Journals of a Hotel Manager

I always respect the staff at the Laundry Department. They usually work in a stifling hot environment with relentless humming of the washing machines and banging of the dryers. Everyday they need to handle mountains of sheets and towels.  Also, they have to sift through various guests garments and sort into material and color to be properly laundered.

It is entirely another story when dealing with undergarments with dubious stains and unpleasant odor. Some of the staff wear plastic gloves for that purpose and I don’t blame them. Guests often complain about the price of $3 for a piece of underwear to be washed. I am quite certain that if I ask a guest to handle strangers’ panties or briefs with skid marks and hair stuck on them, he would think $3 a piece is totally not worth it.

Most laundry staff will handle skid marks from guests without repugnance especially since they cannot associate the undergarment with a face. All they know is the scrawling on the laundry list with the guest name and room number. But when it comes to the uniform from colleagues they know and have eaten at the cafeteria together, it is more difficult.

At my hotel in Southern CA such a complaint came all the way to me. It was reported that a sous chef liked to go commando while cooking. There was no policy against going commando at work and we all knew a popular doorwoman who was a star employee also had the same penchant. She was earning tips by the thousands that her salary rivaled mine - not because she wore no underwear I must say - guests often returned just so she could open the doors for them. But the sous chef had very poor hygiene standards. His pants, even after being washed, had stains therefore no one else would want to wear the same pair of pants. No laundry staff would want to touch his pants. He messed up the uniform par stock just by not wearing underwear.

It was a delicate issue for Pierre, the Executive Chef, to deal with. How would you tell a grown man to wipe his behind after going to the bathroom? Also, how would you bring up this topic in an environment like the kitchen?

At the end, the sous chef chose his freedom in the pants over a job at a top hotel. The doorwoman is still the star employee to this day - sans underwear. Just as with many hobbies, I guess this particular pursuit can either cost you or reward you.