/or picture ID when he checked into the hotel? Did he not watch them type his information into their computer? Does he not watch CSI, Cold Case Files, The First 48?

What an utter jackass. What is worse than that, he's a repeat sex offender. He is a convicted sex offender! Why was he OUT? This is not fixable by jail, by counseling, by a smack across the hand...this is his sexual orientation. He's a rapist. He likes violent, criminal sex.

Housekeepers Sue the Ritz...

2007-09-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

Apparently, I'm not the only one who ever felt discriminated against as a hotel housekeeper. In a twisted way I am glad it isn't just me. I found an article about the Ritz-Carlton on Housekeepers suing the hotel.

Workers say they aren't paid for overtime and are denied breaks.
By Kimi Yoshino, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 31, 2007
Two employees at the Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel & Spa in Pasadena filed a lawsuit Thursday against the luxury resort, alleging that they are not paid overtime and are forced to work through their breaks.

The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, is the latest salvo in a dispute between workers and management at the hotel, which is the focus of a union organizing campaign. The hotel is owned by the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Assn., which manages the $38-billion pension fund of retired police officers, firefighters and other county workers -- many of them union members.

In addition to the lawsuit, workers have recently filed complaints with the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the National Labor Relations Board.

"They treat us like slaves," said housekeeper Elvia Alonso, 44, who has worked at the hotel for six years and is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. "They say, 'If you don't like it, you go home.' "

Allison Sitch, a spokeswoman for Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co., declined to comment on the litigation and the specific complaints but said, "Genuinely, we take all of these things seriously." Hotel operator Ritz-Carlton is a unit of Marriott International of Bethesda, Md.

In interviews, eight current and former employees of the hotel representing different departments complained about racial discrimination, hour and wage violations, staffing problems, unsafe work conditions and retaliation for engaging in union activities. [read more]

In the event you ever feel you are being treated like a slave or discriminated against based on your ethnic background, contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). That should scare them straight.

And if you ever see that happening as a guest, hit up Trip Advisor and leave a review on the asshole employee(s), also contact the Better Business Bureau. Make sure to contact the hotel's corporate office. Ask the front desk for the address and phone number. Make sure to pay attention to names and ask people what their name is in the event they aren't wearing a name tag.

Corpse Found In 608

2007-08-31T22:38:00.000-07:00

A corpse was found in a hotel room at Hotel Carter in New York. I have morbid curiosity so this was an interesting read.

New York Region

Corpse in 608 Poses Mystery at Old Hotel for the Frugal

By CARA BUCKLEY

Published: September 1, 2007

The hunt is on for a convicted sex offender from Alabama who spent much of August in a hotel room where a body was found on Thursday.

No Luck Yet - and the Hotel Search Continues

2007-08-28T00:46:00.000-07:00

I've gone to two interviews through a staffing agency, with hotels as a primary job search. I haven't had any luck yet, but I am keeping my fingers crossed. I'm waiting very patiently and am enthusiastic.

I do have to say that sending my resume via the internet to various companies that have "career opportunities" on their website was a waste of time. It's so much better to go in person.

Recent search requests:
Hotels Chick In: I read it as Hotel's Chicken, but perhaps they meant Hotels Check In?
Write Up Slips: I happen to be in the top 10 search results. Fuck a write-up. *Still bitter from that asshole hote I worked for.* I still have not received a response from the corporate office after I wrote a letter to them and sent a carbon copy to the EEOC.

Hotel Search

2007-08-24T00:54:00.000-07:00

I am still on a hunt for a Hotel to work in. I have skills and I am looking for a front desk position. Unfortunately, nobody has emailed or called me back based off my online resume. So, I am meeting up with a staffing agency tomorrow, that gave me an option to choose what businesses or brands I prefer to work with. I named off a list of hotels and inns out here.

Meanwhile, some people do disturbing search requests and end up at my blog.
fucking hotel housekeepers
menstrual accident in hotel room
being a loner under a microscope

My Second Write-Up

2007-08-20T09:41:00.000-07:00

On August 15th, I got my second write-up. This write-up was for August 14th stating that I had not fulfilled my quota. The write-up stated that I was to complete 10 rooms in my 7-hour day. I had 12 rooms that day, and 7 check-outs, and minus my half-hour lunch and my break. So, only 6 real hours to complete at least 12 rooms. I think that was a crock of shit, and I think they were fucking with me again.

