As hotel housekeeping, what was the worst room you’ve had to clean?

I wasn't the housekeeper in either of these cases, but each is an example of why I'm grateful that those housekeepers are there, so I don't have to go in and clean up a mess like this.

An owner up in Connecticut took in a homeless guy and gave him a room and a hundred bucks or so a week in exchange for doing a lot of the maintenance around the place. About three months later when he began backsliding into his uncontrolled alcohol and substance abuse and it came time to vacate him out of there, the entire floor of the room in which he'd been living — with two cats, no less — was ankle-deep in garbage and cat poop. (The urine merely soaked into the carpet, which had to be replaced along with the mattresses and all soft goods.)

And then there were the two old guys who checked into a double room at a low end hotel here in Winston-Salem early on a Friday afternoon with several bottles of booze, paid in advance for three nights, and settled in on a hard, weekend-long drinking binge. Whenever either of them had too much and had to throw up, they just leaned over and puked right there on the floor between the two queen beds. Repeatedly. All through the weekend. After they left without checking out Monday morning, the housekeepers found a pile of accumulated vomit in that spot. The maintenance guys flipped for it to decide which one of them would be stuck with the job of heading down there with a flathead shovel to shovel it out. That room also got new carpet.

If you run a hotel, always treat your housekeepers with kindness and respect, and occasionally show a little gratitude and do a little extra for them. It's a dirty, nasty, not very well-compensated job, but they're what keeps you from having to put on an apron, roll out a cart, and go up there and do it.

Originally appeared on Quora

What do you find is the hardest thing about having to fire someone?

Doing it right.

There are a thousand or so ways to make a mistake and do it wrong, some of which can get you in a lot of legal trouble, others of which can buy you lots of nuisance-level consequences and repercussions for months or years afterward. (We won’t even go there about the possibility of provoking repercussions that constitute security threats to your company, property or staff — ever hear the term “Going postal”? . . .)

And the one way to do it right seems to vary by individual.

What I want above all else is a clean break. Have the employee move on, and have something to move on to, and have that departing employee quietly float away. It may be possible that time heals all wounds, and nothing would please me more than to have exactly that happen eventually, and we can meet again amicably and achieve some partial reconciliation, and no hard feelings in the interim; but on this day, until I’m sure there are no hard feelings, I never want to hear from that person in the foreseeable future.

In a perfect world . . .

• Everyone all around — including the departing employee — would agree that the situation isn’t working, and that it's best for all that we have a parting of the ways.
• The departing employee would move on with his or her life, and have something to move on to that would have him or her content to move on with his or her life, and never look back. I don’t want any ‘disgruntled former employees’ running around loose in the world.
• The impact of the termination upon the departing employee would be limited to the discontinuation of his or her employment by our company. No wipeout of any savings he has from the sudden loss of his income, no eviction because she couldn’t pay the rent, her kids don’t suffer because there’s no longer enough income to keep food in the house, no cars repossessed because he gets behind on the payments, no difficulty finding future employment because of a bad or questionable reference.
• It all gets done without pushback, resistance or a bad fight on the part of the departing employee — and the departing employee doesn’t try to leverage our commitment to get it done clean, quietly and without any problems, against us.
• There would never be any hard feelings, or grounds for hard feelings. Everyone goes their way, complete.

But in most cases, achieving all of this requires a world more perfect than the one you and I live in. Not even Jesus Christ, who was the Son of God and had all of the attributes of God while also being fully human, who literally needed no reference checks, who “did not need anyone to tell him what a person was like. He already knew” (John 2:25 - Easy-to-Read Version ); could select twelve guys to carry His message into the world and continue His work after He was gone without getting a Judas in the bunch. In a really perfect world, you’d never make a bad hire, an employee would never fail at his training or have performance problems or develop issues or fall into temptation and go bad on you, and no one would get fired at all.

An alarming global trend and how to disrupt it | By Jan Edwards

From Hotel Yearbook 2018

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Can a prospective employer ask for background check info before they interview you?

