Tag: hospitality

Six Flags Is Doomed! – Plagued By Bad Decisions & Leadership

Posted in Six FlagsTagged , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Could Six Flags be heading for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection once again? If you’re a theme park enthusiast or frequent Six Flags goer, you may have noticed Six Flags all over the media lately but for all the wrong reasons. We’ve been seeing more and more reactions to the latest updates from SF and as someone that’s into theme parks, I couldn’t help notice either. If you aren’t familiar with the latest, allow me to summarize.

All Rise! The New CEO Is Here

As Six Flags was heading into the end of its 2019 season and gearing up for 2020, the world was thrown into chaos as Covid-19 hit. Like its competitors, it was forced to close its parks for the foreseeable future. What looked like a slam dunk operating season where it appeared the company was bouncing back after struggling again, turned into a brutal nightmare.

Mike Spanos
 Selim Bassoul

It was around this time that the company named Mike Spanos as CEO. Now here’s where it gets interesting. Mike only served as CEO during the pandemic and afterwards, it was announced the company was naming a new CEO, Selim Bassoul. While I understand there may have been many circumstances and factors behind the decision, I’ve seen many other content creators discuss him and say that he honestly wasn’t given a shot and allowed to shine since he had his hands pretty much tied during the pandemic. I honestly agree with the community here. I think the company should have given Mike a chance since most of the time he was in charge all the parks were closed. 

In order for you to understand the snowball effect that is happening, let’s discuss Selim a little more here.

Selim Bassoul – The Very Blunt Cheapskate

One beef I have always had with Six Flags was the quality and consistency across the brand. The chain has always had a budget or a store brand feel to it. Unlike Cedar Fair, Busch Gardens and other top chains, Six Flags has always lagged behind in my mind. These other chain parks are always well kept (for the most part) and are always making improvements to existing areas. Six Flags on the other hand has always felt like it was hanging on by a thread. For example, if you were to enter Cedar Point and compare your experience to say Six Flags Great Adventure, the differences are night and day.

You would think with the company still struggling with its debt, it would try to take the time to make improvements and keep trying to evolve to better itself. However, this is sadly not the case which is very disappointing. Rather than this CEO making brand wide improvements and park specific fixes, he instead decides to cut membership perks, raise prices, cut thousands of jobs, take away promotions/discounts, and flat out states the company will not build any new rides! 

“Raising prices is no easy task for a company that has trained customers to expect discounts, and in 2022, we have shocked the system with a significant increase in ticket prices.”

Selim Bassoul

It boggles my mind how a theme park brand can just raise prices sharply and not increase offerings and value. What the heck is wrong with this guy?!?! I get that the economy is out of whack and inflation, supply chains and labor shortages are all problems. So I get there is a need to cut costs and restructure a bit. But honestly how can you just keep cutting and cutting, raise prices, not offer anything new (ride wise) then expect a miracle. 

“We are continuing to execute our premiumization strategy by focusing on guests who are willing to pay more for a premium experience”

Selim Bassoul

Is this guy friends with Bob Iger and Bob Chapek from Disney? Maybe they are related somehow because their methods are very very similar!

On The Flip Side

Now to be fair, there are a few things this CEO did which I feel are steps in the right direction but at the same time are very bare bones. One of my biggest complaints I had when visiting the parks was the food options and the quality for the food. Previously, all the food options were all fried foods that were greasy and over priced. Recently however, one of the first major things SF retooled was their food options brand wise. They introduced more healthy options, added dietary options and took existing food options and reworked them for better taste, flavor and quality. Additionally, they also added a lot of events and festivals in the parks throughout the year.  I do really like some of these events being that beforehand the parks didn’t have many festivals or events. Personally, I think it adds more flare and excitement to the parks when you visit instead of the same old thing every time.

#StepdownSelim

When you have an entire Reddit thread titled after you with the words “#Fire” or “#Stepdown” in front of it, chances are you are either doing a very poor job and are disliked. Boy is that the case with this CEO. The original post is too long to take an image of, I will quote it below:

Step Down Selim: Another Open Letter

I’m obviously posting this anonymously because Selim has the tendency to fire anyone and everyone, going as far as to fire a 16 year old at a park simply because he asked them how they were and the 16 y/o responded “Well, I’m alive.”

When Selim first took over the company, I was nervous, but hopeful that Mike Spanos’ rehabilitation of the parks would be continued. It has become increasingly evident that this is not the case. Throughout my tenure here at Six Flags, I’ve seen our operations generally neglected, ESPECIALLY food service, which is shambles. It has only gotten worse.

Selim is new to the theme park business. I don’t even think he visited theme parks prior to taking the helm of our company, due to his fear of roller coasters. What made the Board so excited to have him become our CEO, I don’t know, because there’s nothing worse for a company than installing a CEO who genuinely doesn’t understand a company and it’s product, which I’ve said before many times.

I wouldn’t share these sentiments if it wasn’t for the way he came in swinging, swiping, cutting, all while blind. Selim’s goal has been to increase our prices to be on par with Universal Studios and Disney and generate their numbers in revenue

We are not those parks, we never have been.

And the guests know that.

You’ve essentially gone and cut spending and budgets so that the parks rehab projects aren’t being completed, causing many parts of the park to follow into disrepair and generally look unmaintained, and then you raise ticket prices, take out our successful membership program, raise food prices, and take out our very successful dining pass program.

For what?!

We are the park that middle class families go to when they have a good report card.

We are the park that you drop your kids off to go spend time at while you run errands.

We are the park that you visit to hang out with your friends and have a good time without breaking the bank.

We are the park that families chose because of our value.

They could get past the way the park looked because they knew that we weren’t the best parks in the world. We were just a reliable park that they could make memories at because our rides and the ambiance.

Now our customers are turning away to Cedar Fair and other theme parks.

Post-pandemic and we’re suffering with incredibly low staffing, causing rides/food service locations to be closed AND even more neglect to the park, so we have less to offer than before and the park in general looks shitty and you’re charging Disneyland and Universal Studios prices… for this??? It’s embarrassing.

The guests pay to enter, then they pay to sit (specifically at Harbor), they stand in 1hr+ lines and pay outrageous prices for food that’s on par with McDonalds, and then they stand in lines for rides that take just as long because other rides are closed.

Food service locations that are overrun by rodents with no A/C, 15 y/o+ equipment, minimal staffing, terrible wages, and it all looks disgusting. Guests can see it.

These guests are getting their pockets ravaged. They’re getting nickeled and dimed. And they know that, and they’re not coming back. They haven’t been coming back.

And Selim pretends to be delusional because he projects that the park is doing better than before.

This isn’t better Selim. It’s not.

Otherwise we wouldn’t have had to lay off 24 tenured, experienced Full-times at Magic Mountain.

You know that just as well as every person in these parks do, whether they’re a Team Member, Lead, Supervisor, Assistant Manager, Full-time, even guests.

He boasted that we’re overspending as soon as he took over while in the same breath stating that he doesn’t read reports that detail our spending. Does he know what we’re spending on? No.

On every level, management included, us employees feel that he’s running this company into the ground to bankrupt it and sell off portions of it and run away back to his mansion with a check to retire on.

We’re just scared to call this to attention because he continues to cut jobs of the outspoken and introduce his own staff from Middleby, the company who oversaw prior to us, including his daughter. Talk about Nepotism at it’s best.

The timing couldn’t be better though, because I’ve called the UFCW to get information on unionizing. Hope they’re prepared for that.

Investors, you have the power to demand his removal. I know we’re capable of providing incredible earnings and delivering on your investments. I know we can. Sell every last share and demand that the board remove this embarrassment of a CEO before it’s too late.

He’s a virus to this company and he needs to be eradicated.

#StepdownSelim

The following is yet another open letter by an anonymous employee/shareholder also using the same two hashtags. This was the other viral Reddit post that many content creators are taking note on and commenting on:

Step Down Selim

An Open Letter to the Six Flags Board of Directors and Investors

The sentiments shared in this letter are shared by most if not all of the Six Flags Team Members and many of our guests.

You ousted Mike Spanos and named Selim Bassoul CEO of our company in November 2021 after we had a great year. Selim addressed all of us in a virtual Town Hall shortly after and told us why he felt the change was necessary. He stated that spending was out of control. We know he didn’t take the time to learn why and where the money was being spent. He complained about a 300+ page report that was submitted to the board and told us he doesn’t read reports. Did any of you read the report? While we don’t know, specifically, what was in the report, we can tell you where the money was being spent. It was being spent on rehab and repair of our infrastructure that has been neglected for many, MANY years! Would any of you allow your homes to fall into such disrepair? I doubt it.

