My first day working at a hotel front desk went a lot differently than expected, starting with the end of the paperwork. I didn't go home like I thought I would: I started training. The GM (who's now on a week vacation) told me a few days back to simply show up today at 10am wearing what I would to an interview. So I wore a white Oxford shirt, stylish gray skirt, ruby red watch, and black heels. Everyone else was wearing black sneakers. Thanks, GM.
The people were more or less what I expected them to be. There are two main front desk supervisors, one morning, one night. The one in the morning is more shy but detailed and the designated trainer. The one in the evening has more of a temper, is less PC, and has a sweet mother/scary bitch complex towards liking us girls and hating arrogant men. There are two more people: a women who does the 'wine in the room' type things and has an attitude but funny flare, and a 20-year old surfer girl who's been through some shit and has that toughnest that comes from not going to college and making it on your own since you had to. It's a mix of thick skin and silly sarcasm. Two new people are starting next week.
The people were more or less what I expected them to be. There are two main front desk supervisors, one morning, one night. The one in the morning is more shy but detailed and the designated trainer. The one in the evening has more of a temper, is less PC, and has a sweet mother/scary bitch complex towards liking us girls and hating arrogant men. There are two more people: a women who does the 'wine in the room' type things and has an attitude but funny flare, and a 20-year old surfer girl who's been through some shit and has that toughnest that comes from not going to college and making it on your own since you had to. It's a mix of thick skin and silly sarcasm. Two new people are starting next week.
The actual work is moderately easy. Checking people in doesn't seem that complicated but all of the little extra stuff like moving families so they're on the same floor, and when people leave but don't check out they have to ask the maid service if it's indeed clean and open, and can you add this person to accompany me, and can you make sure my divorced mother and father here for the wedding are in different wings, ect.
Weddings are popular this time of year so it was really busy with large groups checking some people in and not others and paying for the room but not wanting to pay for their parking. Overall though the customers are friendly and have a story to tell. Many of them are tourists from around the world.
So yeah, it was busy all morning and early afternoon with all these groups and requests and things. It died by the late afternoon to the point that both of my co-workers were on People.com and Facebook chat. You can pay me $10+ to do nothing for hours. There are several little things to increase pay too, like tips and if the hotel fills up for the night and signing people up for the free perks card. I'll probably make about $11 an hour before taxes which is what I wanted. (I was making $9.10 in AZ, and it's $8 an hour to be a barista in SD).
Weddings are popular this time of year so it was really busy with large groups checking some people in and not others and paying for the room but not wanting to pay for their parking. Overall though the customers are friendly and have a story to tell. Many of them are tourists from around the world.
So yeah, it was busy all morning and early afternoon with all these groups and requests and things. It died by the late afternoon to the point that both of my co-workers were on People.com and Facebook chat. You can pay me $10+ to do nothing for hours. There are several little things to increase pay too, like tips and if the hotel fills up for the night and signing people up for the free perks card. I'll probably make about $11 an hour before taxes which is what I wanted. (I was making $9.10 in AZ, and it's $8 an hour to be a barista in SD).
In the end I see this as a 6-8 month job for me. It's long enough to get a chance to explore downtown, sustain myself solo for a few months, get a vacation with discounted hotel rooms, and either (1) possibility get a transfer out of state if I move in Spring or Summer, or (2) be more mature and older for a different job with better pay. The biggest flaw of the job are the hours. It's either 7am-3:30pm, or 3pm-11pm, and 5 days a week with my days off being my internship days. I won't be getting a real day off until November. =(
But I'll end this entry with lunch. I was sitting eating my pesto-mayo turkey sandwich in my black heels and white Oxford, looking out to downtown San Diego and the sea beyond it, working part-time at a book publisher, coming home to a beach house where my boyfriend would be boiling water for our pasta, and I thought, "This is starting to look like the life I always wanted..."
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