Sorry for the long read, just wanted to share my experience. I worked at a resort for 7 years. Coming out of the military I expected to find a career in criminal justice; this led to landing a seasonal overnight security position at the resort. I quickly fell in love with industry and had some of the best coworkers ive ever had the pleasure of working with. I went from my seasonal position to managing the day-to-day operations within 4 years. Having worked many departments in those 4 years and having a strong IT background led me to being the go-to person when something is wrong with a guest, system, or just if any problem were to arise. I even got employee of the year, supervisor of the year, and one time was manager of the quarter, all in my first 4 years. During COVID shutdowns and any natural disaster, i was one of a handful to stay at the resort while others were sent home for safety; i worked every single holiday because i preferred my staff to enjoy their family and kids as i had no kids and my wife and i are flexible with our time off and celebrate holidays on whatever day we have off. I truly loved going to work every single day, even when i would work 15 hour days for weeks on end due to being short staffed.
Things started changing on my 5th year of working. The property was old and needed a lot of TLC. Our owners decided to sell the property and it was bought out by a hotel group and was set to go through an extensive 20+ million dollar renovation. It took two years before the hotel was shut down for renovation, but those two years were hell. Money was being saved for renovation so we had to deal with water leaks, mold, rust, and many other issues guests were not happy about. I unfortunately dealt with all complaints and took a beating from guests for many months, to the point where quitting was on my mind everyday.
My boss did all she could to help, she was the best boss ive ever worked with and tought me a lot. She eventually was able to get owners to “recognize” my efforts and i was offered a bonus for all the pain and struggle i shouldnt have had to deal with. It really helped me feel better and push through being recognized for my work. That is until i found out it wasnt just for me; since the hotel was struggling and staff kept quitting, owners decided to give bonuses to everyone. It was a great move fo improve moral, but for me, i dealt with the worst of it all and thought i was being recognized for it, but that just wasnt the case.
After that i started to resent ownership but still, my coworkers and staff were the best and i couldnt leave them hanging, so i pushed through for them. My last year, i was offered a position as a director, a position we had been struggling to get filled; what i wasnt told was that they had a temporary director hired as well who was to assist me until her contract expired. Not a problem for me, she was way more experienced and i thought i could learn a lot, but she was not a good person. She would tell my staff to ignore my direction and do as she asked, would ignore my requests for training she was supposed to give, and worst of all, she would lie to the GM and owners about my progress as a director. After two months i was called in after a day with big issues that she blamed all on me and was told i was being demoted back to my old position.
I was heartbroken; i went from being the go-to person for everything to feeling like no one respected me. It felt horrible walking into work feeling like everybody thinks you’re a failure, and all because of the lies from one person. I believe she was trying to get me pushed out so that she can take over as a permanent director. My boss fought tooth and nail for me because that person lied about a lot of things. We had to deal with her for another 3 months, it was not fun.
Im not sure how it came to be, but shortly after her contract was up, i got called into the GMs office and he and the corporate VP for the area were wanting to talk to me. They explained that they found out a lot of the temporary director’s statements were lies and that i was incorrectly evaluated. They apologized and offerred me the director salary again but at the current position i was in. It was too late to change owners mind about me and that was the best they could do.
A few months later the resort closed for renovation and owners hand picked people to go work at other hotels they owned so that they didnt lose those employees. I wasnt in a position to spend 6+ months away from home so i declined but was told it would greatly affect my chances of returning when the hotel opened back up. 7 years of blood sweat and tears, and i wasnt gauranteed a spot to come back. I tried going to work for one of the owner’s hotels, but it was a strain on my home life so i came back home and took my chances of finding a new job.
For months i applied anywhere i could that was in line with my experience. I sent over 200+ applications and nothing. Finally the hotel was getting ready to hire so i applied for management positions and went to interview. Despite all the experience i had over other candidates, they decided to offer me a management role overseeing valet. At the time it was better than nothing as unemployment wasnt enough for the bills, so i accepted. A week later i get a call from HR that it was decided to outsource valet and rescinded the offer. They knew they would be outsourcing and still offered me a role that didnt exist.
I couldnt believe it, but the great part about that call was that i was able to tell her that i had actually meant to call and pull my application because the day before, one of the companies i interviewed for called and formally offered me a position as a hotel software analyst.
This new job is amazing. The hours are great, my coworkers are fun, and best of all, its a 100% remote position. I feel so lucky and blessed to have this opportunity and in the few months ive worked for them, i have recieved a lot of appreciation for what i do.
To top it all off, shortly after taking in my new job, the GM of my old job asked me if i could work for them as a contractor to fix their IT related issues to which i bill at my own rate. Its easy money now as i set most of everything ip at the hotel and no one, even their corporate IT is able to figure out their issues, hence why they called me.
The hotel now is in bad shape even after renovation. Still having major problems with the building, staff doesnt last, owners are too demanding and even the GM called it quits. Operations is a nightmare because nobody knows how to properly use the systems, theyve lost and are losing thousand and thousands in revenue without proper setup. They underestimated how much my old boss and i really kept things running. ive even been asked if i would consider going back, but not going to happen. Thats what happens when employers dont appreciate their employees.