Selim had a lot to say in a later virtual town hall with all the parks. He made some good points which all of us agreed with, but much of what he went on about was absolutely ridiculous and laughable. He would have heard everyone at every park laughing AT him had the parks not been muted. He went on at length about guests wanting 2-ply toilet paper. He spent a great deal of time complaining about guests dumping ice from their cups in the bushes. He rambled a lot about wanting various things that aren’t going to generate revenue, only decrease it.

There was plenty to like about the ideas and thoughts Selim shared with us, including his past successes as a business person. Who wouldn’t like the bonus program he implemented at a previous company that increased the bonus potential for every employee every year until the bonus reached $10,000? All of us could certainly get on board with that. There’s only one problem. We’ll never achieve the goals necessary to qualify for the bonus due to Selim’s leadership or lack thereof.

Selim made it clear that he realizes he has a lot to learn and would rely on those of us who have lots of experience in the business to teach him, but he’s only done the opposite. He eliminated layers of team members, including Bonnie Weber who is one of the best in the business, and now has all the Park Presidents reporting directly to him. It didn’t take long for the Park Presidents to realize they’re better off not offering ideas or thoughts to him. Why? He fires them, yet he can’t seem to understand why nobody offers suggestions anymore.

We had a great 2021 season yet Selim felt it was necessary to freeze wages in 2022 after we went for 2 years without wage increases due to COVID. Nobody complained about the 2-year freeze because it was understandable. It’s not acceptable, however, to freeze wages after we had a great return and then expect everyone to rely on a generous bonus every year. While a large bonus every year would be great, our next CEO might not like that method of compensation and eliminate it. Will our salaries be adjusted at that point or will our compensation remain several years behind? We all know the answer to that. Thankfully, he backed down and gave most hourly employees a 75 cent/hour increase after quite a bit of pushback. He still left salaried employees without.

Morale is at an all-time low at Six Flags. We’ve lost a lot of great people to reductions in workforce and other great, skilled team members are preparing to leave because they aren’t happy working for Six Flags anymore and they can’t afford to continue working for Six Flags. They have families to support, but it’s become increasingly difficult to do so given the current state of the economy.

The performance of Six Flags will continue to plummet, as will the stock price, as we continue to lose such skilled, experienced labor. We can’t hire enough people to run all of our attractions and retail locations. It’s become increasingly difficult to hire skilled labor to maintain our infrastructure and rides. We’re just hiring bodies at this point to fill the positions, and that’s not good. A high percentage of the people we’re hiring aren’t able to perform well, but we don’t have a choice. It’s severely impacting the service we offer our guests.

What is the #1 thing people come to Six Flags for? They come for our rides in case you didn’t know. We can’t hire enough people to run all our rides, let alone maintain and inspect them. We’re losing valuable labor there, too. More are preparing to leave. Some of the people inspecting the rides are certainly trained and qualified, but don’t necessarily have enough experience to adequately perform a thorough inspection. That’s scary. Safety is going to suffer and there’s nothing worse for an amusement park than an accident. We hope it doesn’t happen, but it probably will.

Selim expressed that he wants Six Flags to be considered a premium product like Disney and Universal. That simply isn’t going to happen under Selim’s leadership. We’re charging our guests more and offering far less. Our attendance has been abysmal and many of our guests won’t be returning. The proof is on social media. People aren’t happy with the product and service we’re offering and our attendance proves it. Cedar Fair is doing quite well this year, so you can’t blame the economy.

Selim released a rather dumb video to us with him saying, “Have no fear!” numerous times throughout. Unfortunately, we have plenty to fear as long as he remains in charge. He wants us to do more with less as he said in the virtual town hall. He also expects guests to pay more and get less. We all want Six Flags to succeed, but it won’t while Selim is CEO unless he changes his ways.

Selim is the laughing stock of the entire company. None of us have an ounce of respect for him, but we certainly fear him. He reminds us a lot of Mark Shapiro in both his energetic style of speaking and his leadership style. It makes us wonder if we’re heading down the same road.

It is up to you, the board, to fix this. There will be consequences if you fail to do so. Our stock price is already 40% lower than it was a year ago. Stay on course if the goal is to drive us into the ground.

Investors, we ask you to hold the board accountable and demand a change in leadership. Cut your losses and sell every share in Six Flags if they fail to do so. We are capable of providing you with an excellent ROI, but not while Selim is in charge.

#StepDownSelim

The Future of Six Flags

What does the future like for Six Flags? Honestly, only time will tell. One thing to keep in mind is the numbers and reports don’t lie. Anyone can clearly see because of the poor decisions being made, attendance, revenue, guest satisfaction and staffing are all taking a hit. 

What do you think about Six Flags and its CEO? Let us know in the comments down below.

A Year In Review – My First Year In The Hotel Industry

Posted in Blog, Work ExperiencesTagged , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Better late than ever! Back in May it officially made one year of me working in the hotel industry after working in the restaurant industry for two years while studying Engineering in college. I honestly can’t believe it’s been a year already! Time really flies! It truly feels a lot longer than just a year. 

In today’s post, I’ll be answering some of the most common questions I get about the hotel industry as well as share any tips for those looking to get into the industry for themselves.

What is your favorite part of working in the hotel industry?

To be honest there are many things I love about the hotel industry. One thing I love is how each day is different and not every day is the same. For example, some days it is slow at the hotel while other days it’s crazy busy. I also love being able to bounce around and learn all aspects inside the hotel from guest services to F&B and so on. Another thing I love is how much teamwork and collaboration play in day to day tasks. The amazing team I work with is one of many reasons I love working and coming to work everyday!

What is the most challenging thing you face on a daily basis during your shift?

Wow… such a great question! I think the toughest thing I face on a daily basis is very irate, and upset guests that just scream at you for every little thing. I’ve honestly built up a tolerance for this and it really doesn’t bother me too much anymore. These are always tough situations since each time, the circumstances are different, you’re dealing with a different guest and do not know what to expect. One thing I have learned from dealing with countless of these situations is to just let the guest “vent” to you and just listen to everything before you respond. When you respond you want to be calm, professional, respectful and most of all try to solve the problem at hand.

Have you ever worked with anyone you do not get along with? If so, how do you deal with that for a whole shift?

Such a great question. I’ve actually had this happen to me a few times, as a matter of fact I’m currently dealing with this now. Honestly each person is going to be different. Not everyone is going to like you or get along with you. One thing I always do is no matter how much the person may not like me, I always remain polite and respectful at all times especially in front of house areas. I always hate when coworkers belittle you in front of guests. Not only is it awkward for you, it also makes the guest you are helping uncomfortable. I want to make one thing clear, not everyone I’m currently working with is like this at all! We are all very close with one another and act like a family. 

Other things I do is, when a co-worker acts like this, I always keep my composure and treat them as if they were any other co-worker who I do enjoy working with. Why do I do this? Well, the industry is all about teamwork, collaboration and guest service. I like to look at the big picture and remember why we do what we do each day.

What’s one of the funniest moments you had with a coworker?

This is a tough one… there are so many funny moments, it’s so hard to pick the top moment! I think of the funniest moments is when my old Front Desk Manager ran outside while we all were staying over during a blizzard and began making snow angels, throwing snowballs at the window and even tried to make a snowman! YES TRENT I’m talking about you lol!

Do you ever get free food while on shift?

Yes and no. It honestly depends on if we have events going on in the ballrooms. Say there is a wedding going on, if there is any leftover food from cocktail hour or dinner service, then yes we are allowed to grab some. Some days you get a lot of food while others you get slim pickings.

What is the single most important trait you need to have to be in the hotel industry?

PATIENCE! This is one of the, if not the most important trait and skill to have. You are going to be working in tough environments, situations and sometimes dealing with back to back difficult guests.

What are your future goals and dreams you hope to achieve?

Right now in the short term I would love to get into a management role such as a Front Desk Manager. Long term after I finish school, I would love to work my way up to a General Manager and eventually one day own my own hotel.

Hint! Hint! Totally not dropping any hints here bosses! 🙂

If you could go back in time to when you first started, would you change anything?

Yes and no! I’ve definitely come a very long way from when I first started. There are definitely certain situations that I look back on that I wish played out differently, however though, for the most part I really wouldn’t change a thing. I try to keep growing every day I work and move towards my goals.

