So, today, I decided, maybe it would be a good thing to let folks know something about those women, who do go into their rooms when they lock their doors. Yep, that's who we are, you lock the door, we have the key to go in. Kind of creepy, I think...When I lock my house door, I am hoping that means no one will enter, you, on the other hand, know that your personal stuff will be seen by at least one other person. Oh, I know, in your minds,that person is simply going to make your bed, and clean your toilet and tub, which in the perfect world, is what we would do. But Lordy, sometimes, we have to dig through mounds of stuff, just to find your bed. We pick through clothing, hoping that you have some system for the clean and dirty, and try and pile things separately, but....I don't know about others, I do not do the "smell" test.
I wonder. do you think of us as your Mothers? I often go into a room, and figure the guys staying in there are the same age as my son. Why? Because the rooms look exactly like his room did, when himself and his buddy lived in our basement.I gauge rooms, some are occupied by people who are simply here to work, the beds are often barely slept in, pillows not moved, blankets just turned down. These rooms are organized, simple, a toiletry kit, neatly on the sink, a small bag, clothes folded, dirty laundry in a separate bag. It is easy, make the bed, clean the toilet, wipe the shower, dust, garbage out, and a quick "hoover" , done. Love those rooms!! But...then you have your kid's rooms. Hey, my son and his friend heard me screeching many times, over their mess. Yes, I know, I get paid to do these rooms, and I certainly didn't get paid to clean up at home, but come on!!!How on earth can a couple of guys have enough time to make such a mess, after work, every single night? I could understand the weekend, but Tuesday night??? O.K. maybe we are Mom's that can't yell at their messy kids.
So, now for some of my secrets, so you know a little about the one coming into your room. My job is cleaning, so...I expect you assume I am Martha Stewart at home, Hah!!! My honey put it best when he said I am like a mechanic. You know, the guy who spends all day working on other people's vehicles, and drives around in his own truck, sputtering and belching fumes, with bald tires...yep, I spend all day cleaning up for a pay cheque, and have nothing left to my own housework. I dream of doing a "weekly" on my own home, I stare at my sink and toilet in the morning, wishing I could gather up the energy to make it sparkle, fluff bunnies roll across my floor, meeting in corners and becoming fluff Sasquatches. I calculate that I can fit just a little more garbage in the can, before it overflows. Windex, well, I do manage to do my windshield (once in awhile) but all furniture has the same coating of dust. Heck, I can manage to do 2 Row House weeklies a day, that means cleaning every single square inch of a 3 story home, often 4 beds, 2 bathrooms, floors carpets, dusting etc. Then home I come, where I can somehow manage to turn a blind eye to things that would never be allowed to happen at work. I hate feeling this way. I would love to have a home that smells all lemony, and a person could safely walk about in bare feet, it is my dream! I get miserable, because of the mess, and therefore, when I do clean up the hotel rooms each day, only to wander in the next morning to find the same disgusting teenage mess, I go off the deep end.Hotel guests are enjoying my dream, a nice clean space, and not appreciating a thing.
Hummm...as I was writing that, I wondered, maybe us Housekeepers should start some sort of pact. Maybe we should do weeklies for each other? Nope, that will never happen, we would be (or at least I would be) totally embarassed to have a co-worker clean my place. Hola, they would be talking about it for years. Forget that idea!!!
Do we discuss what we find in the rooms, OH YES!!! We will even drag co-workers into rooms at times, to show them stuff. Funny, we seldom see those who stay in the rooms, but we have our own ideas what you look like, and what type of person you are. Do we discuss those who do not touch towels in weeks? Yep!!We hope that where you work, you have a company shower you use, putting fresh towels is not an issue, that part of the job is expected. One strange thing, though, often those guests who don't shower, are the neatest in every other aspect. Again, is that because they work so hard, they simply need the room to sleep?
Our job is apparently very unappealing, therefore, we are continually short staffed, and for over a year now, our work place has been booked solid. We have days when 2 housekeepers must do the whole job. Now, if we worked in a place where we stayed in one building, it would be difficult, but not insane. However, our workplace has building scattered all over town. We must drive to two of these properties, packing all our linens and supplies into a car, and hoping we have remembered everything, from toilet paper, to face cloths. So, on these days, one of the two must accept this job, and the other must do 3 buildings,including public washrooms. When we take our days off, we know that this is going to be left on 2 co-workers, not a good thing. Often, something is forgotten on these days, and a guest will complain. We know you pay for this. Hotels are no longer inexpensive, and we understand, you expect service for your money. In a perfect world, we would gladly provide this service, but, our world is far from perfect. We don't have the opportunity to do our job as well as we would like. Most of us want that sense of pride for a job well done, and it is aggravating that we are seldom ever able to do this. When we get the complaints, we do get angry, not so much as those who have placed the complaint, but at the conditions that do not allow us the time to complete everything.
Maybe the time will come, when things slow down, or we suddenly have a ton of people who want to join our group (doubtful). But in the meantime, we do the best we can, and try and envoke our Mom side when entering one of the "teenage" rooms. We are all Mom's, funny enough, and we all have life outside housekeeping, not much of a life, as we are usually all too tired once we have looked after our rooms, and our guests. We work at a job where we provide a service for a lot of people, we seldom ever meet. We simply get to know you, through your room, and, we decide how nice you are, by how easy it is to clean up after you. So, just a heads up, keep a clean hotel room, and there will be housekeepers who like you!
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