Just Starting Out with a Few Questions about Salary and What to Expect

[redeye59]

My husband and I just applied for a keepers job with a lodge up in the mountains. It seemed to good to be true. We were called and went up to interview. Oh MY....you get a small 3 room cabin, one room is the office, with no computer they want you to use yours, you also have to bring up a refridgerator and genorator if you want them as they are not supplied. They pay your utilities and Huges net for the phone, but no tv, which we pay for and would be satellite because of area. We do all aspects of land maintenance and the pool, and all housekeeping as well as making appointments and visitor schedules. The grocery stores are miles away, and a bit expensive because of area. Only one person can leave the property at a time, never both of you ever! Until Nov when they give you a paid vacation of a week off. Its an 8 hour drive to anywhere so you lose 2 days vacation trying to go on one. They only wanted to pay us as a couple $1000 a month with deductions OR a food allotment of $250 (monthly) at grocery store that is an hour away and costly, and a $100 gasoline allotment (Gas is $4.83 to $5.01 a gal) monthly in lou of pay. But then they still want to take deductions from balance of wages. 24/7 - 365 days a year. We call that Endentured Servents. Very Very unacceptable! No way to save anything for retirement. And they actually think they are giving you a deal to live in such a wonderful location and all with free rent. ITS NOT A DEAL, but its a nice location. Just ask WHAT THEY pay, and remember, they own you for the season.

 

[Penelope]

My husband and I just applied for a keepers job with a lodge up in the mountains. It seemed to good to be true. We were called and went up to interview. Oh MY....you get a small 3 room cabin, one room is the office, with no computer they want you to use yours, you also have to bring up a refridgerator and genorator if you want them as they are not supplied. They pay your utilities and Huges net for the phone, but no tv, which we pay for and would be satellite because of area. We do all aspects of land maintenance and the pool, and all housekeeping as well as making appointments and visitor schedules. The grocery stores are miles away, and a bit expensive because of area. Only one person can leave the property at a time, never both of you ever! Until Nov when they give you a paid vacation of a week off. Its an 8 hour drive to anywhere so you lose 2 days vacation trying to go on one. They only wanted to pay us as a couple $1000 a month with deductions OR a food allotment of $250 (monthly) at grocery store that is an hour away and costly, and a $100 gasoline allotment (Gas is $4.83 to $5.01 a gal) monthly in lou of pay. But then they still want to take deductions from balance of wages. 24/7 - 365 days a year. We call that Endentured Servents. Very Very unacceptable! No way to save anything for retirement. And they actually think they are giving you a deal to live in such a wonderful location and all with free rent. ITS NOT A DEAL, but its a nice location. Just ask WHAT THEY pay, and remember, they own you for the season..

, and remember, they own you for the season.

That's probably the best quote of this thread. And so true!

 

[ServingSouthernComfort]

Well I am glad you have been doing your homework. But reading cannotreally train you for the experience. All of us here did the same I am sure before we started into innkeeping and took aspiring innkeeper courses and in some cases, did internships as well. And we still weren't prepared for some of the things we have encountered. Which is why lots of folks join in here to learn how to deal with a variety of different situations.
Too bad you don't have time to do some time of an internship. A 22 room inn could be a real nightmare to run. How many staff do they have? Do you have experience as supervisor and in dealing with employees. I wish you well, but if the inn is a successful one, I would think they will want someone with experience. At the shore....so they aren't open right now???? OR are they??? I would guess not too much business this time of year.
Salary, hard to say, most of folks here are fairly small operations. They may want to give you a base salary and maybe then have you work on commission for sales/ or percentage of rooms booked.
The most I personally have ever heard offered for an innkeeping position was $50,000 a year and this was for a couple. I seriously doubt they would be paying that kind of salary to an individual. Hopefully someone else here has more experience than I do with this and can give you a more informed answer.
Best wishes...a good and positive attitude certainly is a good thing..

Thanks for this information Catlady - this discussion has given me some numbers to work with. We leave next week to meet the owners (who also are the current Innkeepers) of the 5 br b&b inn in Montana that we are being considered for, to spend some time at the inn, and to tool around the area to see if we like the place. I was still fretting over not being certain exactly what kind of income to go in expecting.
What size inn/b&b do you own?
(You might remember that we are the Texas couple without direct experience to innkeeping, but property management and travel industry experience.)
This discussion brought by Surfer, and all your replies have been helpful. THANKS.

