WHAT A VIEW!

BOY, I HAVE NEVER FELT SO LET DOWN WITH A JOB BEFORE THAN I FEEL WITH THIS CURRENT ONE. THE PLACE COULD BE SUCH A GOLD MINE IF MANAGEMENT KNEW WHAT TO DO. EVERYONE FROM THE GENERAL MANAGER ON DOWN ARE CLUELESS AS TO HOW TO MARKET/PROMOTE THE HOTEL (ALONG WITH ITS RESTAURANT).

THE SALES & MARKETING DEPT. HAS NO CLUE ON HOW TO PROMOTE THE RESTAURANT (WITH ITS WONDERFUL VIEWS OF DOWNTOWN MIAMI). HELL, THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO PRICE SPECIAL EVENTS AT THE HOTEL!

IT'S VERY FRUSTRATING BECAUSE THEY'VE LOWERED ARE HOURLY RATE FROM $10/HR TO $4.69/HR. WITH NO CLIENTELE, WE'RE NOT MAKING MUCH TIPS EVEN BY POOLING ALL TIPS. FOR EXAMPLE, TONIGHT I MADE A GRAND TOTAL OF $9.00 IN TOTAL TIPS FOR THE ENTIRE EVENING.

I WAS SO EXCITED WHEN I WAS HIRED AT THIS NEW PLACE. NOW I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE ENDS MEET WHILE BEGINNING MY SEARCH ALL OVER AGAIN FOR YET ANOTHER JOB.

I'M BACK

WELL, IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE MY LAST ENTRY IN THIS BLOG.

THE REASON WAS THAT I QUIT MY JOB. AFTER TAKING ME OFF THE

OVERNIGHT SHIFT AND HIRING SOMEONE ELSE TO WORK THAT SHIFT,

THEY WANTED TO FORCE ME TO TAKE IT OVER AGAIN. THE NEW

EMPLOYEE WAS JUST A DISASTER APPARENTLY. I TOLD THEM I JUST COULD NOT

TAKE THAT POSITION BACK. SO, I QUIT.

AFTER 3 MONTHS OF UNEMPLOYMENT WHERE I ESSENTIALLY PARTIED THE WHOLE TIME, I DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO GET BACK INTO THE WORK FORCE AGAIN.

I FOUND A JOB AT A RELATIVELY NEW HOTEL IN DOWNTOWN MIAMI. THE HOTEL HAS ONLY BEEN OPENED FOR ABOUT 2 YEARS. IN THE 2 YEARS, THEY'VE CHANGED MANAGEMENT TWICE. THE NEW MANAGEMENT OPENED A RESTAURANT AT THE HOTEL. I AM ACTUALLY WORKING AS A SERVER AT THE RESTAURANT. I ALSO TAKE CARE OF THE ROOM SERVICE ORDERS THAT COME IN.

THE PLACE HAS SO MUCH POTENTIAL IF ONLY THEY KNEW HOW TO MARKET AND ADVERTISE THE PLACE.

THE PREVIOUS MANAGEMENT APPARENTLY DIDN'T BELIEVE IN STANDARDS, DRESS CODES OR EVEN PROVIDING TOP SERVICE TO ITS GUESTS.

THE NEW MANAGEMENT IS STILL IN THE PROCESS OF SETTING UP STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES, DRESS CODES, ETC. THEY ARE ALSO IN THE PROCESS OF HIRING QUALIFIED EMPLOYEES WHILE AT THE SAME TIME TRYING TO GET RID OF THE RIFF RAFF CURRENTLY EMPLOYED THERE. BY THE LOOKS OF IT, IT IS CERTAINLY NOT AN EASY TASK.

I WAS HIRED THREE WEEKS AGO AND I'M VERY EXCITED. MOSTLY BECAUSE I SEE THE POTENTIAL THE PLACE HAS FOR BEING A PREMIERE BOUTIQUE HOTEL IN DOWNTOWN MIAMI.

BURN NOTICE

Recently, the entire cast & crew of "Burn Notice" took over the hotel's lobby for filming of a segment of an upcoming episode. They spent two days filming at the hotel. I was quite taken by how extremely thin yet beautiful Gabrielle Amwar is in person. Everyone was so extremely professional and considerate of hotel guests and staff.

I think it's great to have shows that are based in Miami to actually be filmed throughout the city rather than in a sound stage in California (like CSI: Miami which only films aerial views of Miami for their show).