We don’t even ask, we just do it. Your submission of an employment application to us gives us specific authority to do so.

That’s a problem? You don’t want to give us that authority? Your choice, but your application will proceed no further unless we can do a background check. It’s irresponsible to hire anyone without one, and we don’t waste time interviewing people we know we’re not going to hire.

Originally appeared on Quora

If a hotel patron inside a deadbolted room does not answer the phone or door, how can someone get into the room to find out what's wrong?

There is an emergency keycard — kept in a sealed envelope in a very secure, undisclosed location, because it can open any room in the hotel — that someone at the management level (or an employee acting under telephoned instructions by management) can bring up to that room and use to pop that deadbolt open, electronically.

(Yes, that electronic mechanism can operate the deadbolt, too. At least, with my keycard, it can. Yours can't open it, and neither can the master keycards issued to housekeepers or other employees. This one's what they call a 'grandmaster' key. My button is bigger.)

If I bring it up, or give the order that it be taken out and brought up, you might want to be dressed and ready to move quickly, because I'm also bringing (or sending) along a couple of cops and maybe some EMTs, depending on what I've been told the situation is. Bringing up the rear of the group will be a maintenance guy with a pair of bolt cutters, in case a fastened door chain or safety latch is also a problem: I'd rather suck the $10.95 cost of replacing that than to leave the mess or repair the damage that kicking in the door can do.

This 7-Eleven has a unique way to stop loitering, panhandling

From The New York Post

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Hotel for sale: Motel 6, Greensboro, N. C.

Property offering

MOTEL 6 (former Landmark Inn)
2838 SOUTH ELM-EUGENE STREET
GREENSBORO, N. C.  27406

Listing broker: Vinit Mody, MTEL Consultants, via Loopnet

TripAdvisor reviews: Bubble score 1.5

Property website:

• Motel 6 Greensboro -- Motel 6 child site

The facility:

This property (formerly the LandMark Inn) has had some renovations, was recently accepted as a Motel 6 franchise, has glaring security problems (not the least of which was three homicides in a two month period some years back), and still has a long way to go. But its location can be its salvation if it is upbranded to a mid-market product, a complete renovation occurs, some product differentiation is implemented to go along with that, and some corporate marketing is implemented. Also, quite a bit of acreage is included.

It's a voodoo hellhole, but you should buy it anyway.

Asking price	$2,100,000.00	Given
Number of rooms	61	Given
Annual gross	$654,457.41	Calculated
Occupancy	71.00%	Given (see note)
ADR	$41.40	Given
REVPAR	$29.39	Calculated
Room revenue multiplier	3.21	Calculated
Year built	1967	Given
Last renovated	2016	Given
Last sold	2005	Guilford County GIS
Lot size	11.88 acres	Guilford County GIS

Occupancy and REVPAR are based on the current inventory of 61 rooms. There are three guestroom buildings, each having 32 rooms (one seems to have three room bays knocked out for an apartment), for a total of 96 rooms. Let's try it again with the actual number of rooms:

Asking price	$2,100,000.00	Given
Number of rooms	96	Given
Annual gross	$654,457.41	Calculated
Occupancy	43.31%	Given (see note)
ADR	$41.40	Given
REVPAR	$18.68	Calculated
Room revenue multiplier	3.21	Calculated
Year built	1967	Given
Last renovated	2016	Given
Last sold	2005	Guilford County GIS
Lot size	11.88 acres	Guilford County GIS

Do hotel cleaning people sometimes steal items from the rooms of their guests?

Rarely. You might be surprised, if you've never worked in a hotel, just how so.

Even the dumbest room attendant knows that whatever the temptation, if it happens, the guest will say something right away as soon as he or she notices the item missing, and there's always a record of who cleaned which room. In most hotels - and in any well-run hotel - there's just no way to do it and not get found out. And busted. Very quickly.

