I'm going insane...

Last night, I really couldn't be bothered going in to work. So I called the hotel several times within a half an hour period. All of these calls went unanswered. So I begrudgingly went to work.

The hotel is very quiet, except for the creaking floorboards, so they wouldn't have even noticed if I hadn't shown up. So, as there was a severe lack of anything motivational to do. The bar staff "clean" their own bar in this hotel. The longer you spend behind the bar here, the more chance you have of gaining the title of 'Bar Person'. That's not because over a period of time you become more skilled at pulling pints, it's because you, literally, stick to the floor. The floor behind the bar has a thin film of spilled alcoholic and soft drinks from years gone by. Well, since this company took the place over.

There is virtually no security in this hotel until I come on shift. It is each department's responsibility to ensure that their workplace is secure before clocking off for the night. So, I'd like to know why, last night, the following places were left unsecured:

• The Main Cellar. All the alcohol, kegs, spirits, etc. are stored in here. Mind you, if you're taller than 4'2", then you haven't a chance of being able to stand up straight (to imagine the maximum head clearance in here, you know those kegs which are delivered to pubs and clubs? Well, stack two of them, one atop the other and this is pretty much the maximum height, give or take a few inches.)
• The Wine Cellar. Essentially a cupboard where all the wines are stored. Including the champagnes and some spirits for the optics.
• The Manager's Office. Seriously, the door to this place is directly opposite the door to the reception. You'd have to be blind not to see that it was wide open when you left. Why didn't you close it?
• The Kitchen's Dry Storage Room. OK, this was chef's fault of course. But with the recent antics of the staff that I've seen. I'm surprised it wasn't stripped bare by the time I clocked it.

There is a large function on tonight, but I'm hoping that they've all cleared off before I start my shift. Failing that, I'll just close the bar and tell them that they were lied to when the receptionist told them it was a 24-hour bar. When they complain in the morning, I'll protest my innocence and say that I never said anything of the sort. It seems to work for the rest of the staff in this place.

There are some changes afoot in the staff. The General Manager, who went off on sick leave is apparently leaving/has been sacked (I'm not sure which), so at Hotel B, there will soon be a new manager. The Food & Beverage Manager has been demoted to "Breakfast Supervisor," despite the fact that a few weeks ago, she vowed never to work mornings, as they were impossible to get up for. The "Smoking Supervisor," sorry. . . I mean "Restaurant Supervisor" has been demoted to a wait-on position. There are also a few positions vacant, although I'm not sure how the company can justify taking on all these new people when we are currently under-staffed due to budget cuts on the payroll.

Some good news though, I can confirm that the maintenance man at Hotel B has fitted two locks to the staffroom window to stop them climbing in and out of that at night as a means of access to the hotel. I shall no longer be worried about going into the kitchen to find someone standing there when I know all the doors are locked.

That's all for this post, I'm off now to post my application off for another job. Wish me luck!

The Leisure Centre

This is the hotel's way of giving something back to the local community. When they bought the hotel, the pool was one of the best for miles around (mainly due to the fact the nearest pool is a 30 mile round trip). Now it's merely a pool. There are a few regulars who come in at 6.59am, hang around reception until dead on 7am, before going in for a dip. OK, as I've said the next pool is a 30 mile round trip away, but this pool is hardly the best.

I mentioned previously that, when I started at this hotel, the boiler died and left the pool in a rather cold state. A quick call to the engineering department* soon sorted that out. Once the boiler was fixed and the system was switched back on again, the machine which regulates the amount of chlorine to be pumped into the water decided, at that point, to take an overdose. Overnight, it pumped one thousand litres of chlorine into the pool. The "Leisure Staff" (I think, personally, they take that term too loosely at times) forgot to check the pH levels of the water during the day. When the other night manager checked it, some twenty-four hours after the boilers had been switched back on, the pH levels were off the scale. Nobody had bothered to check the chlorine box to see if it was; a) switched on or b) distributing the correct ratio of chlorine:water. The top dogs were called, at considerable expense for the company, to sort out the problem. A short while later, everything was back to normal.

Until this morning.

The main generator, which supplies the power for the pool and regulates the temperature of the water and air in the leisure centre is a little bit off. Normally the water temperature sits at around the 30 mark, when I checked it last night, it was double this at bang-on 60.0

"That sounds lovely and warm," thinks I. So I walk over to the edge of the pool and plunge my hand into the water. Wrong, the water is barely tepid. If that's 60 degrees, then the UK must be constantly suffering a heatwave. Last night, the pool was constantly pumping in the chlorine again, but the results on the tests this morning showed no change.

