So I'm back at work at the hotel after my 2 months off. When I was told about my promotion to the luxury club, I figured I'd get some training and then work my 2-3 days a week. I didn't think I'd be handed the keys on day one and manage the whole facility and it's staff (Hotel Management have more faith in my abilities than I realised . . .either that or they were desperate, probably a bit of both). It was fantastic! I did my two day's in club and was asked to cover shifts on the front desk for the rest of the week.

What a contrast! I adore both though, the relaxed club where I even get to sit down and the fast paced front desk where I'm juggling 12 tasks at a time all day.

I'd be happy to work in both areas of the hotel. Just not as many shifts as I've worked this week.

Overview of my week at the hotel:

• Opened my first bottle of $900 Champagne for a guests welcome drink in the club.
• Watched the aftermath of what happens when the clubs Wii and PS3 systems both get stolen on the same day- luckily I wasn't on shift when that happened.
• Checked a person in with a 19 letter surname
• Got undressed or dressed eight times each day: 1: undressed from Pjs in the morning 2: dressed in my civilian clothing 3: undressed at work 4: dressed in my hotel garb 5: undressed at the end of shift 6: dressed back in my civvies 7: undressed for the evening 8: dressed into my Pjs. . .next week I hope to be back at the gym so there will be even more where that came from. . .maybe I'll save the gym for my days off.
• Tripped over in the back of house dungeon, grazed my knees and bruised my legs all over. I look like a 5 year old after their first bike ride without training wheels.
• Got lost in the back of house dungeon, ended up in a fire escape and out on the street.
• I served my nemesis (again. . .she came into my previous hotel on new years eve last year), She is dating one of the Australian Cricket team members who were staying with us. She looked well, happier than the last time I saw her and I was pleased to see that. The experience was more pleasant than last time and I sent up a bottle of Champagne as a peace offering. She texted me the next day wanting to catch up next time I'm in Melbourne. . . I don't think I will. I'm happy to bump into her from time to time (I'd prefer it if it wasn't at work) and play nice. I still don't know why she makes me feel so bad about myself. It doesn't make sense.
• Served a lot of high maintenance American tourists escaping their winter back home.

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The following is not meant to be an anti-American slagging off, it's just what I had to deal with in one eight hour shift.

 

I'm not writing this to be offensive to anyone but I must implore if you're from the states, for the sake of the reputation of your country (and the sanity of hotel staff)  if you know someone from the U.S with the following tendencies who is about to travel overseas pleeeeease get them to think about how they conduct themselves and if you are guilty aswell. . .please stop.

• Don't yell, we can hear you and believe it or not we also understand English.
• Please don't give me a geography lesson: "I'm from <insert well known U.S city here>. . .That's in the U.S.A"
• Stop complaining about everything, it's really not that bad.
• If the bottle says aspirin. . .it's still aspirin even if the brand is different to the one you use at home.
• I don't run your economy and it's not my fault your dollar is currently weak.
• Don't presume I'm stupid or have a dead end job because I work in the service industry. We get paid very nicely to do what we do here and we do it because we love it, let us make you smile. That goes for our restaurant staff as well, they are highly trained (and paid) career waiters and sommeliers, please don't talk down to them.
• If my answer to your question is not the one you were hoping for please don't re-phrase your question eight times, then stand there staring at me before walking off saying "we'll see". It's possible the friend (also an American tourist) who gave you the information in the first place was wrong and if you're so certain their information was correct, Why are you double checking with me? (this happened three times today with three separate guests all asking different questions)
• Don't short change yourself by jumping in with a set of demands before you've heard our offer.
• I'm sorry that our food doesn't contain as much sugar as you're used to. . .supposedly even our bread isn't sweet enough.
• Please don't interrupt me when I'm talking to another guest, it's rude and obnoxious.
• With such wonderfully vibrant personalities you should be a joy to be around, please don't act like spoiled children.

That being said some of my worst guests are Australian, we even have a couple who get their names put up on the white board in back office when they're coming in as a pre-warning so our staff can prepare. The numbers don't add up though, of the 90-100 Americans I dealt with today, only one of them was sooooooo lovely, I just wanted to take her home. Why just one???? come on guys, tell your American friends they're getting a bad reputation.

LB. . .Why am I afraid to hit the Publish button?