And any hotel owner or manager (who aren't always necessarily smarter than the housekeepers) knows that if a problem develops, unless it's addressed and dealt with immediately and conclusively, he or she is going to lose control of how to contain it. (For example, once a police car rolls up, which will happen if it's an item of any serious value, there's going to be an investigation, which means housekeepers being interviewed - on company time - by the cops.) So there is no incentive for a hotel owner or manager to cover up for (or even put up with) one or more sticky-fingered housekeepers, and at least some disincentive for even the grungiest manager of even the rattiest motel to tolerate it. Usually when there's a problem, it's the fault of weak or incompetent management, not complicit management.

I'll give you a pair of travel tips.

What are the oddest objects hotel staff have found left behind by guests?

This is a tricky question. In addition to the usual-usual - wallets (not a frequent occurrence because the guest needs his credit cards to check out, but it still sometimes happens, sometimes with a few hundred in cash inside), small jewelry items (usually, for some strange reason, a single earring, rarely both of a pair . . .), cell phones, cell phone chargers especially (I've said before, some guests are mutant aliens who eat TV remotes, but just as many try to make up for it just a little by leaving a cell phone charger behind), loose articles of clothing, small electronic items like an MP3 player, occasional loose food items (maybe a bottle of water or soda), toys (usually a stuffed animal, baby doll or teddy bear) - we're always finding weird things guests left behind . . .

• A guest's entire baggage - not quite, but almost, a complete wardrobe. Where it gets really odd is when they never call to reclaim it. It's like the guy walked out with the clothes on his back, and never looked back. You'd think we should consider filing a missing persons report, but we lack either standing or sufficient reason to believe something bad actually happened to him.
• A refrigerator full of food. Or beer. Or bottles of liquor, sometimes unopened.

Hotels for sale: Gold Rock Inn and Suites, Rocky Mount, N. C.

Property offering

This property appears to be a late 1960’s era Ramada Inn prototype. We've seen copies.

The current owner is being chased out, perhaps by evil forces who wield some level of corrupting influence with the Nash County Commissioners and are out to steal his land from him, bulldoze his hotel, and build yet another I-95 truck stop . . . but much more likely by Nash County authorities who have had it up to here already with his management of the property and his clientele, the drugs, the prostitution, and the frequency of 911 calls, and are now commencing a public nuisance abatement proceeding against the property in the North Carolina courts.

Nonetheless, with a top to bottom renovation, we think it just might still have a future in front of it as a hotel. (Yes, a respectable and even quite desirable one, where you can check in with your wife and kids.)



Listing broker: David Combs, Century 21-The Combs Company, Rocky Mount, N. C.

TripAdvisor reviews: This property is such a run-down voodoo hellhole that it doesn't even show up on TripAdvisor, and that takes some doing.

Read more.

If a hotel closes, gets sold, but is overtaken by squatters before the new owner has started business, what is the protocol for getting them out?

If I make an offer on a hotel, and it has been closed, I'm going to require that it be delivered at closing completely vacant; and if they cannot or will not deliver that, or the building is occupied by anyone other than people who are there for a reason that I am okay with, the deal's off. I’m also going to demand as part of the deal that it be — other than that which I might agree to in advance — unencumbered by franchise, unencumbered by management, unencumbered by any tenancy or leasehold interest, unencumbered period — free of any liens, free of any claims, nothing to get in the way of my absolute say in who’s allowed to be there, who’s allowed to set foot on the property and who isn’t; or how it is to be managed or what I can or can’t do with it, or who has the right to claim any of my return, revenue or rent from the use of it.

Former Heart of Durham Hotel, Durham, N. C. (Indyweek)

If squatters have so overrun the building that they've, legally, established "residency”, then running them out of there -- if they can be driven away -- is the seller's problem. Or should be. If he's not fully in possession of it, then he can't really claim that he owns it, and therefore has no right to try and sell it to anyone. And your wisdom, intelligence, and business sense is somewhat open to question if you buy it.

Why do hotels and office buildings lock the stairwells and force you to use the elevator?

First of all, it's very illegal to lock a marked exit: the stairwell is there for fire safety and must be accessible any time the building is occupied - which for a hotel, is pretty much 24-7.

