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

 Salary?  What's that?

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.

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.

Wage? someone pays me to do this????

Feels like 24/7 indeed.  Even with careful time management (e.g. strict breakfast hours, no early check-in) it is at least 12/7, maybe more when busy.  So, quoting a $$/hour rate is misleading.  If it is real time-clock hours (like a housekeeper) then its 40 a week and overtime after.  If it is looking after a property, it may be a salary based on "$12/hr" = $25,000/year, but you will be putting in long hours and always on-call so actual wage is really, really low.  When discussing wage with an employer, you will need to know what state laws apply, whether overtime will apply and how hours will be accounted.

Surfer-we are employed Innkeepers and we dont think we are paid enough to do the job which we are on 24/7 meaning we completely run the Inn. You should ask

1. How many eveents do they do and will you have help during those events

2. What is the average occupancy when they are busy and will you be doing housekeeping as well as helping to run the Inn with the Innkeepers

3. Thats a sizable Inn and you don't livee on-premises? How much would it cost you to rent a house or apartment on your own?

4. How many assistant Innkepers have there been?

Just want you to make sure that you ask all those questions unless of course you want to take this job for the experience-and if you do have events experience did you just have to plan the event or did you have to give the prospective guest information on caterers and so forth or did you include this in the fee. How many events do they do on average. Tell them what you are willing to do and not willing to do-don't shortchange yourself because you are young and just out of school. This of course is IMHO you gotta LOVE the job.

I know this is an older post, but I came across it while searching this same question out.  Right now I run an upscale six room bed and breakfast (read this as it is:  cooking, cleaning, reservations, ect ect ect)  I have help on the weekends in the form of a housekeeper.  I make a very low hourly wage {less then the talks above} and do an amazing job if I do say so myself -- TA reviews are full of my name. 

My dream is to own my own someday, but right now I am searching for a larger Inn to manage at a better pay.  How many of you own your Inn?  Or do you manage? 

Part of what you are wanting is experience, right?  Sometimes you agree to take a rate of pay that seems low but you are gaining a lot in other areas.  Maybe you can negotiate for a commission or a percentage of rentals. 

I also paid my housekeepers $15 an hour ... and they were paid more than I ever earned as an innkeeper.  Sad but true. (that was my own problem, I won't go into it)  Housekeeping was hard, demanding work performed to high standards.  Without a clean place, guests won't return.  I paid what I had to in order to prevent 'my girls' from migrating to another inn or hotel.

Here is a reality check.  $11 to $12 an hour is the prevailing wage in my area for bank tellers, customer service reps and general office workers.  I have been offered a job that pays $12.50 an hour and I have to work nights and Saturdays.  (If I take it, I'm going to continue my job search) I earned twice that years back as an office manager.  The playing field has changed.  For many, a paycheck is a paycheck. 

Best of luck, really!  Enthusiasm and a great attitude can go a long way.

$12 an hour? Thats a bargain! I pay my housekeeper $15 an hour.

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.