At lunch time, on August 15th, they interrupted me to tell me that my work performance was considered unsatisfactory. But in my head I was thinking:

So is interrupting me during my lunch! So is translating balcony as valcony, patio as valcony, brush as broom, water drops from cleaning a toilet as "you left pee on the toilet." They would catch me on petty shit, which they could have buffed out if they carried a rag in their back pocket, but no, they continuously would catch me on the minute details. Yet, there were other housekeepers, considered to be way better performers, better this, better that, and they were using Windex in the cups in the vanity, with rags they had just wiped the bathroom floor with, rather than washing them in the sink. They were not vacuuming on patterned carpet because they know the lines that we normally try to make on the other carpet wouldn't be seen on the textured carpet. They would skip dusting in occupied rooms, while I always would get caught if I cheated. Therefore I did everything I was supposed to do, not cheating, not cutting corners (although very tempted) and get busted for poor performance and not meeting my quota. I hope the sheets that I witness other housekeepers not changing costs them.

On August 16, 2007, I walked into the hotel in regular garb, and went to the manager in training, because I did not want to take the elevator up and down each floor to find my supervisors. I asked to pull a meeting so I could give my formal good-bye and reason for leaving. It happened, and they tried to pull their shit again like on July 31, 2007, asking me to stay. I did mention, while they had a day to discuss me and my performance, they only gave me 10 minutes to think of a reply for my write-up. I have now come up with a solution to end all my problems. I said, "No, there is no resolution for me at this time, other than to not work here anymore. I considered the supervisors lacking leadership, lacking professionalism, and the so-called team we had was not a team, but a group of people being hazed and demeaned by our supervisors."

The general manager looked surprised and then much to my chagrin, she said, "To be honest with you [HOTEL CHICK]. Don't take this personally, but to be honest, when I met you the first time, I didn't think you were cut out for this job. You speak English. You were obviously educated here, and housekeepers usually aren't." That's stereotyping and racist. That obviously means they probably choose the Mexicans and other immigrants that they have in the housekeeping department based on their lack of the English language and their lack of American education. She also said in our meeting, "10 years ago I would never work with Middle Easterners. I hated negotiating with them. I would have paid them 10 dollars to go across the street to the other hotel, than to stay in mine. But, now I'm training one, [insert trainee's name]...and he's really nice." As far as I'm concerned, she probably thinks he's a "good enough Middle Easterner." What a bitch.

But, for those that have started linking to my blog, rest assured, I've sent my resume out to nothing but hotels. Therefore, consider me still dubbed as HOTEL CHICK. I'm not through with my ventures or blogs.

I'm off to pick up my last paycheck at this hotel.

*Thanks, Pam, for the link.

Guest Racism

2007-08-14T19:18:00.000-07:00

Today, I did all check-outs. I had 12 rooms, but 7 check-outs. Other people did my stay-overs and helped me with the last 3 check-outs. I was pretty disgusted by a fermenting, hard and crusty sock I found in room 106.

Later, in room 114, a woman who happend to check-out earlier than anticipated left her laundry detergent in the kitchen. We were cleaning her extremely filthy room when she came back and started yelling at my helper housekeeper about her detergent. She was not a Latina woman, but yelled in Spanish at her. The housekeeper turned around and said, "I don't know what you are saying. I speak English." Then the woman said, "Oh, I thought all housekeepers only spoke Spanish." What a bitch. Just yesterday, I cleaned that woman's room and she and I had a conversation in English, and I am not Hispanic. I think she was being racist as the housekeeper is a full-blood Native American and the woman assumed she was Mexican. Anyhow, she got her detergent off the bottom of our cart.

With her attitude, I wonder what she and her man were doing in room 114 since there were footprints on the ceiling right above their bed.

I wouldn't have been able to take the picture with my helper in the room, but when she went off to clean up one of my stay-over rooms, I snapped the pic really quick. Perhaps the guest was bed-jumping.

Poop In the Trash

2007-08-13T23:54:00.000-07:00

I had a bunch of rooms on the bottom floor that were occupied by Mexicans. For some reason, although they come to a country economically better than theirs, they still toss their toilet paper in the wastebasket in the bathroom. They don't flush their shitty toilet-paper. This leads to odor in the bathroom and me having to disinfect the trashcans. Meanwhile, I'm about to lose my breakfast.

*Para todos:
Ponga su papel sanitario en el inodoro al visitar los Estados Unidos de América. Gracias.

