Tag: Hotel Housekeeping
View All TagsHotel Housekeeping / Housekeepers / Dominique Strauss-Kahn / Hotel News / Hotel Crime / → All Tags
The DSK Maid May Have Ruined It For Housekeepers Everywhere
Update 7/5/11, 8:51pm: The housekeeper as now sued the NY Post for libel for printing stories that she was a prostitute.
In a stunning turn of events late last week, it was revealed that the housekeeper at the Sofitel New York who was allegedly assaulted by IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn was not such an innocent victim after all.
The NY Post is claiming that investigators discovered that she had been turning tricks at the hotel with other guests, which lends more credence to DSK's defense that the sex was consensual. She even reportedly resumed her "special trade" at a Brooklyn hotel where the Manhattan District Attorney's office had housed her while the investigation into DSK was carried out.
But not only does the housekeeper seem to have a unsavory past entertaining men for money, she's also a documented liar from her application for asylum from her native Guinea where she claimed she was gang-raped by soldiers to the number of children she has and most crucially for the DSK case, she lied about what she did immediately after the attack. (Initially, she said she called a supervisor. But later, she confessed to cleaning another suite first.)
Now, with charges against DSK expected to be dropped this week--since the case is "not sustainable"--housekeepers everywhere have officially been cheated.
Snapshot / Ritz-Carlton Hotels / Hotel Housekeeping / → All Tags
This is An Easy Way to Remember To Tip Your Housekeeper
Tipping the housekeeper. We all want to do it regularly, we really do. Each hotel stay we glance guiltily at the nightstand before we head out for the day, telling ourselves, "Do not forget to put a tip down for the housekeeper when you get back," but sometimes, you know, we just forget.
However, this nifty turndown card seen at Ritz-Carlton at LA Live in Los Angeles helped us to remember. Place on the nightstand, the card also came with two chocolates, a cute quotation and a helpful weather outlook. And we especially liked how it listed our housekeeper's name, Tracy.
Of course, Tracy may have been the one who did the turndown service for that night and there probably was a different housekeeper who cleans the room during the day but it's still a good reminder to pay respect to the people who lift the heavy mattresses, replace the towels, organize our belongings and place those seven giant pillows on the bed.
Hotel Crime / Hotel Housekeeping / Hotel News / Political Hotels / Luxury Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
Another Housekeeper in Danger; This Time at The Pierre
You would think that Dominique Strauss-Kahn would be a lesson for all pervy politicians with hotel-hopping habits but no, it seems not to have registered with at least one man of power.
Egyptian businessman Mahmoud Abdel-Salam Omar, the former chairman of Egypt's Bank of Alexandria, was arrested on Sunday for locking a housekeeper at the ritzy Pierre Hotel in his $900 a night suite and sexually assaulting her. From NBC New York:
Law enforcement officials tell NBC New York that when the maid arrived at room 1027 with three boxes of tissues, Omar answered the door wearing a "silk-type" garment and asked her to place them on a table near the bed.
According to law enforcement officials, Omar then grabbed the maid in a bear hug and began to kiss and fondle her, grabbing her breasts and rubbing against her.
She resisted and said "I'm not here for this," officials said. He then locked the door to prevent her from leaving, before asking for her phone number, according to officials. When she gave him a number, police said, he let her out of the room.
OpenThread / Hotel Housekeeping / Housekeepers / → All Tags
Take The Good, Take The Bad, Take Them Both And There You Have, The Facts of Housekeeping Life
Cleaning out the housekeeping closet.
The DSK incident at the Sofitel New York and this op-ed in the NY Times have recently put the spotlight on yet another danger for hotel housekeeping--the guests.
Not only do housekeepers have to pick up clothes, make and remake the bed, gather up all the wet towels, replace the toiletries and vacuum the rugs but they also have to deal with the sexual desires and habits of guests--some which can be awkwardly funny, some embarrassing or disgusting and occasionally, some that are dangerous.