 

[EmptyNest]

My husband and I just applied for a keepers job with a lodge up in the mountains. It seemed to good to be true. We were called and went up to interview. Oh MY....you get a small 3 room cabin, one room is the office, with no computer they want you to use yours, you also have to bring up a refridgerator and genorator if you want them as they are not supplied. They pay your utilities and Huges net for the phone, but no tv, which we pay for and would be satellite because of area. We do all aspects of land maintenance and the pool, and all housekeeping as well as making appointments and visitor schedules. The grocery stores are miles away, and a bit expensive because of area. Only one person can leave the property at a time, never both of you ever! Until Nov when they give you a paid vacation of a week off. Its an 8 hour drive to anywhere so you lose 2 days vacation trying to go on one. They only wanted to pay us as a couple $1000 a month with deductions OR a food allotment of $250 (monthly) at grocery store that is an hour away and costly, and a $100 gasoline allotment (Gas is $4.83 to $5.01 a gal) monthly in lou of pay. But then they still want to take deductions from balance of wages. 24/7 - 365 days a year. We call that Endentured Servents. Very Very unacceptable! No way to save anything for retirement. And they actually think they are giving you a deal to live in such a wonderful location and all with free rent. ITS NOT A DEAL, but its a nice location. Just ask WHAT THEY pay, and remember, they own you for the season..

OH MY what are these people thinking. Sorry you wasted your time...but live and learn

 

[Olga]

Yes I know this is a very old thread, but I thought I would add, that I work as a housekeeper at a hotel, and they expect us to clean 16 rooms per day (no matter what the room is like), and I started at 11/hr, and am up to 12.50/hr right now.

 

[Proud Texan]

Salary? What's that?

 

[Madeleine]

Yes I know this is a very old thread, but I thought I would add, that I work as a housekeeper at a hotel, and they expect us to clean 16 rooms per day (no matter what the room is like), and I started at 11/hr, and am up to 12.50/hr right now..

Yes I know this is a very old thread, but I thought I would add, that I work as a housekeeper at a hotel, and they expect us to clean 16 rooms per day (no matter what the room is like), and I started at 11/hr, and am up to 12.50/hr right now.

Do you work as a team or do you personally clean 16 rooms/day? I'd like to know because I haven't found a housekeeper in years who can clean 7 rooms! And we pay about what you're making.

 

[Olga]

Yes I know this is a very old thread, but I thought I would add, that I work as a housekeeper at a hotel, and they expect us to clean 16 rooms per day (no matter what the room is like), and I started at 11/hr, and am up to 12.50/hr right now..

Yes I know this is a very old thread, but I thought I would add, that I work as a housekeeper at a hotel, and they expect us to clean 16 rooms per day (no matter what the room is like), and I started at 11/hr, and am up to 12.50/hr right now.

Do you work as a team or do you personally clean 16 rooms/day? I'd like to know because I haven't found a housekeeper in years who can clean 7 rooms! And we pay about what you're making.
.

Yes I know this is a very old thread, but I thought I would add, that I work as a housekeeper at a hotel, and they expect us to clean 16 rooms per day (no matter what the room is like), and I started at 11/hr, and am up to 12.50/hr right now.

Do you work as a team or do you personally clean 16 rooms/day? I'd like to know because I haven't found a housekeeper in years who can clean 7 rooms! And we pay about what you're making.

We clean 16 rooms on our own, rarely do we work in teams. This is a mixture of check-ins and check-outs. Some days depending on occupancy and staff for that day, we may get less rooms to clean. On really heavy days where we have mostly check-outs, they will give us less rooms to clean and sometimes our houseman will help out by stripping the rooms for us (taking all the dirty linen and towels and garbage out of the room, which is very helpful).

 

[Madeleine]

Yes I know this is a very old thread, but I thought I would add, that I work as a housekeeper at a hotel, and they expect us to clean 16 rooms per day (no matter what the room is like), and I started at 11/hr, and am up to 12.50/hr right now..

Yes I know this is a very old thread, but I thought I would add, that I work as a housekeeper at a hotel, and they expect us to clean 16 rooms per day (no matter what the room is like), and I started at 11/hr, and am up to 12.50/hr right now.

Do you work as a team or do you personally clean 16 rooms/day? I'd like to know because I haven't found a housekeeper in years who can clean 7 rooms! And we pay about what you're making.
.