*For Everyone:
Put your toilet paper in the toilet when visiting the United States of America. Thank you.

Bloody Sex Room

2007-08-09T07:36:00.000-07:00

Today is Thursday, but on Tuesday I was sent to room 208. I went inside and everything seemed normal. I got my supplies and towels and went to the bathroom to begin cleaning when I saw the ultra thin Trojan condom wrapper in the garbage can. Ultimately, that means someone had just been busy Monday night or Tuesday morning.

At least I had a heads up for what kind of sheets I would be seeing.

Much to my disbelief, there were all kinds of skidmarks on the sheets. They were bloody. Being a female, I myself had accidents in my bed during that time of month, but this was not your ordinary menstrual accident. The blood was on the pillowcases and on probably every side of the bed sheet (top, bottom, left, right). I did not anticipate this and had no idea where to begin. On closer observation, I saw pubic hairs all over the bed too.

After I got all the sheets and pillowcases off (without the gloves I should have been wearing), I noticed the guest had a drawer open. In it was our Gideons Bible and a tiny box that said "Stay Max" or something to that effect. The pills were for enhanced erection or something. Either those pills, in the words of rapper Ice Cube, "KILLED THE PUNANI" or they were in the words of comedian Martin Lawrence, they made a "Crime Scene," while doing it on her menstruation.

Blah, people...if you are going to get freaknasty in the room, at least be courteous enough to strip your own skanky bed so the housekeepers don't have your bodily fluids and dirty pubes on their arms, hands, and clothing. I know it's our job to clean your room up, but we have a quota to meet, and your dirty fun last night does not help as we have to get special protection, get special biohazard bags, not to mention wash our hands again and again just to make sure we don't take your fluids with us into other rooms. Gross.

With technology up, I looked up the name of the man who was in that particular room. He was a professional basketball player and the brother of another professional basketball player. (His name was on a tax form he had sitting open on the wetbar in the kitchenette).

Thank God for Safer Sex. At least we know some people are practicing it.

Waist Cincher

2007-08-03T17:19:00.001-07:00

Sometimes when you clean up a room, you come across some strange stuff. I went to a room obviously occupied by one male. He had all his stuff in the room, from his cologne, aftershave, to his dress shoes, his ties, his Fruit of the Loom briefs, and his WAIST CINCHER. I really always thought only women wore waist cinchers. It was a little surprising, but not shocking. Hardly anything shocks me anymore.

Be Courteous

2007-08-02T22:19:00.000-07:00

Today I was retraining. Tomorrow I will be back to having my own cart. I am not looking forward to it right now. I'm not confident. But, we'll see.

We did 13 rooms, and then some because we finished early. Having help makes it quicker to finish up a room. The last room we had was an absolute disaster. If someone is THAT dirty in 2 days at a hotel room, a place not even HOME, then imagine what their house is like. Yuck.

There was spoiled spaghetti sauce on the kitchen counter. Beer and wine bottles cluttered the kitchen floor. Absolutely, every single dish was dirty and had to be rewashed. There were even extra plates and eating utensils in the room. They left a whole lot of stuff. I don't understand why people think it's okay to be that destructive and have the attitude, "That's what they get paid for anyway." No, we get paid chump-change to make the room presentable to the next guest, just like we made it presentable to the person tearing it up. We do not get paid ENOUGH to clean up a destructed room. In fact we save that room for last, so we can get a bunch of housekeepers together to clean that nasty, dirty, filthy room.

Many people like their job. Being a filthy pig ruins our day. Seriously. If you take a pee, be courteous and lift the toilet seat. If you brush your teeth, try not to spray it all over the mirror. If you eat food, throw your trash in the proper bin and not on the floor. When you see a rubber mat for the tub, put it IN the tub and not rolled up on the back of the toilet. If you see a small rag, the size of a handtowel somewhere near your bathtub, it's made for the floor, so you don't drip water everywhere. Understand, even though our shoes say skid-free we can slip and injure ourselves on YOUR water.

Be COURTEOUS, People...please.

I would like to add, if I ever become homeless, I swear I am hitting up hotel garbage cans. They have GOOD stuff in there, such as coffee pots, hair dryers, unopened bottles of water that people left in rooms, unopened boxed and canned foods, blankets, pots and pans, and tons of soap bars!

