Wow. It has been an incredibly long time since I’ve posted last.
Don’t worry. I’m still writing. And rewriting. I’m also still a business owner, which means I have to really squeeze out some time for writing and editing. This is not an easy task.
Then there was buying another house (can we say fixer-upper money-pit again?), the holidays, and my old Boston terror, Millie, finally crossed the rainbow bridge after 18 long years.
I’ve got plenty of blog posts on the burner, though, so never fear. I’m still here.
Recently, I took a two-week road trip to Florida, which gave me some ideas and opinions. So I will hopefully humor you with my musings.
Regarding (In)Hospitality
Things are tough all over.
Now in the hospitality business, I know it’s hard to find people. Good people. Any warm body that does not have an issue (smoking, drinking and drug abuse, general laziness, health problems, domestic issues, etc.) and can also make a bed, I’m giving them top salary and hugs and kisses. But it’s not just me. Hotels, motels, restaurants, and bars are having a difficult time finding anyone to work at all, much less an employee who is responsible, mature, and diligent.
(Now, if you’re a responsible, hardworking employee, I’m not talking to you. Just so you know.)
Even though I’m semi-retired, and semi-working, we still find an occasion to travel. It used to be you could drive for as long as your butt could take it, pull over, and find adequate lodging. Not anymore. Oh no. In the last few years, I’ve found horrible places to stay using that method. Places where the mattress was like a roller coaster, where the doors didn’t lock, where there were needles in the parking lot, where the toilet hadn’t been cleaned in ???, well, you get my point. Now a traveler must research heavily on Yelp or Expedia.com or another similar web site. I smartened up. The first thing I do is look at reviews. If you’re not a 7.5 or higher, you go to the bottom of the barrel.
The next thing I do is look for dog friendly establishments. I have two chihuahuas, and they are my travel companions.
Then I look for local eateries that are interesting and have high marks. I eat beef in Kansas and ribs in Missouri, seafood in the Gulf, Cajun in Louisiana. I keep lots of water and high protein snacks in the car. I might stop at McDonald’s for a coffee and a bathroom break, but nothing else.
My fussiness aside, I know it is difficult to hire good people. I’m in the same boat. I’m not unreasonable.
Here’s a few things I’ve noticed:
1. If you don’t want your guests to take a shower, you don’t put bath towels in the bathroom. Yeah. That pretty much tells me you want to just make the bed. (I told my husband we could forego bath towels at our place, but he nixed that idea.)
2. If you don’t want them to mess up the room, you won’t have a coffee maker in the room. I’ve actually stayed in really nice places (like the Bellagio in Vegas) and in basic dives like the beach motel (in San Francisco) and neither one had in-room coffee makers. Brilliant idea! You’ll save on trash can liners. However, that only works if you have a coffee shop nearby.
3. If you really don’t want your guests to mess up the room, you won’t have a mini fridge or a microwave in the room. That’s because a lot of people forget their take out (guilty here!) or they’ll put some sort of mystery food that readily explodes in the microwave. (In our establishment, only the deluxe rooms have a mini fridge and microwave. And yes, they take more to clean.)
4. Most hotel guest clerks don’t like being asked questions about nearby attractions or restaurants. Actually, they don’t like being asked questions at all! At our humble B&B, we not only answer questions, we give tours of the building, including an in-depth history. We point you to our favorite local eating establishments, to our favorite hiking trails, to the local grocery store, to the scenic (and sometimes scary) byways, and to the museums. (Better this than gambling.) I realize that too much information can be a bad thing, but when I travel, I like to tease the information out of the locals. Plus, I like to talk.
5. Some hotels don’t give you enough toilet paper. I get it. The spare rolls in our hotel disappear at an amazing rate. Why I have toilet paper in the car, along with the snacks and water. I’m always prepared.
6. Always, always, look under the bed. My chihuahua has found a lot of interesting things under beds, and I don’t mean dust bunnies. Me? I’ve found underwear, dog toys, a box of bullets, clothing, trash, etc. Actually, you should always look in the drawers and in closets. I found a hand gun once that one of our guests left behind. (Not the same guy with the bullets, but coincidentally in the same room. What’s up with that?)
After all this research, I found that I had to take a vacation from my vacation. This exhausting research was killing me.
