HotelChatter

What? No, seriously-- what? Okay, hire a front desk agent or a waiter based on their personalities. That's fine; it's hospitality and customer service and all that. But when we're talking about Catering Sales Managers at the five-star level and other positions that require, um, skill and experience... well, hiring based solely on personality lands you people who do their jobs about as well as the Parker's Michael Twomey.

MICHAEL

In last night's episode, Michael Twomey continues to make really stupid mistakes, not the least of which is whining incessantly about having, you know, responsibilities.

He pulls off a very nice drag queen bingo event which gave the episode a nice Bravo-esque quirkiness. But when it came time to organize a party for another queen, some party planner guy who demands a martini-shaped ice luge and a snow machine, Michael falls short. Oh, the drama!

The big focus of the episode is whether or not Michael is qualified to do his job, which explodes in a showdown between Michael and the GM when the GM decides (the day of a 120-person event) to simply cancel the party because he doesn't feel as though the space selected can handle the amount of guests.

Um, number one, what kind of busted GM just turns away a $30,000 piece of business on the day of? Did he think he was going to be selling that space to someone else that evening? No. Also, aren't there maximum capacities and fire codes and all that stuff that need to be adhered to?

In Michael's defense, the guy was hired as a Catering Sales Manager with zero hotel experience and it's looking like he's gotten absolutely no training. As he puts it (in a few choice words), he's learning by trial and error alone.

TRAVEL AGENT LADY

The other big deal on last night's episode is Jill Johnson. Everyone is making a huge fuss over her, the "high end travel agent" staying at the hotel. You would think this woman is the freaking AAA Diamond Award judge (and apparently she seems to think she was just as important) the way they make such a big deal over her. According to the managers, this woman is singlehandedly responsible for bring the Parker "millions of dollars." Damn, what kind of travel agent IS she?

The real fun begins when Miss Travel Agent goes on a "property inspection," which is not so much an inspection as a guided tour of the property. The staffer who gives the travel agent her tour tries to show her not one but TWO occupied guest rooms-- she lets herself right on into the occupied rooms with the master key. Nice.

How's this for service recovery: after intruding on guests and just barging into their hotel rooms without warning, the staffer sends a nice plate of chocolate covered strawberries to apologize... to the travel agent. Seriously? What did you give to the guests whose rooms you just invaded, Parker people?

VERDICT

The verdict on episode three: Welcome to the Parker is getting increasingly more difficult and frustrating to watch for hotel geeks like us...and it's totally addictive for that same reason. Ugh, we hate it but we love it.

Related Stories:
· Welcome to the Parker Reviews [HotelChatter]