Special Treatment Sucks

2007-08-01T17:44:00.001-07:00

I feel like I got extra attention at work today and it felt embarrassing. I kept getting, "How are you doing?" and "Everything okay?" I got smiles and asked to do things rather than told. It was quite embarrassing. I don't want special treatment.

Well, I was sent to be retrained. The first room I was in, I got called out of and was told, "I need you to come to my office." I went in and was presented with a write-up slip, but on it it said it was not a "write up" but an "incident report." It explained that I had left a room dirty yesterday after being told to clean it, and was insubordinate. Instead of being reprimanded I was getting "counselling" and "coaching," and that if I act out like that again it will be grounds for termination. In my head I was thinking, "If I act like that again, I will not be terminated, I'd have walked the hell on and jumped in my truck and gone home." Hell, I'm not a dumpee, I'm a dumper. Haha.

So, I heard the supervisor reminding people to take 2 10 minute breaks and to take their lunches. Haha. Right on. I KNEW there was something wrong with that. Not to mention, others did too, but they didn't say anything because they are foreign and don't know better. If nobody tells them to eat, they keep working. I swear, I hate to be critical, but this is supreme reason why Americans hire immediate immigrants, because they don't know enough about our laws, enough of our language, and so they don't speak up when they are being treated wrong...plus they are usually paid less and hustle more at work.

I also witnessed some gossip today. It wasn't about me, thank God. It was about a new hiree, who is also on her own cart. I thought she was more experienced than me, because well, she's hispanic and all the hispanic people at work tend to be really good at what they do because they've been keeping house for so long. Well, come to find out she cheats in every room. She doesn't change the sheets and just remakes the beds. That is GROSS. That means the next person comes in and sleeps in a bed that had someone else's sweat and dander in the sheets. Can I just say GROSS?

I don't like snitching but my god, I hope she gets caught red-handed or that the gossip makes its way back to the supervisors. They did a whole lot of hazing me when I was trying my damndest to the best I could, when they need to get the real suite attendants that don't try at all.

I Had a Nervous Breakdown

2007-07-31T21:15:00.001-07:00

I had a major meltdown at work. I was issued 12 rooms, 6 were checkouts. That means I had to do white-glove clean 6 rooms so that new guests would have a super-clean suite. The hardest room to clean was saved for last. It had one bed, but was occupied by a family of 4. Two of the four people were kids under 6 years old and they TORE the livingroom up.

The kitchen was a total mess with shrimp and scrambled eggs everywhere. Dishes piled up in the sink. The bathroom had dirt on the floor. I have no idea why so much dirt was on the floor. Not only that, the floor was sopping wet. The bathtub was all kinds of watery.

The bed was a mess. Trash, beads, barettes, beans were on the floor. The family was from Mexico and they had wiped their butts and threw the toilet papers in the trashcan instead of the toilet. There was a strange odor in the room. And, there I was stuck cleaning what normally would take an hour to clean about an hour and half.

I finally was able to get to do stay-over rooms. Those are rooms with people still staying there. It was already 3:30pm. I still had not had my second break or my lunch break. I was running on empty but we have a quota to reach and I felt pressured to meet it. Then my supervisor came in to tell me to redo the messy room that I had just cleaned. He said to revacuum, rewash the dishes, wash the refridgerator, reclean the stove, reclean the microwave, etc. Pretty much, reclean the entire kitchen. Not only that, he made it seem like I had not done a damn thing by saying, "Did you even clean the kitchen?" I swear I am tempted to take before and after pictures in case he wants to be a smart ass again.

Actually, I told him, "Ok." Instead, I walked out of the room, walked to the room I was originally cleaning, and told my helper that I had not eaten lunch yet. I decided to leave...to finally quit my job.

I went outside and started to cry in the parking lot, because I felt they finally broke my spirits. They finally hazed me into low self-esteem. I then realized I did not have my car keys on me. My helper had my keys. I couldn't go back in the building with red face and teary eyed. So, I waited. I went back in and went to the restroom, stood in front of the mirror and told myself, "Do what you have to do." I walked out and went to get my keys.

I went down to the employee area and told the laundry people to get my supervisor via his walkie-talkie. They called him and tried to tell me to talk to him through his walkie-talkie. I said, "No, I need to see him face to face." He came to me and I went into his office and said, "I am quitting." He said, "You're done with the rooms?" I said, "No, I am done working for this hotel." He said, "Okay, do you have my keys?" I said, "No, the helper has the room keys." He said, "When do I get my uniform back?" I said, "When do I get my paycheck?" He said, "When you give me back my uniforms." I said, "Okay, then. I wanted to tell you what has made me want to leave." He said, "No need to explain to me. You are free to go," and he walked out of the office.