Lessons Learned: Creating A New Café From Scratch

Posted in Blog, Work ExperiencesTagged , , , , , , , Leave a comment

This past semester at my college I had the amazing opportunity as President of the Hospitality Club to help take the lead in opening our own student run café. It was an absolutely amazing and fun journey which I enjoyed every minute of. I proudly present Java Junction:

What Is Java Junction?

Java Junction was created by a vast team of professors, student leaders (such as myself), college professionals and others. Our goal was to take the vacant space left behind from our colleges old food service company, Canteen, and create a new space where students, professors and the community could all gather, enjoy a nice refreshing beverage and snack. Once our costs are covered, all profits go directly back to the business clubs (Hospitality Club, Business Club, Accounting Club, Legal Club, PBL, etc.), help support scholarships for students, and help support the business department in obtaining resources to further help students succeed. 


When students and professors support Java Junction, they are not only supporting the café, they are also helping fellow students. This is where our mission statement For The Students. By The Students was created from. It is the single most important line that helps drive the café and the decisions we make.

Reflections & Reactions:

From the very moment I heard my Professor’s idea to take the old unused café space and turn it into a new café, I was instantly excited and wanted in on it. I will say the entire experience was full of challenges that not only pushed me as a student, it was also very rewarding and well worth the experience. Not only did I gain valuable experience, and grow my skills, I was also able to get college credits while doing so. In order to get credits, us students had to write a brief journal each week about things we learned, insight we gained and reflect on the week.

I remember when we first got approval for the space and the café, there were some interesting discoveries we made. First, the previous operators left the café in a not so clean state and there were many things not up to code. I was honestly surprised by this and shocked with how some of these items went unnoticed and were not addressed promptly. This was good though since I learned certain things I did not know previously.

During week 5 of the experience, the café was in a transition state where we had to deep clean, repair any equipment and update the café so it was up to code and could pass health inspection. It was at this time we didn’t have Ecolab supplies, soap or any basic essentials to clean. I had to “borrow” the Clorox wipes that were in the lobby to clean the café. When I was trying to clean, all I had was cold water and hand soap. I will say it was definitely interesting and reminded me of a challenge I would get as an engineering student where I had limited supplies and had to make something work.

As time moved on, we got our Ecolab supplies, got the necessary updates and FINALLY passed the health inspection. I put such an emphasis on finally since it took us at least 3 or 4 tries to pass.

Progress Photo Gallery:

Grand Opening:

During week 10 of the experience, it was grand opening week and it went very well. It honestly exceeded my expectations of what I thought would happen. Recalling my journal from that week, I wrote the following about the opening:

“This week at Java Junction was both very busy and exciting since it was grand opening week. Prior to the grand opening, there were many steps that had to be completed. First, we had to stock all of our supplies, unpack any foods that were still in storage as well as prepping anything we needed to. After these tasks were done, focus was shifted to completing the POS system set up, setting up all the grand opening décor and getting ready for ribbon cutting. Also this week at Java Junction, I kept up with my marketing and promotional efforts for the café. The designs I created for the loyalty cards for our loyalty program were sent over to the C.R. team for approval, we are in the process of getting a social media account, branded merchandise, QR codes and flyers. (I can’t wait for these items!) Overall all the marketing efforts thus far, and work we have done has paid off tremendously. I can’t wait to keep marketing the cafe and expanding it as it reaches its full potential”.

My Role at Java Junction:

I briefly mentioned this above, however for those who aren’t as familiar with my responsibilities and things I do at college, I want to explain them a little bit more. I currently serve as President of Hospitality Club and sit on the Hospitality & Tourism Management Program Advisory board. As president I am responsible for promoting the club, leading events, assisting professors with club tasks, etc. Being in this role, tied in perfectly with the creation of Java Junction. One of my specialties is marketing and promotion. Let’s take a look at some of the marketing I have done so far for the café:

Lessons Learned:

  1. Mission & vision statements are a must. A vision statement is what goals or what you want to achieve from your business or operation. The Mission statement on the other hand, is a short statement of why an organization exists, what its overall goal is, identifying the goal of its operations: what kind of product or service it provides, its primary customers or market, and its geographical region of operation. These two statements go hand and hand are key elements to creating your business plan, branding and marketing.
  1. Always listen to your guests and customers. They are the lifeline of your business and it is crucial to keep guests and have them coming back. One thing I did for Java, was any time a student or Professor made a suggestion, I made sure I wrote it down in a notebook so that way when we did a food order or sat down to discuss things about the cafe, I could do my best to make their suggestions a reality. 
  1. Conduct your research! What do I mean by this? Well, in order to understand your business model or how to operate the best, conduct a survey or collect data on your target market and competitors. Use this data to help yourself out. For our cafe, I sent out a survey to the entire college to get suggestions, input and menu suggestions. This really paid off a lot! I was able to get a lot of helpful points and suggestions that I was able to use to create the cafe.
  1. Have fun and enjoy yourself! Starting your own business takes a lot of time and effort. You have to enjoy what you’re going to be doing and have a passion for it otherwise what’s the point? My advice to anyone starting their own business is to make sure you enjoy it, have passion and are energetic about it. As the owner, it all stems down from you. If you aren’t into it and are just a wet sock (so to speak), your staff will also be. 
  1. Don’t be afraid to be creative and innovative.

6. Take every opportunity you get! Don’t be afraid to take an opportunity just because you don’t think you’re qualified or are afraid you won’t get it! I always say go for it! What’s the worst that can happen?

PA Weekend Getaway (Part 2) – Restaurant Reviews

Posted in Touristician ReviewsTagged , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

In our latest review, we took a weekend trip out to PA where we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Lancaster – Mount Joy and toured The Turkey Hill Experience. In today’s second part we’ll be focusing on the restaurants we ate at during the trip. So without further ado, let’s dive into today’s reviews!

Metro Diner – Bensalem, PA

Customer Service – 5/5

From the very moment I entered to the time I left, all the staff I encountered were very pleasant and on the ball. I think if you’re working at a diner or lunchent you need to have the personality and right people skills for it. 

The waitress I had definitely had superb service skills, was very friendly and attentive. If I were a local to this area, I would definitely return here. Another important part of a restaurant is its food and beverage. Speaking of that, let’s dive in!

Food & Beverage (F&B) – 5/5

Overall the menu had a lot of variety and unique items on it such as chicken and waffles with ice cream on top! I’ve seen lots of variations with chicken and waffles but this one had a very interesting spin to it. Their variation was as follows: Half a fried chicken and a Belgian waffle, topped with powdered sugar and sweet, strawberry butter. Served with our signature sweet and spicy sauce.

I honestly have never seen a plate of chicken & waffles with strawberry butter. This picture doesn’t do justice! The portions are huge but well worth every bite!

As much as I wanted to order this amazing dish, It was a little too much for me since it was early in the morning when I stopped in for breakfast. I ended up ordering a short stack of pancakes and bacon. Remember how I mentioned before how portions are very large? Well… these pancakes were so big they barely fit on the plate! When I went to put butter and syrup on one of the pancakes it was partially flooding off the plate. Definitely worth it though! I even had some leftovers I was able to enjoy later on in the day.

Today’s Pizza & Mamma Rita Italian Restaurant – Mount Joy, PA 

There honestly isn’t too much to say about this restaurant being it is just like any other normal pizzeria you would go to. This review is going to be a little brief and not as in depth but nonetheless, we’ll still rate it like we normally do.

Customer Service – 5/5

The staff working the counter/restaurant were very friendly, professional and helpful.  I really honestly don’t have much more to comment on since the service was excellent.

Food & Beverage (F&B) – 5/5

I honestly didn’t know what to expect from the restaurant. I just googled it and saw it was just a short distance from the hotel. I’ve been to many pizza places while on vacation, most were good and some were not. I honestly have to say the pizza here was pretty good and I would definitely recommend it. 

As someone who has worked in the restaurant business before making pizzas, I know the science to a good pizza. When making a pizza the two most important factors that affect your dough are time and temperature. You need to make sure the dough proofs up, but don’t over proof and you also need to make sure it is the perfect temperature. The pizza I had was excellent! The dough was not too thick and also wasn’t too thin to the point where the pizza fell apart. There was just the right amount of sauce and cheese and the pizza was cooked perfectly!

Taylor Chip Cookie Co. – Lancaster, PA

This by far was one of the best parts of the weekend gateway and well worth the stop. For those that know me personally, they know I love my cookies! I’m literally always eating cookies all the time. This stop was like a no-brainer for me. 

