front desk agent

housekeeper

hotel housekeeper

front desk receptionist

night auditor

Econo Lodge

To summarize, do not recommend this company, and while of course my exact location could be worse than others individually unfortunately these sort of budget hotels/motels tend to be shady in uncomfortable neighborhoods and poorly managed in general as a brand chain. There are reasons why they are two or three stars. 

At this exact moment I’m still employed at the Econo hotel, meaning the need for some discretion as you could understand or they’d easily terminate me for bogus reasons. Enough of that, to the more valuable feedback. 

My position was at the Front Desk, as the agent from 3-11 pm part-time (Thrilled that it was not full-time after all this, especially at this property, haha). The job itself isn’t difficult, of course, if anything it isn’t challenging or intellectually stimulating enough- that’s the flaw in these low skill, minimal wage positions. It could be worse, definitely, but this shouldn’t be an option unless you literally have no other. 

We could try to keep this in order from the beginning to now. I did walk-in to ask for an application and could’ve got the interview if they were hiring, but ultimately maybe a year later they had an ad in a job board online, I replied by email with a resume, called them a few days later asking if they received it, and because they were interested they offered the interview immediately. After they asked on the phone if I wanted an interview, I told them I could head over right now and they agreed (this was about two days after the resume submission during the week). The interview was held at 1 pm, and that same day (seriously, lol, all in a matter of hours) about 4 pm not even three hours after the interview my interviewer the GM who is the wife of the owner called with the classic “Congratulations, you got the job. Do you want to come in to start the training tomorrow morning?” That is correct, no background check (meh, do I look like a villain anyway? Haha), no substance check, nada, with these budget hotels you could essentially complete the application and be hired that same day, they don’t run any checks. It’s wonderful that it’s this liberating without any process, but that is a red flag. Wouldn’t you want the best hires? This is a part-time role on weekends, Saturday’s and Sunday’s (you have no life), who would want this job? Of course they’d be desperate. Nevertheless, that was how it started. 

We’re almost done. This property is in a questionable neighborhood, it is only a block away from an Inn that recently had its parking lot filled of cop cars and known for a coke bust (Not the beverage), that tells you what you need to know. Even to this day Econo’s rooms are being used by some escorts, and there are individuals either asking for change or wandering around both unaddressed. 

The GM and owner don’t even speak fluent English, which complicated and discourages any communication, she (the GM) would never leave you alone. She’d either call the desk during the shift in the evening after she’s already left always repeating the same “reminders” you already know about (locking the same doors), or calling out silly mistakes that aren’t that major. This became 1000 times worse over time to where the check-in process only had more and more steps (now we had to ask for vehicle registration/models because guests would use “fraudulent cards”), and we’d be constantly asked to complete tasks every shift that we weren’t required to before and that none of the agents even do (we’d have to wipe the counters, vaccum mess that isn’t ours or the meeting room for church gatherings when another agent has already volunteered to do it on Sunday mornings, and wipe the fax area because of dirt that is formed around the machine with the freaking food the wouldn’t clean after themselves). Not that fair to hold us accountable for filth we aren’t even responsible for. The typical more and more work for little pay. No, the wage we “earn” is not enough. Is it acceptable when most of us clearly can’t afford our living expenses? They’re multi-million dollar companies, I’d like for them to prove they can’t truly afford 15 an hour. 

The job itself with the company isn’t that bad, management is what makes it impossible. Only makes matters worse the ludicrous policies that exist (the hotel could be forced to refund the entire payment if the guests dispute even though they stayed and literally signed on every single document? What the heck). 

Thank you very much for your time in reading this, as you could see there is a lot to say and I’d really need to just write that autobiography book, haha. 

In conclusion, the advice is to not apply to this company or several of Choice’s brands unless they are higher rated (If they’re budget you may want to steer away). If you do consider this, keep in mind this probably isn’t a permanent option, you probably won’t want to last more than a year which is just what the high turnover in this industry is about. 

Hope you found this beneficial. Don’t give up, I’m not : )

A typical day consists of arriving early in the morning and keeping the lobby's continental breakfast stocked for two hours while answering the phone and checking people out, as well as arranging the a daily housekeeping schedule. By 9:00 most people are gone, and by 10:00 you'll have finished cleaning and handing out assignments to housekeepers and the maintenance guy. Then it's a long wait until 3:00 PM for the 1st shift to end and taken over by the next guy. You clean and answer the phone for the rest of your shift because check-ins are rarely allowed before 3:00 PM as the rooms are being cleaned. Other than that, nothing is allowed (i.e. no books, no cell phone, no internet usage) except sitting there patiently contemplating your life as you wait for your shift to end.

 The one positive thing about this job is you do get to meet people from many places, across the globe even, from Canada and France, to Germany, India, and China. Conversing with the varied guests is a great relief from the loneliness.

