The Dream hotel is located two blocks away from the famous, busy tourist area of the Highline, a busy tourist area surrounded by a few other hotels such as the Maritime Hotel. Many refer to this hotel as the “party hotel.” The Electric Room, PHD Rooftop, as well as the Bodega Negra Cafe´ and restaurant, are all part of the hotel. The block is usually busy all the time, especially at night. Celebrities such as Rhianna, Movado and Beyonce´ often visit this hotel and throw parties at the rooftop bar. To the right of the main entrance is the Bodega Negra cafe which has stools outside and even when it’s cold there’s never an empty seat, so imagine what it’s like in the summer when everyone’s out. Right before the end of the block is the employee entrance. It looks like the entrance to a strip club because of the colorful lights showing the letters XXX and graffiti of all types such as naked women tied up to a chair all over the walls of the ramp but it’s not. It is also a famous spot where everyone stops to take pictures.

At the end of the block, a halal truck always has a line outside with hungry hotel and construction employees as well as tourists waiting to stuff their faces with his famous chicken gyros and pita bread. Many say he’s the best around so this would explain why there’s always a crowd. In the winter, I’d say the hotel is located on one of the coldest blocks in the city. The cold wind hits your face and makes it hard to breathe, then you find yourself walking extremely quick to get away from it blowing directly towards you, tossing you left and right. I usually hate going to work in the winter because it’s always so much colder on that side of the city, but then again I love it because you don’t feel hot and sweaty when cleaning these loathsome rooms.

When I first moved to this country six years ago from Saint Lucia, I started working as a family babysitter. I barely got paid and after a year I sought something new. My brother who currently worked at the Dream Hotel as a maintenance guy spoke to the Director inquiring about open positions and of course being that he had a good name I was given the job. I was hired at the Dream Hotel four years ago and although this wasn’t my first time working at a hotel, I was amazed at how inviting and unique everything was. Outside the hotel is a fancy beach like theme where the pool can be seen in the middle of the two towers, North and South. The pool is surrounded by benches giving off that natural beach experience as well as cabanas and of course, its own restaurant and bar. When you’re in the lobby you see people swimming in the pool above because the bottom of the pool has circular areas made of glass.

The first day of training everything seemed overwhelming, from making the bed to scrubbing the bathroom tiles and tub, cleaning unflushed feces which stuck to the corners of the toilet and urine stains all over the seat. I would turn my head, afraid to speak to my co-worker out of fear that something of that toilet bowl water might splash my face and god forbid, enter my mouth while I was scrubbing it off with the toilet brush. I thought to myself this has got to be the worst job ever. However, my trainer and I continued taking turns to make the bed and clean the bathroom. I couldn’t wait for the day to be over.

After two days of training with my new colleague, it was now time to work alone. I was a little nervous and forgot how to make the bed. Considering I am almost six feet tall and the bed is less than two feet high making the bed was the most difficult thing to do. It involved bending over, trying to tuck the corners of the first two sheets in then placing this huge comforter over the sheets. I then had to place the third sheet. By then the bed looked higher but I was still out of breath by the time I tried to tuck the first corner in of the comforter and all the three sheets. I sat down and tried it the lazy way but it just wouldn’t come out right. After the bathroom and the bed were done, I had to dust every corner, table top and let’s not forget the mirrors. There are so many and they are huge and circular shaped like everything else in the hotel room. The windows are also round. After I was done wiping everything spotless the pain in my arms and my shoulder was unbearable. It was only my first day and I was considering quitting. A regular hotel room should take thirty minutes to clean but I had already spent two long hours in this room and I wasn’t done vacuuming or mopping the bathroom floor yet.

Finally, it was time for my second room. I walked in and I was surprised to see how filthy it was. Condom wrappers as well as used ones were all over the room. I couldn’t believe how messy the guest was. I doubled up my gloves and started picking everything up such as shopping bags, unwanted clothes, papers and left over drinks, and chucked them into the garbage bag. After picking up all the trash the room looked easier to clean and I was done in one hour. However, completing the room in one hour didn’t help because it was 7:00 pm and my shift should’ve ended at 4:30 pm but I was still cleaning. I only had seven rooms to clean which is half of the total number of rooms which you are required to clean daily. Eventually the supervisor told me I could leave and gave the remainder of my rooms to the PM staff to complete.

On my way home, it took me ten minutes to walk to the train station. It’s usually a two-minute walk to the station but I had no energy left and I couldn’t wait to get home to soak my body in Epsom salt.

The following day was better and I worked at a quicker pace. I managed to finish all the rooms I was given by approximately 6:00 pm. As days, months and weeks went by I was better at time management and I would complete all my rooms on time. It took me six months to get used to being a Room Attendant. There were still nights when I cried myself to sleep and most times I crawled into bed like an 80-year-old woman suffering from arthritis and terrible back pains. I had just moved to this country from Saint Lucia and there was never a day where I didn’t feel like moving back home. Every phone call I made to my mom in Saint Lucia only ended with me begging to come back home for I was so tired of this place and I couldn’t take it anymore.

Today, after four years I have trained new employees and I am one of the quickest workers. There are days when I sit down and look back at how far I’ve come, from crying myself to sleep at nights and soaking my body in Epsom salts so the aches and pains would go away. There are days when a regular room would take thirty minutes but I’d usually be done in fifteen minutes. However, every day is different, there are days when I still take an hour to clean because some of these guests leave their rooms so filthy when they checkout. I find all sorts of things in these rooms daily, from sex fetish toys, to cocaine and marijuana. There are still days when I feel like quitting. Although I am used to pain and cleaning all sorts of things I still feel embarrassed that I am a Room Attendant and this is what I do for a living. I have applied for many jobs and received many job offers from other hotels to get a better position but the paycheck can’t compare to what I get paid right now. Many people ask me where I work or what I do for a living and they’re usually surprised at my response. I run into guests sometimes and they often say “you’re too pretty to be working here” and sometimes I just smile, say thank you and walk away.