I was so beside myself. That was the most unprofessional business good-bye I have ever experienced. So, I was so pissed off I went to the front office and walked into the general manager's office. She asked me what happend and when I told her, she said, "I can't believe that! My head is spinning. I don't want you to leave. I NEED you here. We have a team going on. I don't want my employees to leave. What is discouraging you?" I explained everything from lack of English, to lack of training, to feeling hazed, to feeling offended when I decided I couldn't be there anymore.

Long story short, she pulled together a meeting with my 3 supervisors, and we came to an understanding that I will have my own cart, that nobody will be stripping to stock theirs, to being coached and counselled, and that all conversations with me will be in English, and I will be treated as a trainee and not an experienced worker who is falling behind. My general manager also said that she wanted me there in the morning with all my supplies on my cart, and that my supervisors are to buy spare vacuums, bottles, and anything else I have made complaints about.

I feel like such a snitch, and that I originally went into the office to tell them to eff themselves and about themselves, but walked away still holding a job and embarrassed to go to work and being known as a snitch. I swear, I hate crying in front of strangers. My emotions are NOT their business and I hate I have an emotional gene and get teary eyed when I get pissed off.

What in HELL Did You Just Say?

2007-07-26T00:25:00.000-07:00

So yesterday, I got to work a half hour before my scheduled time. I noticed I had a new cart and it was a complete mess and missing items. I found my supervisors and said, "There's no vacuums." The male supervisor said, "I'll get one to you in a few minutes." I decided to stock my entire cart. A half hour went by and still no vacuum. I had no cleansers. I went around looking for bottles to fill with cleanser as I knew where the labels were. I cleaned the bottles, refilled them, put labels on the bottles and put them in my cart. I was missing a toilet brush, a broom, a swiffer-thingamajig, Comet, and a few other odds and ends, not to mention THE VACUUM.

A half hour passed my scheduled start time. This means my idiot supervisor has wasted an entire hour of my time. This has put me behind a half hour. I then went to clean the rooms without all my utilities. I figured I would just finish what I couldn't, but at least get what I could do done. I cleaned up rooms and then supervisors started their inspections.

I was pissed off and even said, "Look, I NEED a vacuum and I NEED [insert my list]." He was like, "Fix this bed over again." Then, the other supervisor in complete Spanish, said something about the dust under the cabinets in the kitchen and wiped her hands under the cabinets and showed me dust. I was pissed off because this is stuff they could write on paper in a list and I could get back to it later. I still had other things to do and they were holding me up.

One of the sentences on my list of duties said, "Clean front door inside." I understood it as clean the front of the inside doors (closets, sliding glass doors, perhaps cabinets). I was insulted by the female as she made it seem I was stupid for not understanding her English when she said, "I write it for you in English." She wanted me to clean the back of each entrance door to the hotel rooms. Well, if that's what she wanted me to do, it should have said, "Clean the back of the front doors," not "Clean front door inside." Another frustrating moment.

Finally, they paired me up with a guy I'll call D.C. (don't want to post his name on the net). Well, we were working and he was my helper (helping me catch up with my duties). Our cart got extremely full of dirty linen and None of the Laundry people were coming by our floor to retrieve the dirty linen. So D.C. said, "Just leave it here." We left it on the floor.

The supervisors come waddling in with ATTITUDE. The male supervisor puts his hands on his hips and says, "Who put the laundry on the floor?" D.C. said, "I don't know what you're talking about?" He had forgotten he put the laundry on the floor before we had moved on to our next rooms. I said, "I know what you're talking about." And then the supervisor said, "Who cleaned up room 260?" I said, "We left it there." And the supervisor said, "That's a No-No." I finally snapped and said over my shoulder, "I'm not a motherfucking child." I couldn't hold back. The supervisor walked off and I made sure he heard me say, "I don't appreciate the way he confronted us. He KNEW we were in 260, but he's going to play headgames and ask us who was in there and who left the laundry. He KNEW who left the laundry. It's like if I know my kids are going to lie to me about who colored on the wall or who spilled orange juice on the counter and didn't clean it up, and I ask them anyway just to watch them lie to me. Instead of confronting us like adults he's talking to us like toddlers. That's a No-No? I'm not his kid."

