one of my 'girls' was really awesome -- stuck with me year after year. the last year i was there, as the season wore on, i offered her a night's stay (we had a lot of one nighters being a stopping point before heading to an island on a ferry.) i told her she could reserve the room on a night of her choosing and she could have the day off the next day. or she could stay two nights at the end of the season when everything was winding down and closing. she chose the two night stay.
you'd have thought i gave her a million dollars. when she checked out, she left a tip!
i don't know your staff situation - but something else i did was this. as i took stock of the sheets and blankets and things - if they really weren't top shelf any more for paying guests, i offered them to staff. in a very gentle way i would show them the linens and tell them why we couldn't use them for guests any more. they knew that i used the bed linens myself that weren't perfect, so there was no shame in it. right from the beginning we were left with threadbare linens from the po's.
also breakfast leftovers - at break time, staff were welcome to sit down and have some. mostly it was muffins, bacon and hard boiled eggs. also, i made more than enough coffee so they were welcome to that. not in the guest rooms or for a continuous snack, but at break time. or they could take them home. actually, the trash man, the laundry service man and the egg people all would sit and have coffee. bonuses - it made the place look very busy even if we weren't - and my 'service people' always showed up as promised.
you'd have thought i gave her a million dollars. when she checked out, she left a tip!
i don't know your staff situation - but something else i did was this. as i took stock of the sheets and blankets and things - if they really weren't top shelf any more for paying guests, i offered them to staff. in a very gentle way i would show them the linens and tell them why we couldn't use them for guests any more. they knew that i used the bed linens myself that weren't perfect, so there was no shame in it. right from the beginning we were left with threadbare linens from the po's.
also breakfast leftovers - at break time, staff were welcome to sit down and have some. mostly it was muffins, bacon and hard boiled eggs. also, i made more than enough coffee so they were welcome to that. not in the guest rooms or for a continuous snack, but at break time. or they could take them home. actually, the trash man, the laundry service man and the egg people all would sit and have coffee. bonuses - it made the place look very busy even if we weren't - and my 'service people' always showed up as promised.