Taylor Chip Cookie Company is a local cookie store that bakes a variety of gourmet cookies from scratch using the freshest and highest quality ingredients. (That’s their secret to a great cookie!) They currently own and operate two locations in PA and offer nationwide delivery through their website.

Customer Service – 5/5

Overall, the store had very friendly and helpful associates. Once again, I really honestly don’t have much more to comment on since the service was excellent.

Food & Beverage (F&B) – 6/5

These cookies are just too good so they break our rating scale! There are so many options for cookies to choose from including: Chocolate Chip, P.B. Fudge, M&M, Brookie and so many more! For a full list of their cookies, check out their website: https://www.taylorchip.com/. 

I purchased half a dozen cookies in order to take home as many cookies as I could in order to try most of them. I purchased M&M, Chocolate chip, Brookie, Double Choco Brownie, Snickerdoodle, and Loaded P.B. 

Out of all the cookies I tried, I personally liked the M&M cookie the best. But all the cookies I got were amazing. I definitely recommend trying them all.

Pro Tip: If you heat the cookies in the oven at 300 degrees for 3 to 5 minutes. They actually will taste better if you do this, especially if you eat them the next day.

Choice Hotels Acquires Radisson Hotel Group Americas – Thoughts & Reactions

Posted in Blog, Industry News & HighlightsTagged , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Very big news just came out of the hotel industry recently and I have to admit the news came as a bit of a surprise. Join us today as we discover the headlines, break down the news and give our thoughts on it.

The Big News:

In this very shocking news, Choice Hotels announced it was acquiring Radisson Hotel Group Americas for a sum of $675M. Currently, Choice Hotels has the following brands in its current portfolio prior to this transaction:

The deal, once closed, includes nine brands, 624 hotels and over 68,000 rooms! 

For those unfamiliar with the Radisson brand or Radisson Hotel Group (RHG), it emcompasses all franchised, operations and branding of the Radisson Hotels throughout the U.S., Canada, South America as well as the Caribbean. RHG also includes 10 Radisson Blu hotels, 130 Radisson hotels, nine Radisson Individuals, one Park Plaza hotel, four Radisson Red hotels, 453 Country Inn & Suites by Radisson and 17 Park Inn by Radisson hotels, as well as the Radisson Inn & Suites and Radisson Collection brands.

Thoughts & Reactions:

Overall, this is definitely a bold move for Choice Hotels. Earlier in the year a few rumors were going around saying Choice was looking to drop some serious cash to expand into the luxury and higher tiered hotel market. I think one primary reason for doing this merger is smart, is by doing so you can compete with Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. Wyndham, like Choice, has economy brands, extended stay but Choice lacked many things that Wyndham had. Those being luxury brands, upper-mid scale brands and resorts. Can they compete with Wyndham and overall be at the same level or better? Only time can tell.

With this merger to close in 2022, there are still many loose ends and questions left to be answered. Here are some of the top few questions and concerns that come to mind:

With Radisson under Choice Hotels, will standards for Radisson drop? Get better? Or stay the same?

Personally, I’m not sure how this will turn out for Radisson and their nine brands. While I feel like this a good move since they will expand and get more exposure, I feel like with how Choice operates some of their brands, I can’t help but feel standards may slip. Then again, with acquiring nine strong brands and a few luxury brands in the mix, maybe this will make Choice stronger and in turn help them. Only time will tell how this plays out.

Will the Radisson Rewards/Loyalty program be combined with Choice Privileges?

Radisson Rewards is not as well known or as large as Choice Privileges. With that being said, I can definitely see one of two things happening. Choice takes Radisson Rewards and merges it with Choice Privileges to make one cohesive rewards system that is easily utilized across all brands. The other thing I can see is Radisson Rewards stays around and is overhauled and works together with Choice. They would promote both together, be able to transfer points between the two and redeem member only offers for both. While that may seem like a lot of work, I think that makes the most sense. (And we’ll see why with our next question).  

With the European operations still under Radisson and not being sold, will this cause confusion and inconsistencies from the American operations?

Anytime you have split operations across the globe, it’s always a challenge logistically keeping supply chains, standards, operations and finances on track. However in this case, this transaction makes it interesting and creates a tough challenge. If Choice makes changes to Radisson, they only have control over the American/North American division. I think there are definitely going to be some tough challenges that both Choice and the European/Asian division of Radisson will need to figure out. I find it very odd how you would sell off half of your brand then keep the other half. It’s just so hard to wrap your head around.

I definitely think this merger took a lot of people by surprise. As mentioned above, we did hear rumors earlier in the year about Choice looking to buy but, those rumors only mentioned purchasing one or two induvial brands not an entire hotel company. I honestly did not expect that either. Regardless I think over the next few months and years, we’ll have to see how this plays out for both sides. What do you think about the Choice Hotels and Radisson Hotel Group merger?

PA Weekend Getaway (Part 1) – Hotel Review & Ice Cream Experience

Posted in Touristician ReviewsTagged , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

After a long tiring (yet rewarding) semester of college and a hectic work schedule, I decided to take a brief vacation from work and do a quick overnight trip to Pennsylvania to kick back and relax. In today’s Touristician Review I will be recapping my trip from my hotel and all the stops I made along the way. In part one, we will be focusing on the hotel review and our visit to The Turkey Hill Experience. In part two, we’ll focus on the restaurants we are at during our trip. So without further ado, let’s dive into today’s review!

Holiday Inn Express Lancaster – Mount Joy, PA

Customer Service – 5/5

One of the main reasons I always choose this particular brand is because of the high service standards and never having a problem with service. This time was no different. Upon entering the hotel, the gentlemen working the front desk gave a very friendly and welcoming greeting. I honestly didn’t catch his name but I wish I did so I could have left a positive comment about him online. It honestly felt good to be on the receiving end of a check in versus on the giving end. Throughout the check-in process, the gentlemen were very friendly, helpful by providing information on the amenities and also thanked me for being an IHG Rewards member. Being a rewards member, I was able to get the membership rate of $127.00 for the stay plus taxes versus $149.00 for the standard rack rate. Honestly not a bad deal at all! Well worth it!

As a fellow front desk agent who also works in the industry, to see someone else doing your job and killing it (in a good way), is absolutely amazing to see.

Rooms – 3.8/5

Now for one of the most important areas of the review, the hotel room! This particular location was brand new and only about a year old. When you entered the halls, lobby, etc you can definitely tell it was new since it had that new building smell.

Overall, I was very impressed with the design of the room and the attention to detail that was done in the room. For example, the pillows being embroidered with the type of pillow it was (soft, firm, etc.). This not only is amazing attention to detail, but it helps you be more comfortable while relaxing and sleeping. Many of the hotels don’t do this and it makes figuring out what kind of pillow you are using difficult and more time consuming. On top of very detail oriented rooms, the technology utilized at this location is very impressive and should be used at all their locations. Upon walking in and turning on the television, you are greeted with a screen that welcomes you, says your name on top and acts as a personal concierge. From the tv you can view your bill, check out, request a late check out, explore attractions in the area as well as get information about the hotel.

You may be asking, why such a low score for such an impressive room? One of the main reasons for such a low score was due to some minor cleanliness issues in the bathroom of the room. It was mostly some soap scum stains under the shelving units in the shower, shampoo and soap remiance (these came from the shampoo, body wash and dispensers in the shower. IGH eliminated single use toiletry items [with the exception of soap] and replaced them with dispensers in the bathrooms). Other than those few issues there were a few stains on the wallpaper but they were not earth shattering nor did they affect the functionality of the bathroom.

The only other cleanliness issue I had was the microwave in the room was covered in food. It appeared like it was some kind of soup broth. (I’m honestly not sure what it was). Regardless, it was pretty gross.

Amenities – 3/5

I’m going to be honest, this was the most disappointing part of the stay right here. Upon going down for breakfast at 8am, the cinnamon rolls that were under the lamp were dry, crusty and hard. I can tell they haven’t been changed out for a while. When I went to get a fresh one that wasn’t warmed, I found a piece of plastic in the roll as I bit into it. Also too, I can tell food wasn’t being rotated out like it should have been either. A lot of the food looked like it was out for a while when I went down. I would say the absolute worst thing about today was seeing the breakfast server take the garbage can full of trash, put it on the coffee counter where I just made coffee moments earlier, take the garbage out, put a new bag in, then put the can back and never wiped down the counter.