So I felt he punished me later after D.C. and I finished all our rooms. I got Vaccum duty and had to vaccum the entire 2nd floor. When I was halfway done, the supervisor told me to put the vaccuum up and go downstairs to the breakroom and that we were having a group meeting.

I went downstairs and they did this entire meeting in Spanish and hardly translated to English. Then, he finally starts talking in English. He said, "I know SOME of you go around talking about me and the other supervisors. Don't do that. If you have something to say about us, then say it to us. But if you start talking about us and telling other employees, WE WILL FIND OUT. And you know what, What goes around comes around." I'm thinking WTF is that supposed to mean?

Him and his Mi Vida Loca tattoos and his "What goes around comes around." What the HELL is that supposed to mean? I take it as a threat. So, I'm totally teed.

Today, I went to work and he confronted me with the other supervisor and said, "We notice you get pretty mad when we tell you what to do." I corrected him. I said, "I don't get mad. I get frustrated that you will come at me saying I am behind in work, but you fail to realize I was trained in Spanish, a language I don't speak. There's a total communication problem here. Also, I'm always missing things off my cart. I start an hour later than everybody else, because I get here an hour later than everybody. You can't expect me to have 2 check-outs done when I just got here an hour ago." He said, "Well, you know if you have something to say, we would appreciate you coming to us about it." I said, "If YOU have something you need me to fix, you need to list it as to not take 10 minutes of my time showing me how to wipe a window with Windex. It's not rocket science."
He said, "Look we don't want you to quit on us. We don't want to make this a hard place to work for you." I said, "It's not a hard job. It's just frustrating. That's all."

So, yeah, I've been rather irate with my supervisors. I believe it's a culture clash. Everybody else gets their stuff done on time because they were trained in a language they know. And my husband is telling me to stick it out for the 90 days.

The Cups Weren't Clean Enough

2007-07-17T00:23:00.000-07:00

I don't know if they are just fucking with me but I did not see streaks or water spots on the dishes and glasses when I put them away. I had to white-glove-clean an entire room after the people checked-out. They left an extremely dirty room for me with candy and chips all over the floor. When I did the dishes I really wiped them as good as possible, but apparently it wasn't good enough.

When my supervisor came in to do the inspection she took every cup I washed and told me to rewash all of the. I was pissed. They don't even know I could walk out on them and never turn back, as I do have a career that I can get paid much more for, it's just there's too much competition with my career. These people are pushing my buttons, especially for the fact they don't speak English and are trying to train me in a language I don't know. I really think they are fucking with me, hazing me.

The shit a hotel housekeeper goes through to make it SUPER NICE for YOU...and all I got was a whopping 1 dollar tip of 15 rooms cleaned. Pisses me off that people don't understand or are cheapskates. The measly near-minimum wage is beans when you have a family to raise so we depend on some of the gratuity money that people hardly ever leave to make YOU comfortable when you stay at a hotel.

I Got My Own Cart

2007-07-13T17:45:00.000-07:00

My fourth day on the job and I felt like a moron. They gave me my very own cart and told me to head off to the 3rd floor (the hottest floor in the hotel). With training from non-English speakers, and having only cleaned 1 bathroom to the white-glove T, I am not confident in myself yet and I felt extremely nervous.

Within the first half hour of being at work, they put a Labor Ready worker with me and thank God she knew what she was doing, as she's been working with our company for a few months. I was in the bathroom soaping up the shower walls and tub, while the toilet was soaking in soap. I kept thinking, "What am I doing???" I really didn't know if I was doing it right or wrong. I just was scared it wasn't going to be clean enough for the inspection.

Check-outs are people who leave the hotel, and I go in to make sure it's White-Glove-clean for the next guests. This was a check-out. When I was a kid, my former-Marine dad taught me how to clean White-Glove-style. I hate it and it makes me nervous. I have this embedded fear of being barked at by my supervisor, that my dad probably put in my subconscious as a kid. My dad was a big barker and if things weren't going his way he'd make you do it right. My job makes me nervous.

The second room we did, there was a panty-liner, unwrapped and sticking to the inside of the wastebasket. I am beginning to remember why my husband is the trash-man in our household. I HATE that chore with a passion.

I got my first inspections after I cleaned the 2 check-outs. He inspected the shower walls. I am so glad I watched how he did it because I now know what to do for the next time. He made me redo the toilet because it had spots when you stood at an angle and looked at it. In the light he found a few spots. I had no idea they were using Windex on the toilet seats. Here I was spraying the toilet seats with the same pink soap I used in the toilet. Duh.

