Hotel Diary

I just love hotel slang, only those who have worked in the Hospitality industry will understand the beast that is... Customer Service. I am intrigued by human behavior, so working in the hotel industry is just perfect for me! The things I have witnessed are a must see, to say the least. I will not stop writing about my experiences until we are on the big screen! Working in Hospitality has been quite an experience, I thought I saw it all in the Stripper World.. nope.. some of the weirdest things I have witnessed have been at the workplace not club place.. as weird as that may be, so I am happy to share!

From being part of the opening crew at the Hampton Inn & Suites Yonkers, to my experiences as a Manager, to Lost & Found! Some of the items left behind have left me dumbstruck as once upon a time I left a pair of beloved earrings at a hotel which were never found. The hotel claimed no earrings were turned into lost & found. Fast forward some years later, I now work at a hotel and some of the things turned in have been absolutely crazy.

The effort it takes to log an item into lost & found in the event a guest calls back cracks me up.. a Dildo though? Yes I have seen a Dildo turned in, however my earrings from way back when did not survive. I actually have an episode on The Vibe Podcast dedicated to Lost & Found! This is only the beginning darling. The episode is entitled Karen Vasquez Paralegal, yes we had a Dildo rolling around in the back office!

My eyes have seen a lot in this world, it is a must that I write! I must write about the madness that has been my life for the past 40 years.

Today I bring to you a tale from the Front Desk. I was a full blown Karen by then, the location was The Doubletree by Hilton Metropolitan. My very first NYC hotel job and I was busting my ass every day to make sure I not only keep my job but wanted to work my way up the ranks.. and I did. I was promoted to Manager on Duty, congrats Karen you did it.

One of the weirdest items to have been logged into lost & found at DTMET for me, was a pack of Magnum Condoms. A brand new package of condoms, what were we to do? What about my beautiful heart shaped earrings? I will always wonder what happened to those but here we are at the Doubletree with a pack of magnums. What do we do??We play a prank on Frank the Bellman! Of course! I must say, I have been fortunate enough to have gotten an opportunity to work with some really cool and really funny people, brings a smile to my face as I reminisce about the night we pranked Frank.

A typical evening with over 300 arrivals, The Doubletree Metropolitan was a busy property. Seven days a week! The hustle and bustle of New York City, a landmark property and here is Frank assisting a gay couple with their luggage. And at the front desk, a pack of rubbers from lost & found.

Back in those days, I was not the one to play a prank but I would most certainly watch. I’ve always been the quiet one, now I speak on what I have seen! I remember we wanted this prank to go down as realistic as possible so we waited a while before targeting Frank the Bellman.

One of our Front Desk Agents placed the condoms in an envelope and it appeared to have looked like a guest may have left a tip in an envelope. If you have traveled to any NYC property, you know that tipping is most certainly appreciated and it was quite common for guests to leave money for the staff. The Agent tells Frank, “those guys left an envelope here for you.”

Frank takes the envelope with what appeared to have been cash left in an envelope, so he opens the envelope as he’s walking away and realizes the gay couple actually left him.... Magnum condoms!

His face immediately got pale with embarrassment as he was not expecting to get condoms as a tip from a guest! This is one of those stories you would have had to have been there for sure. The Doubletree Metropolitan was a beautiful property I was fortunate enough to work at for some time. Plenty of stories as a result!

Tales from the Front Desk!