Yes I know this is a very old thread, but I thought I would add, that I work as a housekeeper at a hotel, and they expect us to clean 16 rooms per day (no matter what the room is like), and I started at 11/hr, and am up to 12.50/hr right now.

Do you work as a team or do you personally clean 16 rooms/day? I'd like to know because I haven't found a housekeeper in years who can clean 7 rooms! And we pay about what you're making.

We clean 16 rooms on our own, rarely do we work in teams. This is a mixture of check-ins and check-outs. Some days depending on occupancy and staff for that day, we may get less rooms to clean. On really heavy days where we have mostly check-outs, they will give us less rooms to clean and sometimes our houseman will help out by stripping the rooms for us (taking all the dirty linen and towels and garbage out of the room, which is very helpful).
.

Thanks. This year the housekeeper we hire will not be allowed to slack off and only clean 4 rooms. We will require that the person we hire clean all 7 rooms and the common areas. If you can do it, so can someone I hire!

 

[Olga]

Yes I know this is a very old thread, but I thought I would add, that I work as a housekeeper at a hotel, and they expect us to clean 16 rooms per day (no matter what the room is like), and I started at 11/hr, and am up to 12.50/hr right now..

Yes I know this is a very old thread, but I thought I would add, that I work as a housekeeper at a hotel, and they expect us to clean 16 rooms per day (no matter what the room is like), and I started at 11/hr, and am up to 12.50/hr right now.

Do you work as a team or do you personally clean 16 rooms/day? I'd like to know because I haven't found a housekeeper in years who can clean 7 rooms! And we pay about what you're making.
.

Yes I know this is a very old thread, but I thought I would add, that I work as a housekeeper at a hotel, and they expect us to clean 16 rooms per day (no matter what the room is like), and I started at 11/hr, and am up to 12.50/hr right now.

Do you work as a team or do you personally clean 16 rooms/day? I'd like to know because I haven't found a housekeeper in years who can clean 7 rooms! And we pay about what you're making.

We clean 16 rooms on our own, rarely do we work in teams. This is a mixture of check-ins and check-outs. Some days depending on occupancy and staff for that day, we may get less rooms to clean. On really heavy days where we have mostly check-outs, they will give us less rooms to clean and sometimes our houseman will help out by stripping the rooms for us (taking all the dirty linen and towels and garbage out of the room, which is very helpful).
.

Thanks. This year the housekeeper we hire will not be allowed to slack off and only clean 4 rooms. We will require that the person we hire clean all 7 rooms and the common areas. If you can do it, so can someone I hire!
.

Thanks. This year the housekeeper we hire will not be allowed to slack off and only clean 4 rooms. We will require that the person we hire clean all 7 rooms and the common areas. If you can do it, so can someone I hire!

Are your rooms similar size to hotels with about the same amount of cleaning and amenities to replace? I would think 7 rooms and common areas would be reasonable

 

[Madeleine]

Yes I know this is a very old thread, but I thought I would add, that I work as a housekeeper at a hotel, and they expect us to clean 16 rooms per day (no matter what the room is like), and I started at 11/hr, and am up to 12.50/hr right now..

Yes I know this is a very old thread, but I thought I would add, that I work as a housekeeper at a hotel, and they expect us to clean 16 rooms per day (no matter what the room is like), and I started at 11/hr, and am up to 12.50/hr right now.

Do you work as a team or do you personally clean 16 rooms/day? I'd like to know because I haven't found a housekeeper in years who can clean 7 rooms! And we pay about what you're making.
.

Yes I know this is a very old thread, but I thought I would add, that I work as a housekeeper at a hotel, and they expect us to clean 16 rooms per day (no matter what the room is like), and I started at 11/hr, and am up to 12.50/hr right now.

Do you work as a team or do you personally clean 16 rooms/day? I'd like to know because I haven't found a housekeeper in years who can clean 7 rooms! And we pay about what you're making.

We clean 16 rooms on our own, rarely do we work in teams. This is a mixture of check-ins and check-outs. Some days depending on occupancy and staff for that day, we may get less rooms to clean. On really heavy days where we have mostly check-outs, they will give us less rooms to clean and sometimes our houseman will help out by stripping the rooms for us (taking all the dirty linen and towels and garbage out of the room, which is very helpful).
.

Thanks. This year the housekeeper we hire will not be allowed to slack off and only clean 4 rooms. We will require that the person we hire clean all 7 rooms and the common areas. If you can do it, so can someone I hire!
.

