Hotel Santo Mauro

          Ito, John, and I have been working as interns in the Hotel Santo Mauro, located on the calle de Zurbano. This hotel is the second most expensive hotel in Madrid- I have attached pictures of the hotel (from google). The past two weeks at the hotel have flown by, and I have learned so much about the way a hotel runs. The three of us have been rotating around departments including: reception, reservations, sales and conference, food and beverage, housekeeping, and accounting. Each department in the hotel offers us a different perspective of life in a hotel, and we are able to get to know behind the scenes in a way we never would have been able to before. I have never realized how many employees put in tremendous work to make sure that every client´s stay is as welcoming as possible. From working in the hotel, I realized that every employee puts the needs of the client before themselves, and whenever asked to do a specific job, they will drop what they are doing to help a client with anything they need. There are many positions in the hotel that I didn´t even know existed. For example, I had no idea that there is a seperate worker whose job is to inspect the rooms that have already been thoroughly cleaned. In fact, this was my job for a day.
          I was in the housekeeping department on both Friday and Monday, and my job both days was completely different. Although being in housekeeping was the hardest I have worked in a long time, it was certainly the most entertaining, and the most satisfying. On Friday, I was doing the dirty work: vacuuming, taking out the trash, making beds, restocking the mini bar (sneaking chocolates), and I even had to (help) clean the bathrooms. I was paired with a housekeeper named Anabel for most of the day, and she taught me the ins and outs of cleaning. I learned many tips about cleaning, but those probably won´t come in handy very often in my life. Anabel and I cleaned eight rooms, some with clients, and some without. The time flew by, and we were talking the entire time, while listening to music on the giant speakers in every room we entered. Although I was exhausted by the end of the day, I truly did have a lot of fun cleaning. I was able to see how carefully the housekeepers work, and it really made me appreciate the hardwork that they put in to ensuring that clients are satisfied with their rooms.
          On Monday, I was in the Housekeeping department again. This time I wasn´t cleaning, I wasn´t doing the dirty work, but rather, I was inspecting. Sonia and I made sure that the other housekeepers had cleaned every room thoroughly. We went into every cleaned room with a white cloth, and we checked every little nook for dust. We also tested to make sure everything was functioning including the lights, tv, air conditioner, and we made sure that the mini bar was full. This was my main job on Monday, however I only found one that wasn´t full. Basically, our job was rechecking the other housekeepers work. We didn´t really find anything interesting, as the housekeepers always clean very thoroughly and don´t leave anything behind. It was interesting to see most of the 50 rooms in the hotel over the course of the two days, and I emjoyed exploring the larger rooms with two floors. Every department that I have worked in has been very different. However, housekeeping was certainly the most hands on, and the most busying of all the departments that I was in.

This is the outside of the hotel. 

This is one of the simple rooms in the hotel. Most of the rooms are very different, 

differing in the beds, orientation, and some of the suites even have two floors.

                             

This is the presidential suite. It is the nicest room in the hotel, and 

consists of a living room, a bedroom, a bathroom, a porch, and 

a view of the garden. 

This is the hotel from the gardin of the hotel. I cleaned these windows at the

beginning of my job as a cleaner. 

 -Katherine