I just want some perspective
Today, I got tricked into doing some manual labor on my job. No hard feelings, but was pretty surprised when I got asked to do some of the tasks that I had to do today. So a little background.. Goldman Sachs owns Archon Group. My particular department inside Archon Group does the accounting for the partners who have invested in particular hotel assets across the United States. Pillar - Hotel and Resorts used to be affiliated with Goldman Sachs and Archon Group, but due to some government regulations, they got split. Pillar - Hotel and Resorts, is a company that manages specific hotels across the US.. many of which include the Marriott.
This week, my manager told me that I would be learning about the operations of Marriott to get a better grasp of the entire hotel real estate industry. He said that he would send me off to the Courtyard Marriott in Dallas and have me work the front desk - checking people in & out, answering calls, compiling reports, completing purchase orders for needed supplies, etc. Now me… being the naive little kid that I am, was EXTREMELY EXCITED. How cool was that?! It definitely beats sitting at a desk all day waiting for accounting work to get passed along. (which sucks even more because all form of social media and personal email are blocked) I even got a legit name badge!
Today was the day that I would enter into the hotel business. Today was the day where I thought I’d be able to have some fun meeting and greeting guests in. However, I learned very quickly that what I had anticipated all week was all pretty much fail. I got in at 8 just like they had said.. but the general manager wasn’t in until 9 so I waited like an idiot for a good hour. Already a start of a bad day. The morning was slow as I learned their check in procedures. I ended up getting off topic and asked how to best negotiate for rates if I were ever to check in at another hotel (the only thing I pretty much learned all day) The rest of the afternoon, I was assigned to Housekeeping to learn about room inspection process. PERFECT! The general manager of the hotel then put me with one of the head Housekeeping maids which was cool, except for the fact that she only spoke Spanish. Now, somehow we overcame this culture barrier and got to work. I was first put in the laundry room where I got to see how they washed all the hotel linens. I was asked to help fold all the laundry which was fine, until I saw the unending batch of dirty laundry coming through the door. Afterwards, I was put inside the hotel rooms, where she had me cleaning the desks and restrooms - and even had me help putting in new sheets on the beds. We did a total about 10 rooms, each taking a good 20 to 30 minutes. GOOD LORD it was hard.. which was what the Housekeeping maid kept saying. Suddenly, it struck me. Yes, I was pretty darned pissed for doing this type of work on my internship.. but I was in no right to complain about it. I was only there for a few hours today and I was atleast still getting paid my corporate salary which is already such a huge blessing. Definitely gave me huge perspective and appreciation for hotel Housekeeping and others in general. They’re working their butts off day in and day out, doing the most mundane but difficult tasks and are always in the background. They’re what keeps the hotel running! The maid I was working with got all excited when she saw a $10 tip left at the table in one of the rooms we cleaned - which I didn’t see very often. So remember, next time you’re a hotel - tip your Housekeeping maid! =)
Anyway, not the experience that I had expected, but definitely came out today feeling good that I was able to 1) work with someone with a huge culture barrier and 2) work with someone who genuinely appreciated the much needed help.
The hotel industry is very interesting and am still looking forward to more surprising experiences within the next 8 weeks.
