HotelChatter

There are downfalls like every job. First and foremost, the amount of time spent working. It's a 24 hour job. If there are guests coming in at 2am, you're expected to be at their arrival. If you have an afternoon break and there is a volleyball game going on at the beach, you are expected to be there.  There are rules about where you can sit at dinner (no more than 2 staff members at a table). You're only given one full day a week off (but if you're scheduled to be in the show/entertainment for the night, you have to be there.) And what gets most people is the monthly pay of $600!!! I didn't mind the money, I wasn't there to make money, and there wasn't much to spend money on. But there were definitely a lot of staff who were not happy with the pay and wanted to make money... Not the place.

Some couldn't stand the dress code. Every day you are expected to wear the colors they tell you. During the day, they give you T-shirts to wear, but the nights are themed from your own clothing (all white, all black, orange and white, cowboy, tropical). Sometimes they got crazy, and we had to create costumes (toga, school kids, nerds, clowns, 70s, 80s.) Themed nights were always big parties, the best was the walk of shame the next morning in your pirate costume
ALWAYS HAPPENED TO ME!

Every 6 months to a year, they give you an option to work in another village and renew your contract. I always took the option to change locations, and it was great to arrive in a village (as a new employee) but run into co-workers from other villages.

It was always a big party when you run into old friends. I remember arriving in Mexico, I knew at least 15 people there- all of which I was so excited to see again....I definitely made friends from all over the world, but the sad part that everyone goes their separate ways one they leave, and I realize I will never see half these people again.

In my three years with Club Med, I partied a lot, got very little sleep, and drank more than I have my entire life. Alcohol was all over the place, we sometimes drank during the day, Club Med had very little control over alcohol and who was drinking it. Wine with dinner turned into a competition---who could drink more bottles!!

Backstage before the shows were drinking parties; I was rarely sober for a show. We would get so drunk at the bar at night, that management would send us home, And of course I would always wake up the next morning still drunk, go to work, and usually get sick around noon Gatorade didn't help too much, but sometimes a mid-day drink cured the hangover.

I started working for Club Med as an after college opportunity. I had planned on going for three months. I got addicted, and three years later I am back home looking for a job that I can make a career out of. The problem with Club Med is that is isn't a career. You can't live in a hotel room out of two suitcases the rest of your life. I realized that the longer you stay, the harder it is to leave. It has been tough adjusting to the real world, spending money everyday, paying bills, and having so much downtime, I don't know what to do with myself. I spend a lot of time thinking about what I'd be doing if I was still in Club Med, but I have realized I'm not missing out on anything. I have so many amazing memories and crazy stories that will last me a lifetime.

Tags: Hotel Staff

by juliana