Hoteliers Spill Beans on Hotel Life
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
A hotel is a place where a guest can sleep, eat, exercise and enjoy a number of other activities. But hidden beneath these services are the sweats and toils offered by the hundreds of staff day and night _ a hotel is truly ``a building that never sleeps.''
Grand Hyatt Hotel at Mt. Namsan in central Seoul is one of the city's top-notch hotels. With 601 rooms, including a presidential suite _ the most expensive room in Korea _ 11 restaurants and bars, and the most expensive fitness center, it is one of the busiest hotels here. However, within the Grand Hyatt, there are also the lives of about 900 staff_ their achievements, toils, pleasures and, much more, their emotions.
The Korea Times listened to the life stories of five staff members and heard what it is like to be a ``hotelier'' and what a hotel is to them.
The life of a hotelier is beyond imagination. Overseeing the 24-hour operation of what is essentially a ``small town,'' staff work in three-rotations, watching over day and night. They take service lessons more than once a week, memorize what guests like or dislike and keep attached to the customer _ this way, their service brings more than warm feelings to the guests.
Endorphins
Lee Ji-hyun, who works at the front desk, welcomes hundreds of guests a day, allocates rooms for them and listens to their complaints.
``There are new people every day and you feel like you get to know them,'' she said with a smile.
Sometimes the hotel provides free upgrades of rooms for its guests and Lee advises those people to ``enjoy it.''
``Sometimes, all our rooms are booked and we have to give a lucky customer the presidential suite _ which costs more than 8 million won ($6,200) excluding tax," she said. "The next morning, we find some of them have used no facility, no service but just the bed _ they say they were rather overwhelmed by the size and the atmosphere. But please enjoy, it's a matter of luck and you never know what you will find there."
Park Sung-hoon, senior a staff member at the hotel's famous J.J Marhoney's Bar, learned how to ``be on my feet for more than eight hours.'' ``You find yourself running all day long, with trays and kettles. Now at home, I always move around and never sit down _ running and walking became my life.''
He confided that the bar sometimes replaces stolen liquor.
``Some guests call us and complain that someone drank their alcohol while they went out to the hall to dance. In these cases, we bring them another bottle,'' he said.
If one wants to know more about the charms, benefits or even discounts, sales executive Shim Woo-sub might be the person to talk to. Day or night, in good or bad weather, he meets ``potential clients.'' From inducing celebrities to stay, to allotting international conventions, he's there.
``There's nothing like making a deal. It's a great rush of endorphins,'' he said.
Heartwarming Moments
It is actually quite easy to impress the staff. All you need to do is thank them with all your heart and give them a big smile. Lee still remembers a guest who made her day.
``One day, I was really stressed out, feeling low. Then a guest came up to me and said, `Hello Christy, how have you been? Are you okay?' He once was a guest at our hotel and he remembered me. His simple comments just took away all the stress,'' she said.
Yoon Sang-sook, leader of the fitness center Club Olympus Reception Desk, had a rather tearful experience. Last year, during the hotel's summer pool party, she found a lost child crying. She immediately contacted all the fitness staff to find his mother. After couple of hours, the workers found the parents at the front desk.
When the staff received a tearful thank you from the parents, Yoon felt good.
``I am a mother of a child and I was able to relate myself to her,'' she said.
Sometimes it hurts.
Life isn't always good. Customers can sometimes say hurtful things to the staff. One thing that hurts any staff member is when they are falsely accused of ``stealing.''
Housekeeping manager Lee Jae-hyung said it happens rarely, but the scars linger for quite some time.
``The police comes and inspects the maid naked, they raid her locker and look into all belongings. But the `stolen items' are found in funny places, such as under the sofa cushion, in a dust bin wrapped in toilet papers and others,'' he said.
He said he understands the perspective of these guests to a certain point.
``Losing something precious could drive one to take drastic measures. Still, it would be nicer if they could be a bit more considerate, and not yell or make accusations,'' he said.
In such situations, the staff will sometimes go to the rooftop to sob or yell, or go out to the garden and see the city view to cool down. ``Then we can get back to work with a smile again,'' Yoon said.
Still, the workers say the hotel is their life and their dreams. Lee Jae-hyung said, ``There's nothing better than finishing a large event or seeing people check out with a smile.''