Thanks. This year the housekeeper we hire will not be allowed to slack off and only clean 4 rooms. We will require that the person we hire clean all 7 rooms and the common areas. If you can do it, so can someone I hire!

Are your rooms similar size to hotels with about the same amount of cleaning and amenities to replace? I would think 7 rooms and common areas would be reasonable
.

My rooms are smaller than most hotel rooms. The problem is that my DH interviews the people and tells them it will take them an hour to clean each room and that's how long they take. No matter how long they've been here! Next time he does not get to tell them anything!
He is not good with delegating. He thinks WE should be doing at least as much cleaning as the housekeeper does to 'be fair'. He doesn't understand that managment manages so the employees can work and get paid. There are plenty of jobs he could be doing in the office and not cleaning bathrooms.
There are days he's done cleaning 3 rooms and then starts in cleaning more! I have to tell him to stop or the housekeeper won't have anything to do! He's afraid the housekeeper won't get done in time for check-ins so he has to 'help'. Of COURSE the housekeeper doesn't work faster! She's getting paid the same amount if she cleans 4 rooms as if she cleaned 7!
So, this year it will be different.

 

[Olga]

Yes I know this is a very old thread, but I thought I would add, that I work as a housekeeper at a hotel, and they expect us to clean 16 rooms per day (no matter what the room is like), and I started at 11/hr, and am up to 12.50/hr right now..

Yes I know this is a very old thread, but I thought I would add, that I work as a housekeeper at a hotel, and they expect us to clean 16 rooms per day (no matter what the room is like), and I started at 11/hr, and am up to 12.50/hr right now.

Do you work as a team or do you personally clean 16 rooms/day? I'd like to know because I haven't found a housekeeper in years who can clean 7 rooms! And we pay about what you're making.
.

Yes I know this is a very old thread, but I thought I would add, that I work as a housekeeper at a hotel, and they expect us to clean 16 rooms per day (no matter what the room is like), and I started at 11/hr, and am up to 12.50/hr right now.

Do you work as a team or do you personally clean 16 rooms/day? I'd like to know because I haven't found a housekeeper in years who can clean 7 rooms! And we pay about what you're making.

We clean 16 rooms on our own, rarely do we work in teams. This is a mixture of check-ins and check-outs. Some days depending on occupancy and staff for that day, we may get less rooms to clean. On really heavy days where we have mostly check-outs, they will give us less rooms to clean and sometimes our houseman will help out by stripping the rooms for us (taking all the dirty linen and towels and garbage out of the room, which is very helpful).
.

Thanks. This year the housekeeper we hire will not be allowed to slack off and only clean 4 rooms. We will require that the person we hire clean all 7 rooms and the common areas. If you can do it, so can someone I hire!
.

Thanks. This year the housekeeper we hire will not be allowed to slack off and only clean 4 rooms. We will require that the person we hire clean all 7 rooms and the common areas. If you can do it, so can someone I hire!

Are your rooms similar size to hotels with about the same amount of cleaning and amenities to replace? I would think 7 rooms and common areas would be reasonable
.

My rooms are smaller than most hotel rooms. The problem is that my DH interviews the people and tells them it will take them an hour to clean each room and that's how long they take. No matter how long they've been here! Next time he does not get to tell them anything!
He is not good with delegating. He thinks WE should be doing at least as much cleaning as the housekeeper does to 'be fair'. He doesn't understand that managment manages so the employees can work and get paid. There are plenty of jobs he could be doing in the office and not cleaning bathrooms.
There are days he's done cleaning 3 rooms and then starts in cleaning more! I have to tell him to stop or the housekeeper won't have anything to do! He's afraid the housekeeper won't get done in time for check-ins so he has to 'help'. Of COURSE the housekeeper doesn't work faster! She's getting paid the same amount if she cleans 4 rooms as if she cleaned 7!
So, this year it will be different.
.

My rooms are smaller than most hotel rooms. The problem is that my DH interviews the people and tells them it will take them an hour to clean each room and that's how long they take. No matter how long they've been here! Next time he does not get to tell them anything!
He is not good with delegating. He thinks WE should be doing at least as much cleaning as the housekeeper does to 'be fair'. He doesn't understand that managment manages so the employees can work and get paid. There are plenty of jobs he could be doing in the office and not cleaning bathrooms.
There are days he's done cleaning 3 rooms and then starts in cleaning more! I have to tell him to stop or the housekeeper won't have anything to do! He's afraid the housekeeper won't get done in time for check-ins so he has to 'help'. Of COURSE the housekeeper doesn't work faster! She's getting paid the same amount if she cleans 4 rooms as if she cleaned 7!
So, this year it will be different.

