A Day in the Life of Madison Techmanski

“My workday always starts pretty much the same, but on this one I was particularly excited because we were celebrating the last day of Intl. Housekeeping Week. I woke up and checked the MOD reports from the night before while still in my cozy bed, in all honesty, just so I could put off my morning workout for five more minutes.

Once my morning rituals are complete and I have prayed to the “Hospitality Gods” that the day would bring no surprises, I start my 30-minute commute with a large tumbler of coffee and my favorite podcast. As I arrive and while walking up the front drive, I’m inspecting as I go to see if the valet attendants have done their daily clean-up of the area. I am greeted by Bobby and Jayson at our valet stand, who are still celebrating yesterday’s Padres win over the Dodgers. As a Dodger fan, I suppose that’s what I get for working in enemy territory in So Cal. I chat with them about how the day is looking, if they are all set with the shuttle schedule for the day and are aware of our arriving VIPs. Check. Check. Check. Great job guys!

After I set my bag down in my office, I check in with Chase and Elaine at the front desk where they are diligently working on the opening checklist. I review the daily stats with them and ask if there are any housekeeping related needs before I head over to housekeeping to join the 8am morning stand-up meeting. Even though it’s a gloomy day outside, my day is instantly brightened by the smiling faces I am welcomed with. The team and I collectively hope that we will have “short boards” so we can all enjoy a lovely pre-planned lunch and some fun team-building games at our housekeeping week celebration later in the day.

The meeting concludes and I head off for my first property walk to see how the public areas are presenting, making my way down to the pool area where I greet Gerardo, our Engineer who is making sure the pool is clean and inviting for guests. I then proceed to our lovely restaurant Chandler’s Oceanfront Dining to check in with the Kaitlyn, our opening F&B manager, to catch up on anything her team may need from the Rooms Department and see how they are set up for the day – because, as we all know, all roads lead to the front desk and it’s best to be prepared!

I then make my way to the back of the house and say good morning to Aiko and Edgar who are cooking away for the employee cafeteria and preparing for this weekend’s banquets. It’s still just before 9am so I check again for any pertinent emails that need attention and head to our all-hotel morning stand up. I proudly announce that it is our final day of Housekeeping Week and welcome everyone to join our last thank you lunch and enjoy some Chinese food with us.

Finally in my office, I take the small amount of downtime I have and get some admin work done; answer guest reviews, check our scores and scroll through applications for potential new hires. Before I know it, the clock strikes 11:30am and I have to run out the door to grab our feast for the housekeeping team to set up and decorate for our lunch. With the help of Soojung, our Housekeeping Manager and our wonderful banquet team, we get the space decorated and ready to welcome our hard-working team. We eat, we laugh, we raffle off gifts, and we thank our wonderful housekeeping team for all they do – but wait there’s more! We have one more “good” surprise with a pinata that only took two swings to smash by our Room Attendant, Carmen with candy flying everywhere for all to enjoy.