 The owners of the motel are very nice, but rarely around and we almost never get to speak. The GM is nice, but he's a very difficult person to understand because he can't speak English very well, and you never know what he's thinking. The Front Desk Supervisor is difficult to deal with because she obviously doesn't like her job or the people under her, and if she wants to find something wrong with you she will. Five people have quit since I've been working there and each time it was because of her. She doesn't fire people because the motel needs them, but if she doesn't like you she will purposely make you want to quit. She's also homophobic. This is the one plus of rarely being around other people.

 My co-workers are very nice to me, and I love working with them. They rarely complain about the work and they keep the place nice for the guests.

 There isn't a difficult part of the job, except maybe making sure you move around enough so your back doesn't kill you by the shift's end.

 I love nothing about the place I work, but I refuse to quit and go without a job again. I like staying busy, and last time it took me several months to find another one. I do like getting the chance to converse with people from around the world; most of the guests are nice.

A typical day included producing arrival lists for guests arriving through two major wholesale purchasers of our hotel rooms, in order to make sure that these guest especially had their requests met and also to make it easier for hotel staff to handle any unexpected
problems that may arise at check-in time. Also, reservations in the form of hardcopy from other companies had to be entered into our computerized reservations system. Additionally, many inbound calls for reservations had to be entered into our data systems.

I learned that even though guests must be properly cared for when they call to reserve a hotel room, the agent reserving the room may have difficult circumstances to deal with there in the office while trying to offer guests quality service, that guests are very much unaware of. Yet we were still leave work knowing that we did the best we could do to satisfy our callers for that day, with them never finding out that there was a difficulty to overcome in order to do so. I came to have appreciation for both sides of the telephone line and to understand what it really means to be a professional.

I worked with the best group of people. They were smart and used ingenuity in working, particularly when we had problems with our equipment. They were good with the customers and their sense of humor helped difficult days run smoother.
The hardest part of the job was when our office equipment was not in tip top shape and we had to sort of "jiggle it a little", or improvise, in order to get our work done.

The most enjoyable part of the job was talking with people from different countries by phone and reserving rooms from data that provided a lesson in geography. Also, learning how to use new software was always fun.

This would have been a decent job if it wasn't fo=.....Scratch that. I got no training whatso ever and thrown by myself on friday night.   Unbeluevable....But ok.....I managed to figure it out,  got cussed out for tking too long, I learned myself realfast,  what. Mess. I  stayed busy, practically the only one who really cleaned.  Wiping down a countertop is not cleaning. But it would have veen nice.  Especially when there is food and beverage involved. The breakfs try dishes would be in the sink 
Still.  The "date opened" date on the carboard piece that holds the liquid in the  coffee in the industrial coffee maker was nearly a year  from the day I I saw it , I said something but it seemed to not be a big deal. So I waited  till noone was around and threw it away, I replaced it with a fresh one. The owners live upstairs and this the wife would call the front desk when she couldnt see me on the camera and I would have to stop cleaning, take my gloves off, run to the front and she would hang up.  Seemed like the minute I would sit  to use the restroom she would call. I dont mind being watched on camera but to interupt me from cleaning or fixing breakfast or  using the bathroom justto hang up, to call down like that was so messed up.  The owners are so unappreciativeq rude, hateful, hurtful and I never got my last two days of pay.  There was a lady that had been there 20 years and made the zame as me.    Talk about taking advantage of someone , because she was a single mother she hadnt the luxury of quitting ger job.  ..... 
Good rythens 
Keep searching.... Do not work here!!!!

Ive never quite experienced anything like this before. Just out of the blue one day the new manager called me told me not to come in because he needs learn audit 2 days in a row told him i cant afford to miss that many hours im a single mom. And he was acting very strange so i asked him if there was a problem and if i still had my job or what because absolutely nothing happened and from what i thought the managers were glad to have me there so for 2 days i tried to get a straightforward answer and never got one. Then i over heard the asst gm talking bad about me because he didn't know that i was on the phone so i decided to go over in person go figure out what was going on because at this point im very confused and when i get there they will not let me in and as the gm is letting the guests out of the lobby he literally screams in my face that im fired and slams the door in my face and still i have no idea why i am fired from here. So i would not recommend this place to work at at all this happened to me after they fired the manager that was there when i was hired for no reason at all neither of us have been told why we were let go. They are very disrespectful and unprofessional and the new gm does not even know how to check a guest in and both the gm and asst gm talk about smoking marijuana and are high all the time . Very awful place to work they like to really mess up their employees lives with no explanation and then tells the owner full of lies. Absolutely horrible stay away from this place as a guest and employee

Over all this was a boring job. I had a few cleaning duties to do, but otherwise they paid me to play on the computer for 8 hours. I actually got to the point where I wished something would happen just so I would have something to do. Although, had something happened nothing would have been done since half the time the cameras didn't work and for the longest time there weren't any Cameras on the second first floor.  I learned to have a sense of humor with guest who were upset.I never laughed in their faces, but I never took any of it personally. My co-workers were nice, for the most part. I had a problem with the Managers girlfriend,I felt that she would not do any cleaning jobs but get after us all the time. She wasn't very approachable, she always looked angry. To be honest, there really wasn't much enjoyable stuff to do at job. No one every came in, it was one of those hotels were people just show up after a night of clubbing and usually were a bit unpleasant. I did LOVE working during the day. We usually got really nice elderly people or families. I loved that part of the job. The owners were really nice too, they would bring me food and sit and talk to me before they would go to bed (onsite). The hardest part of this job was staying awake, I would work from 11pm to 7 am, and usually it was really quite.