As someone who works in the industry, I definitely have a level of understanding for employees who work in hotels. However, when I see simple things like this being done incorrectly and food not being handled safely where it affects you, I do get fired up so to speak about it. I think if you work in the industry, you tend to be a lot more nit picky and notice everything that a normal guest wouldn’t see since you’re exposed to the line of work daily.

Final Thoughts & Rating

Overall, minus the few issues I had with the stay, I did have a very nice relaxing stay. Getting back to customer service for a second, when I did mention the issues I had the brand and management was very polite and professional and handled all the issues I addressed with them. As mentioned above, one of the main reasons I always choose this particular brand is because of the high service standards and never having a problem with service.


Rating the hotel on a scale of 1 to 5, I would rate this location a 3.8/5! But hang on, that’s not the end of the review! We still have an ice cream factory to talk about!

The Turkey Hill Experience – Columbia, Pennsylvania

The Turkey Hill Experience features interactive exhibits allowing you to learn about dairy culture, the story of Turkey Hill Dairy, and how the company’s ice cream and iced tea flavors are selected and created. The best part is the unlimited free samples of iced tea and ice cream!

I have to say this was a very fun and interesting experience. When was the last time you were to eat unlimited amounts of free ice cream and sample as many ice tea and lemonade products? That was honestly the best part of the whole place! Despite having a lot of exhibits geared towards younger children, the displays and history where very interesting to both learn about and see. My favorite exhibit was the one where you had to pick a ice cream flavor and be quizzed on what went in it. Overall, a very fun stop on the trip.

If you enjoyed today’s review, be sure to check out part 2 of this post coming out shortly. In part 2, we’ll be covering all the delicious eats and restaurants that where experienced during this weekend trip.

10 More Crazy & Strange Hotel Stories told by Front Desk Agents

Posted in Work ExperiencesTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Authors: Blake & Hyrax

Grab your popcorn bucket and buckle up! It’s time for yet another post about the most crazy, odd, strange and unbelievable hotel stories. From handsy teenagers thinking this is prom night to crazy adults who shouldn’t even be parents! Yea… this is a wild one we got for you! So without further ado, let’s get to it!

Blake’s Stories

Save Your Drama For Your Mama!

Okay, I think this takes the cake for my most insane story ever as a front desk agent unless Hyrax or any of my co-workers can top this which I don’t think they will. So to better understand the story, just a little bit of context and background on the circumstances. 

About 5 ½ months ago, this guest (we’ll call her Jane Doe for privacy purposes) called the hotel saying their house burned down to the ground and they needed a place to stay. Generally, for this they contact the Room Sales Coordinator where they can work out how long they are staying and a negotiated rate. However it was about 10 p.m. when they called. Generally, people in this situation only stay like a week or two then leave us. I quoted them the lowest rate I could for a week but they said the total amount needed to be under $500 due to the Red Cross giving them a card to pay for a hotel. After crunching the numbers with the help of my Front Desk Manager, we were able to do this for them. 

From the very moment Jane Doe came in, she was a pain and just overly rude. Like listen, I get your house burnt down but when I took like 20 mins with you on the phone and went above and beyond, you could at least be respectful. This was foreshadowing of how the rest of her stay and behavior would be… Yes it gets worse! 

Flashforward to the day after Christmas, all was calm on this Sunday night at the hotel until about 9:20 p.m. at night that’s when it went off the rails. Why, you may ask? Well, Jane Doe decides to call 911 from her room phone. Now, as soon as that happens there is a whole procedure you must follow and carry out as a Front Desk Agent. You have to call the room then if you don’t get a hold of them, you go down to the room with another hotel employee to go check on them. 

So, I called the room three times and Jane Doe did not answer as the line was in use. After calling, I sent my housemen down there while I stayed at the desk to monitor everything. Jane claimed to have “accidentally” called 911 from her room phone and claimed to be “okay”. If you accidentally dialed, you would have hung up right away and been able to answer your room phone. She was clearly not okay, as she was acting very high strung, panicked and looked very upset. She stated to the housemen there was a fight with her partner (boyfriend. Husband, etc.) and there was a whole situation going on. She kept asking if we saw her “partner”  on camera or if we bumped into him. The housemen did not as there were a lot of people coming in and out and I did not for the same reason. Think this story is crazy already? It gets crazier…

Right after asking us if we saw her “partner”, she went outside and was walking laps outside then disappeared for a solid 20 mins. After 20 mins, she calls the front desk and asks if we could check the room, make sure it’s clear and then meet her down there to give her new keys. On the phone she sounded very quiet and I could barely hear her. Anyways, I went to check her room for her and as soon as I opened the door, it was like an episode of Hoarders… Floor to ceiling was covered with crap, the floor was completely covered with clothes, and you couldn’t even open the door. To open the guest room door you literally had to push things over/out of the way. On a side note, she never came down to her room to grab the keys from me so I left.

Long story short, after all this happened, Jane Doe comes to the lobby, stops, shoots me a very evil and crazy look and does so for a solid 30 seconds before walking out. It was at this point like eight cop cars pulled up front so I guess she called them again? After this, I am unsure of the outcome since one the cops most likely took care of it and I did see her the rest of the evening.

So yes, this 100% takes the cake as the most insane hotel story ever for me. I don’t think there’s any topping that… Although anything is possible. Speaking of anything, that reminds me of my next story.

No-no, don’t touch me there, This is my no-no square!

Well… I honestly don’t even know how to tap dance around this one so let’s just get to it. During the peak summer season at nightime, a teenage couple thought it would be fun to do after prom things in the fitness center after coming out of the pool. Little did they know, there was a security camera in the fitness center area watching over them as they did so. I think you know where I’m going with this… Need I explain more? Anyways, as they started to do adult things the evening housemen walked past and caught them as they awkwardly tried to play it off as they didn’t do anything. After that happened, they left the fitness center, kissed as if it was a romance movie then went into their room. This was one of those WTF moments (can I even say that on this platform? I totally think I can…) for me and sticking out is one of the most interesting stories of the summer. Speaking of summer, what’s the summer without a nice refreshing swim in the pool or in this case a parkour course.

Wipeout! Pool Mayhem Edition.

Remember the television show Wipeout? For those who don’t know, it was a game show where contestants raced each other to complete crazy, ridiculous obstacle courses and at the end you can win prize money. Anyway, this story reminds me a little of the show. 

One summer a group of two adults came up to the desk and told me there was an unsupervised kid who was throwing pool chairs into the pool, taking said chairs out and then jumping off them into the pool. The kid was pushing tables towards the edge of the pool deck, jumping off those tables and was also taking tables and chairs, putting them in one stack and diving into the pool from them. The adults said that the kid almost at one point slipped backwards and cracked his head open on the pool deck. Luckily, this didn’t happen since that would have been a headache to deal with.

You Say Potato, I Say Pot-ato.

Ahh yes… Good ol’ Ramada, always good for a good laugh and fun time. While I was at our Ramada property converting the desk for a couple hours while they had their staff holiday party, the front desk agent told me there was a gentleman staying there who was very intoxicated and would keep stopping down by the desk and just talk non-stop. And sure enough what happened? That exact thing just as the front desk agent was coming back to the desk. So the crazy drunk guy came to the desk for 10-15 mins and would not stop talking about mashed potatoes. He kept asking me if I had any mashed potatoes I could give him or if I could smell mashed potatoes since he apparently smelled them. I swear you can’t make this nonsense up…   

Flooding The Hotel & Power Games

Nothing is worse than coming into the hotel and having problems with power, water or any other utility. So during the summer time I remember coming in and the hotel had half power. Literally half of the hotel had power and the other half did. Oddly enough it wasn’t evenly spread out. For example, parts of a floor would be dark, while others had light while the rest of the floor would keep flickering. If this wasn’t interesting enough shortly after having half power, the power went out fully for a couple hours. Ahh yes doing everything old school… So not fun! Luckily, the power did come back on before it got dark and before the crazy evening rushes started.

Bonus Story – Pizza Time!

Speaking of crazy evenings, this next mini story is yet another interesting interaction with a drunk person. A gentleman was attending a wedding and had too much to drink during the wedding so he decided to get a room for a couple hours to rest then go back to the wedding later on. After getting his keys he went to the room to put his stuff down and then came back to the desk. He asked if there were any pizza places around that delivered to the hotel. I gave him a menu, he looked at it and then said to me “Yo man… I’m way too wasted to order right now. If I tell you what I want, give you the cash for it, can you order for me, please?” He then proceeded to pull out his wallet and gave me $45.00 for his order. His pizza came to like $18 with the soda he wanted. I gave the pizza guy $25 total with the tip and the rest of the money was mine. I asked the guy what he wanted me to do with his change and he told me to keep it. So yea, I got a $20 tip just for calling to order a pizza.