I assume you mean, they're locked from the inside, so you cannot enter a floor from the stairwell.



It's a security issue. Some people lock access to upper floors from the stairwell (you can exit the stairwell at the first floor or ground level) to control traffic, to prevent people from transiting from upper floor to upper floor via the stairwells or to prevent people (particularly undesirables) from occupying the stairwell (it's not unheard-of in some places to find a wino or street person, or worse, sleeping or loitering in one).

I've seen a few hotels in locations where I would do that. Going into a stairwell to sneak a smoke in a 'tobacco-free' building is one thing - I do it myself sometimes - but all I need to see is a couple knuckleheads in a stairwell smoking weed, and that's it . . . new door hardware goes on order the next day.

How do celebrities stay in hotels under assumed names?

By not renting the room or registering as a guest. (How to pull that off, and still get a hotel room? You get someone else to do it for you.)

During televangelist Jim Bakker's trial on federal charges in 1989, arising from the previous year's PTL club scandal, he suffered a breakdown and was sent by the presiding judge to a federal medical facility for several days' observation and evaluation. 

Tammy Faye followed along . . . and stayed at a hotel at which I was working, the Days Inn in Durham, North Carolina. 



This was arranged very much on the fly and, even so, security was tight. It had to be. The trial, and particularly Rev. Bakker's breakdown, was a badly sensationalized news story at the time. There was a lot of 'tabloid' interest in that case as it progressed. Morning disk jockeys were making Jim and Tammy Faye the butt of cruel jokes, and even regular TV news programs had broadcast a tearful, rather unflattering reaction to the events by Tammy Faye. 

Yet, it all went so well because it was elegantly simple. The best way to keep a secret is to not tell anyone.

What should be the penalty when an employee steals items from the company they work for?

The supreme penalty. Termination. Prosecution, if it doesn't cost you too much more than you caught him stealing (by the time you catch a thief, there's usually more than you know about or can know about with any certainty, anyway). Block the unemployment compensation if you can. Permanent ineligibility for rehire. Be completely candid about what happened on any future reference checks. Sue to recover what he stole. And if you're in an Islamic country that provides such a penalty at law, have his right hand cut off at the wrist. The Mob has a solution that's by golly 100% effective, but it has its drawbacks: in a more civilized society, there has to be limits. (And besides, it's risky. And if you go to them for a favor like that, they'll over time want more in return than it'd be worth.) Stick it to him, sideways; give it a few turns, and make it hurt for a long, long time. And anyone who knew about it and didn't report it is just as guilty as the perpetrator: do it to them, too.



If it becomes known to your other employees that someone got away with stealing - or even if others on your staff feels that the penalty was light enough to raise questions about just how seriously you take such a thing, or to make the risk of getting caught worth taking because the downside seems 'minimal' - you'll sooner or later have more problems. You need to make an example of any individual you catch stealing.

What are the most overrated qualities employers look for in a job candidate?

Credit rating.

Using a credit score to assess risk of embezzlement or theft, or as a measure of 'character', is about as ignorant and irresponsible as anyone's, or any company's, hiring process gets.



Dishonest people who are likely to steal don't care about the debts reported on their credit, anyway: if anything, they'll have very few showing because they use little credit and deal primarily in cash. Those who do steal don't do it to pay lawful debts of long standing. A debt problem of sufficiently lengthy standing to show up on a credit report is rarely the incentive or motive for someone who actually steals. When debt is the motive for theft or embezzlement, it's more likely someone who's being pressed for payment at the moment - perhaps by a bookie, loan shark, or drug dealer -  not someone who needs to pay a valid debt that's been around long enough to show up on a credit report.

Is it illegal to check into a hotel under a wrong name?

It's not illegal, but we're not going to let you do it. Every guest must show an ID at check-in. (That's not a law, it's our policy, and one we feel that it would be irresponsible to not have, and to not go by. Our house, our rules. You don't have to show the ID, but if you choose not to, we're not going to rent you a room. Your choice.)