Yes, housekeepers have seen it all. Which is why we're asking all the housekeepers out there to tell us some of their funniest, dirtiest, grossest, awkwardest, craziest and even scariest stories on the job. Several housekeepers chimed in on our Tip the Housekeeper Thread the other year, so we know you're reading and we know you got some stories.
At the very least, you can consider it a group therapy session. And at best, you will teach the rest of us how to be better hotel guests.
HOUSEKEEPERS UNITE! Help us shed more light on what you deal with day in and day out by sharing your job experiences in comments below!
[Photo: Chrispitality]
Hotel Housekeeping / Housekeepers / Dominique Strauss-Kahn / Hotel News / Bad Guests / → All Tags
That Nasty DSK Incident Might Be a Good Thing for Housekeepers Everywhere
As the fallout from the alleged sexual assault of a housekeeper by Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the Sofitel New York continues, a silver lining seems to have emerged--folks are starting to pay closer attention to the plight of housekeepers. And it's not just about the strenuous routines making and remaking hotel beds.
In this New York Times op-ed from a housekeeping manager, Jacob Tomsky writes that housekeepers are routinely subjected to sexual harassment from guests, typically ones who can't keep their clothes on aka creepy flashers.
Tomsky also points out that everyday housekeepers are dealing with the unknown. That's because they never know what's behind door 1, 2, 3 or 14 as their room assignments don't say who is in what room, just that it's needs to be cleaned. So what housekeepers find when they open the door can often be scary (ok and a little bit funny.) Tomsky writes:
Hotel Crime / Sofitel Hotels / Dominique Strauss-Kahn / Hotel Housekeeping / Political Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
The Head of IMF Arrested for Sexual Assault at the Sofitel New York
It looks like all the money in the world can't save you from being a sexual deviant. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund, was arrested last night after allegedly committing a heinous sex attack on a housekeeper at the Sofitel New York.
The NY Post reports:
The trouble began at around 1 p.m. yesterday when a 32-year-old housekeeper entered Strauss-Kahn's $3,000-a-night suite at the luxury Sofitel on West 44th Street -- apparently unaware he was still inside.
The married Strauss-Kahn was in the bathroom, and emerged naked, chased her down a hallway and pulled her into a bedroom, where "he jumps her," a source said.
"She pulled away from him and he dragged her down a hallway into the bathroom where he engaged in a criminal sexual act, according to her account to detectives," Browne said. "He tried to lock her into the hotel room."
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Your Hotel Bed in California Might Feel Different if This Proposed Bill Passes
The Palihouse Holloway in West Hollywood
Everyone knows a hotel bed can make or break your stay. No one wants a rough, hard bed after a long day of travel and we certainly don't want a bed that looks as if it's been slept in before we got there. But we have to remember that the reason a hotel bed looks so pristine is all thanks to the hotel housekeepers who tirelessly make and remake these beds all day long.
So it's no surprise that housekeepers are coming down with injuries from all this bed-making. And in California, they want to do something about it.
State Bill 432 wants all hotels in California to swap out their flat bottom bed sheets and replace them with fitted ones. This will save the housekeepers from having to lift the heavy mattresses when making the beds and thus cut down on injuries.
This sounds fair and good and we actually think fitted bottom sheets stay on better than the flat ones, but if the bill passes, hotels are going to be the ones paying for it. The California Hotel and Lodging Association estimates that it could cost as much $30 million and $50 million.
Hotel Scents / W Hotels / Hotel Housekeeping / → All Tags
The Secret to the W's Custom Room Scent: REVEALED!
Last month, we fielded a question from a reader about that signature W scent and we found that there were two scents pumped through W Hotels--a Sicilian Fig candle which can be bought from the W store and a proprietary custom room scent which no one can buy, let alone see. Except for us.
Thanks to the most amazing tipster we have this stealth snapshot of the W Room Scent No. 5 which is actually a citron scent. This is what we gather housekeeping is spritzing all over the room once they've made the beds, vacuumed the floors, wiped down the windows, replaced the towels, restocked the minibar and replenished the Bliss toiletries in the bathroom.