Off tonight, but back to the madness on Friday. I can't see this job lasting much longer, to be honest. Not with so many other tempting positions out there.

* - A retired gent with a hammer and scary fascination of lightbulbs, especially energy-saving ones.

The Bar

Last night, there were two patrons and a dog in the bar when I started my shift. They had one drink and then went to bed. According to the "restaurant supervisor" the bar was "dead from about nine-ish." So can someone please explain to me why the bar was left in such a state? I'm glad I had my cameraphone with me, because I doubt that anyone would believe me if I told them, so I thought I'd take some pictures to illustrate my points.

Evidence A:

This is the state of the Guinness drip tray. I cleaned it, and the others, last week. Judging by the smell, I'd say that no one has done it since. The skin on top of the liquid was quite thick and there was hardened Guinness along the sides of the tray.






Evidence B:

This is the drip tray from the lager tap. You can clearly see the oily skin on this one. Again, it was cleaned by myself last week and hasn't been cleaned since.






The annoying fact is, and you'll laugh at this one, that if the bar isn't clean in the morning I'M the one who is held responsible. Even if there is no one in the bar when I come in. For example; if the last guest leaves the bar at, say, 9.30pm and I don't get in until 11.00pm, that's an hour and a half the bar staff has to clean the bar, empty the drip trays and clean all the used glasses, etc. But not in this hotel. They just stand around until 'knocking-off' time and then leave the bar in a complete mess. Then it's the night shift's responsibility to clean it up. Should the night shift go on strike and not do it, they are the ones who are hauled over the coals about not doing their job. Is it just me, or does that seem a bit unreasonable?

Recently the hotel went through it's yearly cycle of getting all the switches, electrical points, etc. tested. (for those of you obsessed with official terminology, it's the annual 'PAT testing') The amount of these things:

around the hotel is unbelieveable. They all seem to have failed. I first noticed them a few weeks ago, just after the testing had been done, and they haven't been replaced. Can anyone enlighten me if this is a legal issue? Can I feign an electric shock and sue the company? It's times like these, I wish the campsite was open all year round. I'd happily go back there and work.

Bribery, Smoking and Break-ins

While it seems that I've forgotten about this blog lately, I haven't. I've just been so busy smashing my head off a brick wall at the sheer amount of stupidity which working for this company entails. Two aspirins and a slightly bruised forehead later, I returned to the hotel wondering what horrors lay in wait.

Here are three scenarios which have happened whilst I have been on duty and their respective outcomes.

Scenario One:

After he had finished his shift, the barman decided to have a drink and go to his room. That was fine, until I later realised that he had charged his drink to a guest's account. To my knowledge, the guest hadn't authorised this with the duty manager, me, so I took great pleasure in taking that drink off their bill and leaving a note for the relief general manager to ensure that the barman paid for his drink in the morning.

The outcome: The relief general manager doesn't know about this, as the receptionist "conveniently" disposed of the note. The barman didn't pay for his pint of lager and no further action was taken against him.


Scenario Two:

One of the restaurant supervisors came into the hotel with the kitchen porter at around three in the morning. I watched him on the security cameras in the office, when I noticed that he was smoking in the hotel. I immediately went to the bar, where they were pouring drinks for themselves, and asked him to put the cigarette out and return to his accommodation. He then told me that it was "OK" and that he "smoked in the hotel all the time." After he left, I left a note for the Food and Beverage Manager (his superior).

The outcome: No action taken. All the supervisor did was apologise.


Scenario Three:

There are four external doors to the hotel, each of which are closed and locked during the night. So, knowing that all doors were locked, I was quite surprised to see the restaurant supervisor wandering around the kitchen, drunk, looking for something to eat. He was subsequently told where to go and I then ensured that all doors were locked.

The outcome: Relief General Manager informed, but I don't know of any actions taken yet.


Is it any wonder that the last owners of these hotels managed to gain a four star status, but almost immediately upon selling them, they've been regraded and are now three stars?

The "bribery" part in the post title, refers to the day when the hotel called me, on my day off, and asked if I could work that night. When I said no, they then told me that they "had been told to offer me £25 on top of my pay, if I covered the shift."

Yes, I am looking for another job. This one is possibly the worst job I have had in a long while.