Is Hotel Management Still A Men's Club?

Okay, it seems that my head is still on the sexism issue. This is brought on by a comment made in the hotel cafetaria, as a female F&B Manager walks past, that she "screwed her way to her position". Of course that comment was made a man, and unfortunately I was not there (a friend sitting at the table told me about it) or else I would have questioned and argued this point.


I am by no means a feminist, but this issue strikes close to home since: (a). I'm a woman, (b). I'm in management, and (c). There are similar damn rumours about me! And in case anyone is wondering, the F&B Manager talked about in the cafetaria wasn't me. I suppose I should be a little bit flattered since there are no gossip about another female manager who is older and err... let's just say a little on the heavy side. Wow, now aside from being a snob, you can add vain AND bitchy to my title!

But in all seriousness, in my opinion there are still more men than women in upper management in the hotel industry. Some people will argue with me on this point till their tongues fall out, and although I would agree that things are changing, there is no doubt in my mind that if you are a female manager who is relatively young (say under 30), then you would have to work harder to prove yourself and gain respect than a young male manager in the same position. Opinions, anyone?

"Women Only" Hotel Floor - Great Idea or Purely Sexist?

The Naumi Hotel in Singapore has a whole floor dedicated to women travellers; it is serviced by female-only staff, designer amenities are provided, and if the guest wants to entertain a man then she is discouraged to stay on this floor (I wonder if there is a penalty if you break this rule?).

While The Naumi claims that the concept has gained some degree of success, with 80% occupancy on that floor since the hotel opened, I'm not sure that this idea will spread like wildfire to other parts of the world. Especially in Western countries, I can see the protests and claims that it is sex discrimination.

Here's my two cents on it: I think from a marketing point of view, it's an interesting concept. But for it to be a success on the long run, there needs to be continuous promotion and the rooms better be of such quality for guests to want to return and pay that little bit extra (I'm assuming these rooms are dearer than the ones on the co-ed floors).

For myself, I think I'll just stick with the regular rooms since having men on the same hotel floor as mine has never bothered me any!

For more on this, go to http://www.smh.com.au/news/news/ladies-only-at-luxury-hotel/2008/09/10/1220857599645.html

Mandalay Bay Gets My Snob-Worthy Tick

Aahh... Las Vegas. I love it. This place is a haven for hotels snobs on a budget (like me), because you can get amazing deals to stay at fabulous hotels. What can I say about Mandalay Bay? Well for starters, I could live there and be perfectly happy. I mean, I didn't even really need to venture out for anything because this hotel has got everything from shopping, a large variety of food options, a massive casino, nightclubs, several pools (including the wave pool that everyone raves about), hotties from all over the world to flirt with, and the list goes on.

I went with a girlfriend and our room was massive. One big plus was the huge bathroom. I'm a typical girl so of course I spend a lot of time in the bathroom primping, doing my makeup and luxuriating in the bathtub. Not only does the bathroom has shower and a big bathtub, but also two wash basins. Oh, happy days!

One thing that I kept reading from guest reviews from travel websites is the fact that the elevators are always crowded and it takes awhile to get to your room. My opinion? Although I did experience this occasionally, it never became a problem as I never waited that long to go up and down. That being said, that was just my personal experience, and with two sets of six elevators (one for rooms up to the 17th floor, and the other set for the upper floors) servicing about 3,300 rooms, I could see how someone would get stuck waiting for a long while if the hotel is particularly busy.

My venture out of the hotel was to actually go to other hotels to check out their lobby areas. Creative architecture and amazing themes managed to make my jaw drop in wonder several times. Needless to say, I will be venturing out to Vegas again, and this time my pick will either be the Bellagio or Wynn. As for Mandalay Bay, it gets a big fat tick for snob-worthiness in my book.

Germs Paranoia

One downside from having worked at a hotel is the fact that I've been exposed to horror stories whereby germs and bacteria are the prevalent theme. Such as guest checking in and finding a used condom on their bedside table (did housekeeping think it was re-usable for the next guest?!), cockroaches being found in the hotel restaurant's kitchen (yup, seen them with my own eyes), and dishwasher machines that were missing a key ingredient to cleanliness for a whole month: soap.

So now, whenever I go on vacations, I HAVE to stay at a four star hotel. Which is bad for my credit card, but better than feeling uncomfortable and getting disgusted shudders throughout my stay. Even then, the first thing I do when I first step in the hotel room would be to check for dust and stray hairs in the bathroom and underneath bed covers, and then proceed to wipe the toilet seat with wet tissue (i'm not sure if this is actually productive in getting rid of bacteria but it makes me feel better). Drastic right? The thing is, once I booked a room at a supposedly four star hotel (which is bogus, it was more 2.5 stars) and there was pubic hair on the blanket. Eeww! I demanded my money back and checked in somewhere else.

But now the disease has spread beyond just hotels. The other day I borrowed books from the library and then for some reason thought about where those books have been and all the hands that have touched them, and I just didn't end up reading them. Another example, now when I go clothes shopping, I find clothes that look relatively untouched first before trying something on. This paranoia is getting out of control, and it is seriously taking a lot of effort to try to not think about germs. I'm becoming a total snob instead of just being a hotel snob!

Is anyone suffering from the same thing? How do I get rid of this?

Hotel Dating... Do or Don't?

When you work at a hotel, your social life ends up revolving around the hotel. At least, that's been my experience. At first, you just go in, do your job, and go home. Then, because of shift work and the crazy hours you end up doing, you begin to hang out with people who work at the hotel. Pretty soon, they become your party buddies, and for some reason or other, you end up think about work all the time and even go into work occasionally on your days off. What does that lead to? Yup... a common disease called hotel dating.

I must admit I've been a victim of that. And considering the fact that the relationship didn't work out, I gained a less than complimentary reputation, and lost a friend because of it, the whole ordeal really wasn't worth it. Don't get me wrong, I know some happy endings (by happy, I mean that it has resulted in marriage and as far as I know, haven't gone through a divoce... yet!), but these are few and far in between. For the rest of us who failed, well I guess we just have to suck up all the gossip and bitchiness and perhaps even the minor career setback because of the whole drama. And consider it a folly not to be repeated... at least, until a new hottie enters the workforce and sets the heart a-flutter.

So hotel dating... yay or nay? You'd think that I've learned my lesson and say nay, but I'm still kinda undecided about the whole thing. Opinions?