Later, we went to a room full of 3 old women. It felt like we just walked into a Golden Girls episode. I went in and cleaned the first bathroom. There was an old lady pantyliner in the trashcan, wrapped, but obviously an old lady pantyliner. I stopped breathing, took the wastebasket to the hall, and dumped her pantyliner into the trash bag before I could allow myself to inhale again. I went to the other bathroom (the rooms were adjacent and they had it opened up in the center so they could make it one room instead of two). I was getting ready to dump the trash and there were two old lady urinary incontinence pads in the basket, used and exposed. I stopped breathing, took the wastebasket to the hall, and dumped her pantyliner into the trash bag before I could allow myself to inhale again.

After my Labor-Ready helper and I finished the hotel rooms, we were separated to help other Housekeepers on the second floor (a warm floor, but not as hot as the 3rd floor). I went into a room with 2 housekeepers and there was a nasty odor in the trash bag on the cart after the main housekeeper had dumped a load in there. I was like WTF is that smell? So, I went back in and said, "The trash stinks really bad?" She then said, "Esta pamper." There was an adult diaper in the trash! Someone went potty on themself and left their acidic, acrid, ammonia diaper in the trash. If I was in that situation, I would have wrapped it in a plastic bag and thrown it in a dumpster outdoors. I wouldn't want people seeing that.

This job makes me appreciate any other job I have ever had. I feel like a damn slave with all this work to impress other people for a little over $60 a day, having to use the BACK elevators and stairwells like people on the back of the bus, getting the leftovers from the cafeteria that the guests didn't buy (with no condiments). I'm used to making $60 in an hour plus $20 tips doing my OTHER job that I chose to let go because of sexual harrassment from clientele and strangers who think it's okay to crack jokes or make sexual gestures or innuendos. However, I'm going to tough it out and see what happens.

No Hablo Espanol

2007-07-11T23:37:00.000-07:00

Walking around and being on my feet all day is killing me. I am HATING it. I have never walked so much in my life. The last 2 days are making me dread this third day. I want the week to be over and get a 30 minute foot and leg massage.

My feet hurt up into my lower calves. I gave myself a massage but it doesn't kill the pain. The first day was my worst day as of yet. I made a bed and had it ripped apart and told, "Do it again." That reminds me of some military crap and it's making me question, "Is it really worth it?" The other workers say it gets easier once I get the hang of things, but I do NOT like being under a microscope.

Also, there's a HUGE group of non-English speaking Latinos. I get left out of conversations, out of fitting in during lunch and breaks. I'm a loner. This is totally ridiculous. They ask if I speak Spanish or if I'm "Mexicana." When I say no, I get shrugged off. I've never been treated like this before. I am EXPECTED to speak to them in Spanish while ON the job because they speak it to me regardless if I say, I can't speak it. If I answer in English, they speak to me in Spanish anyway. I hate to sound like a prejudice jerkoff, but I'm NOT obligated to speak any other language.

I heard a guest say, "Please don't come to my room. I have my Do Not Disturb sign up." And then I heard the housekeeper say, "No Ingles." She blatantly said, "No English," and put her hands up and shrugged like, "Oh well..." It may be just me, but it annoys me.

By the way, after all the walking and perfecting, and cleaning up about 15 rooms, overtime, I totally deserved more than the one dollar measly gratuity I received all day.

How To Tip at a Hotel

2007-07-10T18:04:00.000-07:00

Not every hotel you stay at will have a bellman and concierge. Some just have a guy hanging out for minimum wage. If that's the case, then tipping is not really expected. If you're staying in a place slightly more upscale, tipping is both customary and appreciated.

Because tipping is a way of rewarding good service, there is no way to say what is appropriate across the board. Tip at your own discretion, and only if you feel it is warranted. Here are some general guidelines to follow.

*Valet: $1 - $2 (more in bad weather)

*Shuttle Driver: $2

*Doorman: $1 - $2 (for hailing a cab)

*Bellman: $1 - $2 per bag (when bags are brought up and down from your room)

*Concierge: $2 - $20 (depending on the level of attention)

*Room Service: 18% of the bill or at least $2 (not required if gratuity is included)

*Housekeeping: $1 - $5 per night (the messier you are, the higher the tip)

*Coat Check: $1 - $2