FINALLY OVER!

After two and a half years, I am finally done with the overnight shift. My boss finally came around to hiring extra help (which was desperately needed). As a result, the last person hired takes over the overnight shift. I got bumped up to the afternoon shift. YES!!!

Now, I will only help out on the overnight shift when one of the two people working it goes on vacation. Fortunately, that's only twice a year.

REST IN PEACETHIS WEEK, WE WERE DEVASTATED TO HEAR THE NEWS OF THE UNEXPECTED DEATH OF ONE OF OUR CO-WORKERS. SHE HAD CELEBRATED HER 46th BIRTHDAY ON WEDNESDAY. ON THURSDAY, SHE CAME BACK TO WORK LOOKING RADIANT. ON FRIDAY (HER SCHEDULED DAY OFF) SHE WOKE UP WITH A TERRIBLE MIGRAINE HEADACHE. IT GOT WORSE AS THE MORNING PROGRESSED SO SHE DECIDED TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL. WHILE WAITING TO SEE A DOCTOR, SHE COLLAPSED. THE DOCTORS RUSHED TO HER AIDE ONLY TO REALIZE SHE HAD AN ANEURYSM. THEY RUSHED TO INTO SURGERY BUT TO NO AVAIL. SHE WAS BRAIN DEAD. ON MONDAY, HER DEVASTATED HUSBAND GAVE THE GO AHEAD TO TURN OFF THE LIFE SUPPORT MACHINE.

THIS WOMAN WAS SUCH A HARD WORKER. SHE GOT ALONG WITH EVERYONE (WHICH IS A RARE THING). SHE NEVER HESITATED TO HELP HER CO-WORKERS. NEVER COMPLAINED ABOUT THE LONG HOURS.

THE SADDEST THING IS THAT SHE HADN'T EVEN BEEN BURRIED YET, AND SHE HAD ALREADY BEEN REPLACED AT WORK. THEY HIRED SOMEONE TO REPLACE HER AND BROUGHT HIM IN ON THE SAME DAY OF THE FUNERAL. TALK ABOUT INSESITIVITY!

PREFERRED GUEST

At the hotel where I'm currently employed (as in many others) there are preferred guests or "club" members.

Speaking from my own personal experience, the preferred guests I've encountered have actually turned out to be some (if not the) most arrogant and obnoxious guests ever!

They've discovered that if they complain loud enough (while at the same time reminding everyone that they are "preferred" guests) that they tend to receive complimentary items such as wine, meals, etc.

They also tend to mistreat the hotel staff with profanity, threats and, at times, even with physical abuse!

Following are specific details of one such "preferred" guest at my hotel. This guy is a complete asshole!

One night, this idiot was staying in one of the nicer suites (which he was moved in to because he complained about the original room he was assigned to). He was partying with two local prostitutes and decided to order two bottles of Veuve Clicquot champagne.

Upon arrival to the suite with the champagne, I was asked (actually told) to open the bottles for them. I opened both bottles and poured three glasses for the guests. The whole time this asshole is standing there completely nude scratching and sniffing himself!

After downing both bottles of champagne, they decided to go downstairs to the pool - completely nude! They were causing so much noise that they began to wake nearby guests (with rooms near the pool). Security had to be called to force them to return to their room to put some clothes on and to keep the noise level down.

The "preferred" asshole was so insulted he decided to check out that same evening. The very next day, he returned to the hotel with two un-opened bottles of Veuve Clicquot champagne (purchased elsewhere) and insisted for a refund claiming he had not consumed the bottles he ordered from room service the previous evening. What I could not believe was that the hotel management actually took the bottles and gave this asshole a complete refund (including my tip!). I have never been so disgusted!

SENSE OF SAFETY

I've worked at hotels where the security was extremely tight. Tight security is reassuring not only to the guests but to the employees as well. There's a great sense of safety knowing there's such protection while you're working.

At the current hotel where I work security is a sad pathetic joke. It's a bunch of young guys who are more interested in hitting on the female employees than actually protecting the guests or hotel staff.

There are no security checks so, of course, there's a lot of theft from unscrupulous employees.

The hotel is very open to the public. By this, I mean that there are a lot of different entrances where people can just walk on to the hotel grounds. Rather than have the security staff patrol the grounds and entrances to the hotel, they're stationed in an office where they just hang out and play video games on their smart phones.

It's very scary, especially since there are a lot of national and international politicians & dignitaries that stay at this particular hotel.