{"id":8682,"date":"2012-01-25T06:48:28","date_gmt":"2012-01-25T12:48:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/?p=8682"},"modified":"2012-01-25T06:48:28","modified_gmt":"2012-01-25T12:48:28","slug":"a-classy-guest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/2012\/20120125-8682.htm","title":{"rendered":"A Classy Guest"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s been over five years since my stint as a hotel housekeeper, and most of the lessons I learned have faded from my memory. <\/p>\n<p>Such is the nature of memory, even in one as young as I.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"images\/20120124-04.jpg\" alt=\"Blogging station in hotel\" class=\"aligncenter\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p>But a few nights spent in a hotel during state survey are enough to bring back a few notes I&#8217;d filed away in my mind from my housekeeping days.<\/p>\n<p>Particularly, notes on what makes for a classy guest.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"images\/20120124-01.jpg\" alt=\"Personal belongings\" class=\"aligncenter\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>A classy guest, you see, makes herself at home in her hotel room&#8211;but not too at home.<\/em> She hangs her clothing in the closet, leaves her toiletries beside the sink, sets her Bible beside her bed, and maybe has a pillow or blanket of her own laying across her bed. She does <i>not<\/i> trash the room, leave her personal belongings strewn across the floor, or cover all available surfaces with half empty food and beverage containers.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"images\/20120124-03.jpg\" alt=\"?Clothes in hotel closet\" class=\"aligncenter\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>A classy guest takes advantage of amenities&#8211;but does not abuse them.<\/em> She acknowledges the pretty bottles of shampoo and conditioner, uses them while showering, and leaves them in the shower for the next day. Should she end up with a partially used bottle, she&#8217;ll tuck it in her bag, but she&#8217;ll never systematically empty the room of amenities every day, hoping that the housekeeper will refresh them. She might take home a bottle or two, but never seven sets of bottles.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"images\/20120124-05.jpg\" alt=\"Sewing basket by hotel chair\" class=\"aligncenter\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>A classy guest honors the hotel&#8217;s property enough to leave her luggage on a luggage rack rather than hoisting it onto the bed where it&#8217;ll destroy the mattresses lifespan.<\/em> She has a sense of fitness and chooses to put things where they belong instead of dropping them willy-nilly wherever they fall. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"images\/20120124-02.jpg\" alt=\"Luggage rack\" class=\"aligncenter\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>A classy guest leaves the bed looking slept in, but neat.<\/em> She understands that the housekeeping staff are going to make assumptions about who she is and what she does, but she isn&#8217;t keen on revealing secrets to the staff. If wild midnight romps occurred here, she&#8217;s not sharing&#8211;which the staff certainly appreciate. On the other hand, she recognizes that the staff make beds for a living&#8211;and she isn&#8217;t going to try to make the bed just for them to remake it every day.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"images\/20120124-06.jpg\" alt=\"Personal belongings on hotel bed\" class=\"aligncenter\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>A classy guest leaves a kind note or a tip (or both) for her housekeepers.<\/em> It needn&#8217;t be much&#8211;although coins are not particularly appreciated unless accompanied by a handwritten note from a child. Most housekeepers are raising their families on meager incomes, struggling to make do in a nation whose language is not their native tongue and whose customs are not their own. Some are refugees, some the more &#8220;ordinary&#8221; immigrants, others are honest but less-educated natives. Either way, they can use a kind word and a couple dollars to ease their monotonous days.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"images\/20120124-07.jpg\" alt=\"Tip at a hotel\" class=\"aligncenter\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><i>Does anyone else have any hotel experience? Do you have any pointers to add?<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s been over five years since my stint as a hotel housekeeper, and most of the lessons I learned have faded from my memory. Such is the nature of memory, even in one as young as I. But a few nights spent in a hotel during state survey are enough to bring back a few &#8230; <a title=\"A Classy Guest\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/2012\/20120125-8682.htm\">Read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">A Classy Guest<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[4],"tags":[260,561,565,1173],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8682"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8682\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}