July 2007
As we go through the experience and visit places we've only seen in pictures we begin to feel like we've found a new home. Settling in to our new roles as bosses we learn as we go, not only things about ourselves but also about others.
One thing we learned was that most of our employees had either a drug and/or alcohol addiction which meant they would come to work either high or drunk, smelling of alcohol and sometimes barely able to function, it's ridiculous! It was a shocking surprise which really pissed us off trying to get work done was close to impossible.
People calling in because they were too drunk to come in and we couldn't fire them because then we'd be cleaning 89 rooms on our own....this is where we revert to Workamper's instead of locals, but that we also learn is a gamble as well.
It continues to amaze us, neigh surprise us how people have no or very little work ethics and take advantage of those opportunities left for those less fortunate, but that too will change.
Cleaning in itself is a daily routine, however, when you have 16 rooms to make beds in, clean the bathrooms, vacuum, dust, etc., you quickly find out how out of shape you truly are and how quickly "in shape" you will be. 6 hours a day definitely is a workout!
As the season picks up so do the tours. Tourists coming from all over the world, Asia, England, Germany, France, Netherlands and more. Interesting that the Brits are so neat and love coffee, not tea as we all thought, but the little coffee packets left in guests rooms would be gone the next day, however, the coffee pot was never used! They are also very funny!
The Asian tourists are by far the messiest the French love their bread at breakfast, and they are rude and pushy.
July - August - 2007
FILMING A MOVIE IN KANAB, UTAH STILL HAPPENS
We find out that we will be having a movie filmed in the area and the cast and crew will be staying at the Lodge. Of course now Court is in hog heaven to even think that a movie, albeit a low budget film, will be actually filiming here. It's student's from UCF doing their thesis, making "
Monster in the Attic". They took over the first floor of the 2 story and a few other rooms held their editing equipment, they brought in a private chef who took over the kitchen (what an adventure).
To Court's excitement he was given the opportunity to actually go on set while they were filming. We became quick friends with most of the cast and crew and will cherish this time forever.
As we go through and start cleaning the rooms, some of them are like walking into a dorm room, crap was everywhere, clothes, scripts, notes, laptops you name it it was there. We eventually decide to just close the door and move to the next room.
They were at the Lodge for most of the month of July and August leaving just when
Western Legends Round-Up started which is an annual event where some of the older western movie actors return for a few days. This event will become one of our crowning glories and we make friends we'll have forever.
One huge downside of running a hotel is bedbugs. They arrive shortly after Western Legends. Bedbugs travel with the person from hotel to hotel and are not a sign of unclean rooms.
The Bedbug Battle Begins
We inform the General Manager of the infestation and now the battle starts. With bedbugs depending on the infestation you need to treat not only the infected room but the adjacent rooms as well. That was a fiasco to say the least. We had to through out furniture and get new, but what we didn't have control of is where the replacement furniture came from. Our GM made a trip to Las Vegas and purchased mattresses and furniture (this would come back to haunt us later). Everything looked nice but little did we know what we would be facing in the coming years.