I agree. He needs faith in the housekeeper

 

[Joey Camb]

Yes I know this is a very old thread, but I thought I would add, that I work as a housekeeper at a hotel, and they expect us to clean 16 rooms per day (no matter what the room is like), and I started at 11/hr, and am up to 12.50/hr right now..

Yes I know this is a very old thread, but I thought I would add, that I work as a housekeeper at a hotel, and they expect us to clean 16 rooms per day (no matter what the room is like), and I started at 11/hr, and am up to 12.50/hr right now.

Do you work as a team or do you personally clean 16 rooms/day? I'd like to know because I haven't found a housekeeper in years who can clean 7 rooms! And we pay about what you're making.
.

Yes I know this is a very old thread, but I thought I would add, that I work as a housekeeper at a hotel, and they expect us to clean 16 rooms per day (no matter what the room is like), and I started at 11/hr, and am up to 12.50/hr right now.

Do you work as a team or do you personally clean 16 rooms/day? I'd like to know because I haven't found a housekeeper in years who can clean 7 rooms! And we pay about what you're making.

We clean 16 rooms on our own, rarely do we work in teams. This is a mixture of check-ins and check-outs. Some days depending on occupancy and staff for that day, we may get less rooms to clean. On really heavy days where we have mostly check-outs, they will give us less rooms to clean and sometimes our houseman will help out by stripping the rooms for us (taking all the dirty linen and towels and garbage out of the room, which is very helpful).
.

Thanks. This year the housekeeper we hire will not be allowed to slack off and only clean 4 rooms. We will require that the person we hire clean all 7 rooms and the common areas. If you can do it, so can someone I hire!
.

Thanks. This year the housekeeper we hire will not be allowed to slack off and only clean 4 rooms. We will require that the person we hire clean all 7 rooms and the common areas. If you can do it, so can someone I hire!

Are your rooms similar size to hotels with about the same amount of cleaning and amenities to replace? I would think 7 rooms and common areas would be reasonable
.

My rooms are smaller than most hotel rooms. The problem is that my DH interviews the people and tells them it will take them an hour to clean each room and that's how long they take. No matter how long they've been here! Next time he does not get to tell them anything!
He is not good with delegating. He thinks WE should be doing at least as much cleaning as the housekeeper does to 'be fair'. He doesn't understand that managment manages so the employees can work and get paid. There are plenty of jobs he could be doing in the office and not cleaning bathrooms.
There are days he's done cleaning 3 rooms and then starts in cleaning more! I have to tell him to stop or the housekeeper won't have anything to do! He's afraid the housekeeper won't get done in time for check-ins so he has to 'help'. Of COURSE the housekeeper doesn't work faster! She's getting paid the same amount if she cleans 4 rooms as if she cleaned 7!
So, this year it will be different.
.

My rooms are smaller than most hotel rooms. The problem is that my DH interviews the people and tells them it will take them an hour to clean each room and that's how long they take. No matter how long they've been here! Next time he does not get to tell them anything!
He is not good with delegating. He thinks WE should be doing at least as much cleaning as the housekeeper does to 'be fair'. He doesn't understand that managment manages so the employees can work and get paid. There are plenty of jobs he could be doing in the office and not cleaning bathrooms.
There are days he's done cleaning 3 rooms and then starts in cleaning more! I have to tell him to stop or the housekeeper won't have anything to do! He's afraid the housekeeper won't get done in time for check-ins so he has to 'help'. Of COURSE the housekeeper doesn't work faster! She's getting paid the same amount if she cleans 4 rooms as if she cleaned 7!
So, this year it will be different.

I agree. He needs faith in the housekeeper
.

our housekeeper does 12 and she is pooped I will admit but does it on a regular basis my friend edit who is a housekeeping supervisor at a large hotel 4 star often has 18 and some of them have 2 king size beds in but I don't think that is at all reasonable. You can't tell me its to a standard! Also they way I see it is my time as a marketer is more valuable than me as a toilet cleaner so its worth paying someone to do that so I am doing what I am good at and bringing money in.