I was cleaning our shower today, a task I loathe above most others because my husband has a job that he comes home from covered in various dirts and greases almost every day and I was thinking about how much I hate cleaning bathrooms. I used to say I’d rather clean a bathroom than a dish, but that changed after I worked for a Hyatt hotel. Not just any Hyatt, but the Hyatt Vineyard Creek in Santa Rosa, CA.
I thought the job would be great when I first took it. It was good pay (by my Missouri standards) and the hours were somewhat flexible in that once I was done with my rooms, I could leave if I so chose. I started off training and realized that I was one of 3 people on the cleaning staff who spoke fluent English and one of only 2 who spoke it as a first language. This didn’t bother me because the gals I worked with were very sweet and I knew just enough Spanish to get by. The supervisors were another story. They called me a kid (and I was) and condescended to me to my face and were downright rude behind my back. They spoke no Spanish, but made up for it by speaking REALLY loud to the other workers because that makes it easier to understand. Kinda like talking to old people. Or not….
I got into a routine and cleaned most rooms in less than 20 minutes, which was quite an accomplishment considering the size of the rooms and the mess made by the rich people who stayed in them. We were supposed to do 16 rooms a day and get time and a half for every room extra beyond that, but I was regularly given 19 or 20 rooms and no extra pay. Some days I would get to come in late and do the afternoon housekeeping around the grounds because I spoke English and by then the guests were up and around and asking questions. The hotel didn’t want the white bread clientèle to be confused or offended by the non-English speaking staff so thats where I came in. I’d clean the lobby, the offices, and the sweep the courtyard, walkways etc. It was easier than the rooms and a bit more social which was nice, but it didn’t last long, because the other white girl quit without notice and I had to take over her work.
I’d had just about enough after being there for a month when I cleaned one room where a couple had stayed for 5 days. They left the room a disaster with empty food cartons and other junk even tho it had just been cleaned the day before by yours truly. It took me a good 40 minutes to get through it all and I freaked out a bit when I found the empty condom wrappers (sans rubbers thank god), the pamphlets on being a gay male living with aids, and the booklets on all the gay clubs in San Francisco. I immediately put on two extra pairs of gloves and was very careful from there on out.
The final straw came when I was told I would have vacation for a week when Jarell came to visit me for the first time in 6 months. They never wrote it down, but regularly talked to me about it so I wasn’t worried until the schedule went up for the week I was supposed to have off. Not only did they not give me the vacation, but I was scheduled to work 9 days in a row. I was upset but calmly asked them about it. They said another housekeeper had quit without notice and two other women had asked at the last minute to go visit family. I was pissed, but kept quiet.
The next day when Jarell was scheduled to fly in, I called in sick. And until 3 weeks later when I went to pick up my last check, I never went back. Childish? Maybe. Justified? Hell yes! I was making a whopping 8 dollars an hour at a horrendous job where they treated the employees in the housekeeping section like scum.
The moral of the story: Be kind to your housekeeping staff when you stay at a hotel. They don’t see much of that outrageous fee that you pay to the hotel, and they generally aren’t treated that well. Besides, if you’re staying more than one night, you really want your room to be clean and safe, don’t you?