Again, this is not something you can buy but um, maybe you could give a housekeeper a generous tip and she will "loan" it to you?
HUGE thanks to N!
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Good to Know: The Marriott Berlin is Checking Under the Bed
While we're not quite sure what is going on with that ironing board in New Orleans, over in Germany, The Marriott Berlin hotel wants you to know that their housekeeping is doing a thorough job of cleaning--even under the bed. Another kind HotelChatter reader writes in:
When I got into my room on Monday and started to settle in, I saw something peeking out from under the bed. First reaction is of course: oh great, I wonder how long that has been there. When I looked closer I thought, hang on a minute - when I pulled it out much to my delight it's the note from housekeeping in the picture saying: "Yes, it's true, we look here too!". On the back are individually signed lines by each member of staff when they clean the room. How great is that? I hadn't seen it anywhere before, thought it was a neat thing to do.
This is a "neat" thing to do so now we can sleep comfortably knowing that there are no monsters or other scary things under the bed. We only wish they could do something about that WiFi situation. For more on the Marriott Berlin, read the HotelChatter review here.
Got a hotel snapshot you think we should see? Don't be shy, send it to us!!
Hotel Housekeeping / Hotel Employees / Hotel Crime / Hyatt Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
More Details Emerge About Hyatt's Panty-Pinching Housekeeper
Do Not Disturb...the housekeeper while he's trying on your underwear.
Yesterday we had a good chuckle over the cross-dressing Hyatt housekeeper who couldn't resist trying on a pair of underwear from a female guest. But his "fitting session" came to a screeching halt when the guest returned to her hotel room.
Now, The Smoking Gun has a copy of the guest's lawsuit against Hyatt Hotels as well as the housekeeper's mug shot. Oh boy, now that his face has gone public, Oscar Garcia-Franco will never ever be able to live this one down.
The scandalous try-on session happened in room 249 at the Hyatt Deerfield Hotel on June 6. When the guest, Dayanara Fernandez, caught the housekeeper in her clothes, he looked at her and said, "Me like, me like" before running off to the bathroom to change.
By then Fernandez was promptly skeeved out and started packing her things, which had been strewn about the room. That's when she noticed that the bathroom door was not all the way closed and that she could see Garcia-Franco was also wearing her underwear.
Indeed, Garcia-Franco admitted to the cops he took off his underwear and pants to try on her underwear and skirt.
Hotel Crime / Hotel Employees / Hotel News / Hotel Housekeeping / Hyatt Hotels / → All Tags
Housekeeper Caught Cross-Dressing in Guest's Underwear at Hyatt Hotel
In recent years, hotels have been encouraging their guests to get kinky during their stays but at the Hyatt Deerfield Hotel in Illinois, one hotel staffer may have gotten a little too involved. The Pioneer Local newspaper reports that a woman returned to her hotel room in July to find a male housekeeper dressing up in her clothes.
She noticed he was wearing a Hyatt uniform shirt. Then she noticed he was also wearing one of her skirts and a pair of her high heels.
Indicating that he liked the clothes, the man ran into the bathroom to change, according to police reports.
In a state of "semi-shock," Fernandez said she began gathering her luggage when she noticed the man also was wearing her underwear. He handed over various clothing items, asking her not to report him.
Hotel Housekeeping / Hotel Staff / Fontainebleau / Miami Hotel Mambo / → All Tags
The Fontainebleau is Celebrating International Housekeeping Week
Willie Jefferson, who will celebrate his 40th anniversary as a housekeeper at the Fontainebleau hotel this November.
Have you tipped your hotel housekeeping staff lately? If you've been a bit stingy in this department, this is the week to atone--it's International Housekeepers Week! Apparently, IHW has been has been celebrated around the world since 1981. Even though it's more of an industry event than one affecting guests, let's not forget that housekeeping is what keeps our favorite hotels ticking.
With a total of 1504 guestrooms, Miami's Fontainebleau would be a giant mess--literally--without its housekeepers, so it's one hotel we know of getting behind the IHW cause.
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