Hyrax’s Stories

Charlie The Rock??

So let me first explain how this story actually started. During the time that I was working at the motel, I worked the second shift as per usual. My motel is located right on the edge of downtown, with the main river running thru the city just a few blocks away. Though the river is rather popular for tubing during the summer time, people also love to go fishing in the river and catch some amazing sized trout. (For example, the winning trout was a whopping 8 POUND 7 OUNCES!). Our pool that was located right by our main building had just opened for the season and guests like to relax in the water while beating the heat. 

Once I had arrived for work, my manager and I got to talking about how the situation with COVID was progressing as well as any news for the day. As we walked the property to make sure things were all good, I noticed in the bottom of my eye something in the pool. My manager and I both entered the pool and I looked fully to find a huge rock in the shallow end of our pool. I am not talking about a pebble, this rock was probably the size of a watermelon or smaller. Unsure about why there was a rock in the pool, I went over and grabbed the cleaning net. Once I pulled the rock out of the water, my manager said for me to take the rock into our garden. As we were about to past the gate, a woman bathing on a sunchair beside the gate shouted “Not Charlie!” 

You can imagine the looks on our faces. Just pure utter confusion. The woman explained that her daughters and herself had gone to the river earlier in the day. While river walking, they came across the rock and decided to take the rock for themselves. They brought the rock back to our hotel, washed it in the shower, then gave the name of Charlie. Then since it was so hot, “Charlie” decided to go swim and they put the rock into our pool. These would be probably the most hilarious memories I have of this year. If you were to adopt a rock, what would you name it?

Not Impersonators, It’s Entertainers.

Halloween is my favorite personal holiday. It’s the one day where you can look silly as you wish and no one questions it. The week of Halloween, we had a group of Elvis enthusiasts book our entire property. My manager warned us that calling the group Impersonators would upset the main leader. The group arrived without any issues,  checked in and settled for a weekend of themed shows. 

The first day was Halloween,  in which I dressed up as Symbiote Spiderman.  The second day was themed to Elvis Woodstock,  or mainly the 50s Era. The lobby was full of Elvis singers walking, laughing and talking. The Third day was Parrothead paradise, or Margitaville themed. The funniest scene was watching this woman wearing a parrot costume with wings walk into our elevator. The last day was themed to Cousin Jethro’s Backyard, or hillbilly/redneck themed. All in all, I think it was a successful group event and honestly look forward to the next time they come around.

What day would have been your favorite? Honestly, I enjoyed Halloween as it was the only day I was able to dress up.

Cops Mania

Before I start with this story, let me explain a few things. The title is not stating I had to actually call the cops, though I had to do so sometimes at my old job. My lodge is rather popular to be booked by several groups and events including weddings, meetings, and reunions. We had two events back to back weekends where we hosted two groups of cops at our lodge. 

One group of cops were actually cops from all around Georgia schools to be trained while the other group was retired cops who enjoy going on bike rides named the Blue Knights. Imagine my surprise after asking that there are also multiple groups similar to the Blue Knights but for other types of First Responders and even military branches. 

It was honestly the safest I think anyone would feel with several cops at the lodge. Even the bears were deciding to hide away due to the noise of the motorcycles.. Speaking of  which, that is my next story!

A Big Furry Friend Visits

During one of my evening shifts at my motel job, I had just finished folding the laundry after a rather slow night. I walked back into the office to get a cup of coffee and imagine my surprise when the horse carriage driver came barging into the office. He was rather spooked and slammed the door shut  behind. I walked over to ask what the situation was and he told me of a friend digging around outside in a bin. So at a quick speed, I locked the door and grabbed the mobile phone off the hook in case of an emergency. After a while the bear left and I was able to unlock the door so the carriage driver can go home. 

I am also going to add a Part 2 to this story, though it is probably a different bear. After I had just gotten off work and was heading home, I pulled up to the main street to turn right and head back south home. As I stopped and looked both ways, I noticed something moving ahead of my lights by the bakery. I took a double take to see a big black bear roaming across the street ahead of me. Quite spooked as I knew that some guests were still sitting outside having a drink, I called our Night Auditor and warned her.

Kids – 0, Dad- 1

I was told by my parents that I wasn’t a bad child to raise. Yes, I did get in alot of trouble at times. I was a curious boy who wondered if a RVC would play a sandwich, yes I actually did that. My lodge has 3 floors at our Conference Center , where you check in for the lodge. On the 2nd floor of the Center is our Fireside Room where we have our Table tennis, while the 3rd floor holds a pool table in front of our Tavern. You can imagine how popular the two upper floors to people to relax  

Sometime during our Thanksgiving week, we had a full house at the lodge. Our Tavern was dealing with several guests and groups that night. While the kids decided to wait for a table, they put hand sanitizer all over the door of the 3rd floor. The kids also broke some of our pool cues, but were called out by our staff at the Tavern. Now, most of the time, parents can be like “my child is perfect. You are lying.” I am not saying all parents are like that. This father decided to take matters into his own hands and investigated the situation. He asked the kids first if they put hand sanitizer all over our Elevator door, which they denied. The father, skeptical, asked the kids to hold out their hands. You can imagine what was revealed… The kids had lied to the father. 

 Because kids were bored, our staff had to start logging the pool cues and supplies to guests from the front desk. Another issue would come from kids who decided to stand on top of table tennis, which caused them to break in half. Now things have changed to where we just keep the pool cues and supplies on the 3rd floor to make things easier. Lesson here: Don’t lie to your parents.

We hope enjoyed our post about even more of our craziest stories as Front Desk Agents. We always enjoy creating this posts recapping these kinds of things. Do you have a crazy work story? Share it down below!

Still can’t get enough of crazy hotel stories? Be sure to check out our other post highlighting even more stories. Check it out here: https://touristician.com/2021/11/09/top-10-craziest-stories/

Overcoming Failure and Achieving Success: Personal Stories & Tips

Posted in BlogTagged , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

In both high school and college everyone has their own journey, not one path anyone takes is the same. Some people are faced with challenges and fail while others have an easy time at success. The important thing is not about who you are and if you were successful or not. It’s how you respond to it. If you faced failure, did you simply give up or did you pick yourself up and keep going? If you were successful, are you keeping it going and still working hard or are you letting it get to your head? If you are somewhere in between or in a situation and aren’t sure what to do, it’s okay! In today’s post we will be covering how you can be successful, deal and cope with failure and I will also share my personal story of how I both faced failure and turned it around. 

Do Yourself A Favor & Stop Pressuring Yourself!

It seems from the very moment you enter high school as a freshman you are thrown a class book and told to choose what you want to do. There is so much pressure from counselors and teachers that you must choose. Even in college, sometimes there is so much pressure on us to choose a major and we are forced to make a decision quickly.    

Are you in high school or college currently and are in this same situation? Let me give you some advice: It’s perfectly okay to not know what you want to do for a career/major. Don’t let anyone pressure you into anything you don’t want. From personal experience, try different things and experience new things. By doing this, you’ll find what you are interested in and what you dislike. Keep doing this until you have that “ah ha” moment. 

The Lightbulb Moment A.k.a. The Ah Ah Moment:

So what is this so-called “Ah Ah moment” I’m talking about? As you begin your exploration and try new things, sometimes you get this feeling of excitement and you suddenly realize, said activity, career or major is for you! 

Everyone has these moments even if you don’t realize it. For example, I’ll tell you one of my key moments. At the very start of my freshman year in high school, there was such pressure for me to decide what I wanted to do as a career. I was given the class book and saw so many paths and I’ll be honest it was honestly overwhelming. I honestly had zero clue what I wanted to do and wasn’t sure what I was interested in. Originally I was in band ever since elementary school and was pumped to do it in high school. However, the requirements and scheduling conflicted with work and sports. I’ll be honest I was crushed and to be honest kind of lost. Band was a big part of me and I wasn’t sure where I could go from there. So what did I do? Well, like I said above, I opened myself to new things. In the class catalog I saw a class called Engineering & Design. It was this very class that led me down my path towards where I am now, well… sort of. 