Famous people just have someone else check in for them. As long as that someone else is actually staying in the hotel, we let them (Michael Forrest Jones' answer to How do celebrities stay in hotels under assumed names? ).

About the only law I've seen on the subject shows up in Southern states, the Carolinas in particular. Don't sign in as "Mr. and Mrs." at a hotel or motel in North Carolina unless you are in fact married to the person accompanying you: it's a violation of a statute entitled 'Occupying a Hotel Room For An Immoral Purpose'. 

Can a hotel send guest information to the police without the guest's consent?

Laws can vary from state to state, but unless some state has a very odd privacy law, we're pretty free to share guest information with the police - all the more so if we tell the guest up front.

Beechmont's privacy policy, in pertinent part: "We freely share any guest registration information with local, civilian law enforcement authorities upon their request for any bona-fide law enforcement purpose: generally, any public peace officer need only show us a badge and give us a name. (If they give us yours, and you are the sort of individual for whom that could be a problem, perhaps you should seek accommodations elsewhere. We do not welcome the criminal, drug or vice elements, whether local or traveling.) We share no other guest information with anyone outside the Beechmont organization without either a court order or by direction of a corporate officer (vice president or above). We keep our guest registration information on file for a minimum of one year."

Originally appeared on Quora

I am a hotel owner. I sometimes have guests sneaking in more guests who are not registered. Our liability insurance only covers guests, and these extra visitors use our amenities and often leave the place a mess, and are a nightmare when they injure themselves, etc. How do I deal with this?

You don't have my shoulder to cry on about this one.

I've never visited your hotel (I'm assuming here that it's in the USA), but if I did, what I'd expect to find is that you've got bigger problems than guests sneaking in extra people; and that the way you operate, you're bringing it down on your own head.

And if I had your guest list in front of me, I'd also be willing to bet before even looking at it that most of your guests live in or around a single city - the one in which your hotel is located. I suspect based on the information that you provide in your question that your hotel's business is entirely too 'local'-dependent.

And you've let it, or you're letting it, get out of control. Simply put, your hotel's security sucks.

So far, you've gotten off easy with high cost of amenities that non-guests help themselves to, and some property damage. Eventually, you're going to have a serious crime occur there.

How does hotel management or employees feel about the legalization of marijuana as it pertains to operations, whether that's housekeeping or marketing?

We're still going to drug test people, and if you test positive in a jurisdiction where the law permits (North Carolina is a tobacco-producing state and to protect smokers, North Carolina law prohibits discrimination on the basis of "off-duty use of lawful products", but I don't see North Carolina legalizing marijuana anytime soon), we're still going to fire you. 

And if you smoke a joint on the job or show up to work stoned, that's on-duty use and you're meat on a hook, the same as if we caught you drinking on the job or if you show up to work inebriated . . .



Hello?  This is 2017. Back in the '80's, before Len Bias, and Nancy Reagan's "Just say no" crusade; smoking grass was about as mainstream as it ever got, but not anymore. 

What's going to have to change before we classify it with off-duty alcohol use and take a more laissez-faire approach to it isn't legalization per se, it's lawful sources of supply. I don't like the kind of people you'd have to deal with nowadays to get the stuff, and if you deal with such people, you've got the wrong kind of people for friends . . .

Personally, I support the legalization of marijuana, but that doesn't mean I'd use it myself or want it around me, that I want it in my workplace, or that I want my employees floating through the day with a buzz on . . .

Originally appeared on Quora

If I work the front desk at a hotel and someone has been told not to trespass, can I remove them with reasonable force? (This is in Oklahoma, by the way.).

Legally, you probably can, but it's not a good idea. I'd call the cops and let them handle it. It's a nuisance call, but many cops would rather handle it than respond to a larger disturbance, clean up after a fight, or bring an ambulance along for an injury.



If you use force at all (or even put your hands on the trespasser) you risk provoking an altercation, or give him the 'ammo' he needs for an accusation against you of assault.  The police can get it done much of the time without using force, and any force they do use will not nearly as likely be second-guessed.

Originally appeared on Quora