During the time that I worked here, I had to deal with a manager who refused to pay us for the overtime we worked. As a night auditor, if I was sick, I still had to come to work because my manager didnt care enough to answer her phone and come in for me. When she did answer, she would just tell me to "take the phone with me in one of the rooms and sleep." I witnessed a lot of illegal activity from her while I was there. No inspections were up to date, including up to the fire departments standards. There were always bed bugs and there was no protection from harassing customers. I witnessed a few passing desk associates who would show up to work late, or not come in at all. We had one associate who was caught on camera drunk in the lobby and she was never fired for it. Another desk associate would sleep with multiple guests and another bragged about smoking marijuana with the guests in the back of the building. The back door was never secured and the rooms were moldy and outdated. I was in charge of preparing breakfast and we were encouraged to use the same waffle batter for three days, as well as the gravy. We didnt even have a sink up to the health departments standards. Since I left, it has been under new management and there have been many updates and changes and I believe they have turned it around completely.

Starting off they're infested with bed bugs and rats. Management is horrible and they supply employees with sub-par hours, One week you'll work 24 hours and then work eight to sixteen hours every other week. The owner is rude and doesn't care about his employees, and makes it clear that he doesn't care about the guest either. The assistant manager is very racist and has hired Hispanics in the past only because "they may not speak "our" language, but make great housekeepers..." Their employee turn over rate is atrocious, no one gets appropriate hours, and money is constantly and issue, not only with paychecks (yes the paychecks do come up short) but with the cash register as well. Money is always going missing and the drawer can never balance out. Counterfeit bills are a constant issue and no one blinks an eye. You'll get written up depending on the assistant manager's mood, because she doesn't know how to separate personal issues from business. Her attitude is 100% fake praising you one minute and then writing you up on the same thing she applauded and praised you on. Two of the Housekeepers are rouges and lairs, and "milking the clock" is their favorite thing to do (once again management doesn't care or even notice). lies will be told on you and disrespect is constant. Over all this is NOT a good place to consider work.

You get to meet people from various parts of the world and share their stories. Be ready to know your surroundings- Guests are always asking for directions! 
Master multitasker is a must, answering the phones (plural now) while greeting arrivals, gathering the guests information and payment method, verifying reservation details- Confirmned/Cancelled, (still answering phone calls, switching lines, in-between all of this). The majority of the time, well depending on which shift, your alone. Once housekeepers and maintenance go home, it's now on you  to handle all of the business associated with working front desk to overflowing/clogged toilets, water suddenly flooding down from a bathroom ceiling due to an overflowing bathtub above, floor level power outage's from a blown circuit, false fire alarm pulls,  parking lot brush fires from improperly discarded cigarette butts. Can't forget to answer the phone, someone's in lobby trying to check in, customer on the phone wants to quote rates, Guests in lobby getting impatient. Food is cold by the time you get to eat it, or forgotten about off to the side.  Don't forget about the laundry, never seems to be a break. Overworked, overwhelmed, underappreciated and underpaid.

My day starts out with checking over staff and doing deposits.  As well as making sure our guests enjoyed there stay with us at Econolodge.  

I have learned a lot since the beginning of my time here.  I started as a laundry attendant and worked my way up to front desk supervisor.  Working my way up has showed me you have to work hard for what you want. 
My management is great,  sometimes I wish things could be handled a little differently, But I do try to do everything I can under my belt. My management position has taught me a lot.   I love what I do.  And dealing with people has became the highlight of my days. 

My staff is great.  We all work together to get the job done.  We all get a long great.

Nothing is easy when it comes to working with the public.  But I can say this,  You treat them like they are Number one.  And that can go along way.  People are amazing if you know how to take care of them. I can not say we have anything difficult here. 

The things that make my day great.  Is knowing that I have made our customers happy, that I have met my dead line for the day, finishing up what I may have started.  And seeing smiling faces on co-workers, hire management and our customers.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Front desk agent 83 salaries reported	$12.12 per hour
Housekeeper 63 salaries reported	$11.83 per hour
Hotel housekeeper 21 salaries reported	$13.65 per hour
Front desk receptionist 17 salaries reported	$12.61 per hour
Night auditor 10 salaries reported	$13.11 per hour

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