I should mention, if you haven’t had your “ah ah” moment yet, don’t worry! Your moment is coming. Don’t try to force it. The more you try to force it, the harder of a time you’ll have in the long run. The best advice I could give you is to keep on going and let your moment come to you. Enjoy where life takes you!

Dealing With Failure & How To Cope:

No matter the situation, dealing with failure can be a severe blow to your morale and motivation. For the purposes of our discussion, let’s focus on failure in a learning environment. You can easily take the principles we discuss and apply them anywhere.

Remember nobody likes to fail or wants to fail. If you are currently facing failure or trying to cope with it, let me reassure you everything is going to be alright! Don’t panic, take a deep breath and just relax. I know it’s easier said than done. Trust me I went through a stretch of failure, I get the feeling and know it’s not easy. (More on this later) If you are in a real bind and don’t know what to do, lean on your friends and family as they can really provide some great insight and reassurance. As I mentioned at the start of the post, it’s not how or why you failed that’s important. It’s how you pick yourself up and bounce back. If you just give up and sulk in your failure, you’ll never get anywhere in life. Failure is a part of life. 

This reminds me of what a very wise and motivational Professor once told me during class one semester. She went on to explain that failure has such a negative meaning and there is such pressure put on us when we fail. Professor told us to remember the word fail means: First Attempt In Learning. Now, I know this sounds absolutely crazy, but she had a valid point. How else are we supposed to learn and grow if we never encounter failure? Not yet convinced? I don’t blame you, I wasn’t either at first but after looking at real examples of people who encountered failure at first then went on to be crazy successful, I was very convinced. Which brings me to my next point…

Look To Your Role Models:

Think about who you look up to whether it’s a family member, cultural icon, etc. I want you to think about this for a second. Do you think whoever it may be, became successful overnight? Do you think they ever not failed? Do you think they ever gave up? Take Walt Disney for example, once faced bankruptcy, mental health issues,  and even labor strikes. 

Walt Disney himself once said “It is good to have a failure while you’re young because it teaches you so much. For one thing it makes you aware that such a thing can happen to anybody, and once you’ve lived through the worst, you’re never quite as vulnerable afterward.”

Walt also explained his formula for overcoming failure. “To some people, I am kind of a Merlin who takes lots of crazy chances, but rarely makes mistakes. I’ve made some bad ones, but fortunately, the successes have come along fast enough to cover up the mistakes. When you go to bat as many times as I do, you’re bound to get a good average. That’s why I keep my projects diversified.”

Being Successful & Seizing Your Opportunities:

Everyone loves hitting big and being successful. But how do you become successful? To be honest there really is no correct answer. There is not one correct path or steps you need to take to be successful. Like I said at the start of the post, everyone’s path and circumstances are different. Everyone’s definition of success is not going to be the same because of this. Remember, success is what you make of it. It can be as small as finally getting straight As or as big as landing that dream job you always wanted. No matter your path or the circumstances, you need to be sure to take advantage of your opportunities as well as the tools you have at your disposal. For example, the company I work for currently, is very big on promoting within and teaching. With this, they offer lots of training and opportunities to learn everything I’m interested in and enthusiastic about. If you currently work for a company or employer who does something similar, be sure to jump on any opportunities and take the resources they offer you.

My Stretch Of Failure & How I Turned It Around

Originally, I began studying engineering and had the dream of working for Disney. I had the hope and dream of one day even starting my own park. So what happened? Well first let me say, I am not very good at math. Ever since elementary school, math was always a weak subject of mine. Despite this, I never failed a single math class in school. I always got As or a low B. Flashforward to college and I failed not just one math class, I failed two math classes! For my degree I needed to take Pre-Calc I & II, Calculus I, II, III & V. Yea it’s not as fun as it sounds, especially when math is your weak subject.

Right when I failed my first class, I was devastated and felt like giving up but then I stopped to remember my dream and what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to give up on my dream without a fight. The following semester, I retook the class I failed and not only did I pass with a B, I know the math a whole lot better. The next semester, I moved on to my next math class which was Pre-Calc I and yes you guessed it, I failed horribly. If I remember correctly, my grade was a 40 something. It was really bad! I didn’t fail out of not trying, there were a lot of factors that went into it, online class due Covid being one of them. (When it comes to math, I am a very visual learner. So math is easier for me in person with an instructor in front of me and where I can actually write things on paper). 

At this point, not only was I stressed and down on morale, I also was doubting myself. I kept asking myself “What’s the point”, “Why am I doing this” and even “This was all a mistake I should have never done this.” Remember how I said before, it’s not how or why you failed that’s important. It’s how you pick yourself up and bounce back that matters. 

I was faced with a very tough choice and it took a lot of thought. Did I no longer want to do engineering? Or Did I want to stick with it? After weeks of thinking and weighing my options, I decided to switch my major to Hospitality for a variety of reasons. First, besides failing math, the math in general was getting to be too much for me and was too stressful. I was only at Pre-Calc 1 and still had to do Pre-Calc 2 as well as Calc 1 – 4. I knew I didn’t want the stress of going through all that. 

Second, I was very good at the science part of engineering as that came easier to me. I was very into 3D printing, CNC machines, robotics, etc. I choose rather than have the stress of doing these as a career and taking the fun away, I wanted to keep these as hobbies or interests instead.   

Third and most importantly, I didn’t want to give up on my dream of eventually opening my own theme park or resort. Hence where the hospitality comes in. I was always interested in hotels and had a fascination for them. When I got my college courses catalog and saw this as an option, I always planned to have this as a double major down the road. 

So did I become successful? Well, Flashforward and here I am closing in on graduating with my Associates degree in Hospitality, working at an amazing hotel company learning lots and doing this blog! So yes, I would say I am successful! Want to know more about my day to day at the hotel? Check out my post What It’s Like Working In A Full Service Hotel.

I hope you all enjoyed today’s post and found it helpful! Until next time!

~Blake

A Day in the Life of a Full Service Hotel Front Desk Agent

Posted in Blog, Work ExperiencesTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Author: Blake

Ever wonder what it’s like to work in a full service hotel for a day? You’re in luck today! Today, I will be taking you inside a day in my shoes as a front desk agent at a full service hotel. Just a quick note I want to mention, not every hotel is the exact same or runs the same since each property is unique or has different standards. For example, if you work in a select service hotel (a hotel with no ballrooms and select amenities) or a full service hotel (a hotel with ballrooms ,restaurants and expanded amenities), it will change your work environment. I hope you all enjoy it and if you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them down below!

America’s Best Value Under The Sun

Before I take you through my day to day, let’s explore the property I work at and essentially consider a second home. So prior to being a Days Hotel, the property opened as a Holiday Inn in 1974. In 2016 the property was renovated and converted into a Days Hotel. The hotel currently has two ballrooms, a restaurant, indoor pool, fitness center, outdoor patio area. There are a total of 173 rooms in the hotel which makes us the largest hotel in town. 

You may be asking yourself, what’s a Days Hotel? Days Hotel is the same brand as Days Inn. The reason for using the word Hotel instead of Inn is due to the fact of how many rooms we have and also the fact we are a full service hotel. I’ll be honest, I was just as confused too when I first started but when you think about it, it does make perfect sense. 

I know the Days Inn brand does not have the best image to it. You may think of a rundown or poorly kept location on the side of the interstate. Well… you wouldn’t be wrong there about the brand since a lot of locations are like that. However, not every location is like that. Take mine for example, our property is one of the best Days just simply for how well it is run and how well it is maintained. In a future article, we’ll cover this topic more.

Holiday Inn vs Days Hotel Before & After Photos:

It’s amazing how hard it was to find these photos. I really had to dig for them in the archives but I found them. It was totally amazing to see how the hotel has changed from since I was to a kid to now working there. I remember attending a wedding here as a kid and looking back at these photos and comparing them to what I see daily is just crazy and brings back some memories.

Before taking you through a day in my shoes, I just want to quickly point a few things out and explain a few of the changes made to the building. One of the maybe not so clear things is the changes to the Coral Ballroom and restaurant area. Originally as seen below in the 3rd set of photos, the ballroom was a lot smaller than it was now. When the building was renovated, a part of the restaurant was demolished to create the bigger ballroom you see in the after photo. The restaurant is still there today but is smaller than it once was. Of course by doing this that whole dining room was redone. If I am being honest, I sort of like the original restaurant layout and ballroom design better. (If any of my bosses are reading those please don’t fire me lol). However when I think about it, I see why and it makes sense to increase the size of the ballroom so we can host two events at the same time. (Which is what currently happens here a lot of times on weekends).

The only other thing I want to point out that was a major change is the removal of the saunas and hot tub in the pool area. Sadly, I couldn’t find any photos of these amenities as many of these older photos are disappearing. I am very happy to recover these photos and keep the history of the hotel alive. As I work day to day and roam the halls, I can definitely still see touches of Holiday Inn and design elements of from the past still preserved. For example, we still have in the storage area some original Holiday Inn posters with the old school Holiday Inn logo. If my bosses are reading this, DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT THROWING THOSE OUT!

Just Another “Typical” Day

First, let me begin by saying there is no such thing as “just another day” for me at my hotel. My surroundings are always changing from having 2 weddings in house to having a full house during a busy holiday weekend. Depending on what is going on in the hotel on a particular day, it all shapes how my day will be. Like, I just mentioned having weddings. If I have no weddings, then I can expect for the most part a slower day depending on the time of year. On the flip side, if I have two weddings going on at the same time, I can expect a busier day and know to be prepared for it. Despite having events or not, busy or slow, I still make sure to do the best job I know I can do and am expected to do.  

The Daily Grind

Typically, I begin my day at 3pm and will wrap up my day around 11pm. When I first come in, I meet up with my team and get filled in on everything that is going on and what happened in the morning. After that, I head around to the desk where all the action happens. I typically check my arrivals, my availability and prepare accordingly. Depending on the day, I can get anywhere from 10 arrivals, if it is slow, to over 100 if it is busy. Of course one of my main jobs is to check guests in and out, serve my guests and assist them with whatever they may need. 

Sometimes if there are banquets going on, I will jump in the back and help out as needed. Typically, I only can do that if there is another front desk agent working with me and if it’s not overly busy at the desk. I’m very big on being a team player and helping out where I can. For example, if I go into housekeeping to get more towels, if I see the dryers are done and finished, I’ll take the extra few minutes and empty them for the housekeepers so that it is less work for them.     

Anything Can Happen…

Remember how I said how no day is ever the exact same? With the fact, anything can happen anytime and anywhere in the hotel, it makes each day different
and sometimes challenging. On some days you will have a busy shift but it is quiet where nothing happens and there are other days you have a mix of both. From having emergency situations to dealing with crazy people, anything can happen. Sometimes you even have things happen that you have never seen before and you can’t believe it. Believe me, I have plenty of stories to tell and some I still can’t believe even after some time. For example one of my most recent stories includes a guest screaming at a bush outside and having a solid one on one argument with the bush. I think the bush one though… cause after a while the guest gave up. It’s things like this that make the job interesting and play a part in the idea that not everyday is the same. I can honestly, sit and write about all my crazy stories for hours. If you want to hear some of those stories go check out our Top 10 Craziest Stories as Told By Front Desk Agents blog post.

Advantages of Working Full Service:

At this point, you may be thinking why would I want to work in a full service hotel, it seems like a lot of work. I’ll be totally honest, some days are very challenging and you’re running around like crazy while other days it is a lot slower paced. One reason I love full service is for this very reason the fact there is that balance of slow days and busy days. So you’ll never just be dead slow or insanely busy all the time. I tend to notice this more on weekends where Fridays and Saturdays are insane followed by a relaxed Sunday to end off the week.

Another reason I love full service is the fact of the people you meet during your typical shift from the events going on or the large groups coming in. Sometimes you meet the coolest people from these groups and you suddenly find yourself talking with them as if you knew them for a long time. I think the best example of this that sticks out to me is the time this gentleman came up to me and told me he was inside my hotel when it was being built during the late 1970s. He told me this story of how the police department used the half built building for police drills and training. If that wasn’t cool enough, he took out his wallet and showed me pictures of the hotel during construction and of the drills. Even months later, I still put this at the top of my list as one of the coolest interactions I had.

Sunset At The Days

As the day fades into the night and it turns 11, my shift officially comes to an end. Before I leave for the night, I do any paperwork or reports I need to do, count the drawers again and finally I hand off the night to the night auditor. Typically, I fill them in on what happened all throughout the day, things they need to know and anything that needs to be passed on to the morning crew. Lastly before I clock out I make sure the cabinet with all the towels and extra linens is stocked for the night so it makes the night crew’s job easier. After all that is finished, I head out for the night and wait to do it all again the next day. 

And that is a day in my life! Thank you all for enjoying this blog! 

A Day In The Life of A Front Desk Agent At A Lodge

Posted in Blog, Work ExperiencesTagged , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Welcome to a day in the life of a Front Desk Agent. I (Hyrax) recently started this job back in September of this year, just before the rush of the holidays. My main job is to check in guests at the lodge, cabins and our campground every day. My work shift is from 3 pm to 11 pm, which overlaps sometimes with Reservations and Managers shifts. I am going to explain how things work from day to day without giving out too much information. So, let my day begin!

The 3 P.M. Grind

I start by arriving at work and parking on our 2nd level of covered parking at the front. I must walk to the 2nd floor of our lodge where our punch clock is located. There, I scan my temperature and my thumbprint to clock in. Once I am clocked in, I walk back down to the Front Desk Reception on the 1st floor. The first major task is to count my drawer, including the number of Park Passes and Annual Park Passes. The next task is to check on our Red Book to make sure there is nothing major to note from previous shifts. I also must check our Whiteboard, which stores our Occupancy numbers as well as our Groups in House and Major notes to know. The last thing I must check is what we call our BEO book, which is a black binder full of the group information and things that will happen at the lodge.

Checking In?

Checking in process starts officially at 4 pm, but guests are told that they always come in early to check. Please understand that we can’t promise early check-ins, keep in mind how hard the Housekeeping staff are at the moment. Even our Tavern and Restaurant is dealing with a major staff shortage due to COVID pandemic right now. I ask all guests to be patient and kind to the front desk workers. We are only able to do so much within our powers to make your stay enjoyable. In order for a guest to check in, I ask for a form of ID and a form of payment to be provided. We must match the information provided to us in the system with the information on the ID. As I check the guest in, I make the keys for their room or cabin using our Key Card system. I also ask the guests to sign three main papers: the sign-in sheet, a bear warning sheet, and the authorization or  charge for remaining (if any) balance. 

Wait… Did You Just Say Bears? Like The Animal?

Yes… I said bears. The lodge is part of a state park located in the mountains, so bears are active. We warn the guests that the bears are actually quite timid creatures and scare easily with any noise. The bear sheet states the rules for campfires and warns of not leaving food or trash out for the bears. After they sign all papers, we present the guests with a Thank You letter, their keys to the room or cabin, and a Park Pass. It is required that all vehicles must have an official State Park Pass located in their rearview mirror with date facing towards the windshield. If a guest is part of the Annual Park Pass, we do refund the guest part of the lodging fees collected upon check in.

The Lodge vs Campground

The main difference between our Lodge and Campground area is the lodging fee that is included. Campgrounds are not charged a lodging fee and have to pay extra for Park Passes if necessary. Campground must also pay the full remaining balance upon check in compared to the Lodge and Cabins which don’t get officially charged until the day of departure. Check In time for the campground is at 1 pm instead of the 4 pm for the lodge and cabins. Guests that are camping can check in either at the Visitor Center at the Campground or at the Lodge (especially if after hours).

My Typical Shift

During my shift, I usually answer the phones if I am not busy. My tasks can range from checking on reservations to making a reservation. If I am busy and alone, I usually try to answer the phone as quickly as I can. As the shift continues, I also must keep track of supplies at the front desk market. I can sell any snacks, forgotten items, and drinks at the front desk. We also sell firewood at the front for anyone to use at the firepits. Yes, we have fire pits around the state park that guests are allowed to use. However, fires are allowed only till 9 pm as quiet hours start at 10 pm.

Sometimes I am able to get a 30 minute break to eat my dinner, but at times I may have to eat at the front desk. When I am alone, it is a rule that states I can not leave the front desk unmanned. Even if I have to go to the restroom quickly, I must put a sign out and lock the doors. Finally, after a long day of working, I must start getting ready to leave for home. During my closing chores, I must print out paperwork necessary for my night audit person. I also must again count my drawer and drop any money over. Once my night auditor comes in and signs off for my paperwork, I am able to head back up to clock out and head home for the night.

And that is a day in my life! It is chaotic but very much enjoyable and relaxing. I put my trust in my fellow staff members to keep all the guests happy and enjoy their stays. Our staff at the front are all laid back and enjoy their job. Thank you all for enjoying this blog!