Hello helpful shoppers,

I am scheduled to do a hotel shop. My first.

From check-in to check-out, I am supposed to:

*have lunch,
*have dinner,
*2 alcoholic drinks/appetizer at manager's reception,
*2 alcoholic drinks/appetizer at bar,
* and breakfast.

Also, take the shuttle to a nearby area, buy in gift shop, evaluate gym and public areas, call maintenance to repair something in room, call housekeeping, complain to an employee. Send report within 24 hours.

1. I don't drink alcohol. How to handle the drinks?
2. I'll gain 20 pounds.
3. It seems that there is not enough time to do all of it and I will be busy from the moment in to the moment out.

Any suggestion on how to handle this? Is this typical of hotel evals?

Thank you so much for your experienced advise.

A newbie.

OP: May I ask what they are paying you to do all this?

What is really odd is that they offered a hotel shop like this to a newbie. Most people need to show experience in each part of the hotel shop such as dining, entertainment, etc. before they will offer a full resort shop. This is to show that you can handle the job and both parties will be happy (you with a paid shop and them with information that they can turn into the client). A failed shop makes both parties unhappy as the shopper has lots of money spent that goes un-reimbursed and the MSC has to redo all of the work.

@abclaudia wrote:

Hello helpful shoppers,

I am scheduled to do a hotel shop. My first.

From check-in to check-out, I am supposed to:

*have lunch,
*have dinner,
*2 alcoholic drinks/appetizer at manager's reception,
*2 alcoholic drinks/appetizer at bar,
* and breakfast.

Also, take the shuttle to a nearby area, buy in gift shop, evaluate gym and public areas, call maintenance to repair something in room, call housekeeping, complain to an employee. Send report within 24 hours.

1. I don't drink alcohol. How to handle the drinks?
2. I'll gain 20 pounds.
3. It seems that there is not enough time to do all of it and I will be busy from the moment in to the moment out.

Any suggestion on how to handle this? Is this typical of hotel evals?

Thank you so much for your experienced advise.

A newbie.

Ok I have done this one (well maybe not this exact one but similar) before. First off I arrive before check in. Typically I get the room but if not I can still have lunch, evaluate all the public areas and if room still not ready take the shuttle somewhere quick (make it a drug store where you have to get something name brand they don't have at the hotel or a prescription...they don't know what you are doing at your stop but make sure they know you are running in and out so they wait for you rather than you have to call them). Back to the hotel, check in, get your room...once inside start the evaluation of that and find something/make something that needs to be fixed and call for that. Meanwhile you decide you need more pillows, blankets, or want turndown and call housekeeping for that.

In here somewhere you will start doing your reporting to stay current. Head to managers reception as soon as it opens. Should be easy to fake the drinks there as no one is really watching you. Leave there and go to the desk and complain that they had no gluten free, vegan, something at the reception or wait on this...more complaint possibilities to come.

Up to room catch up on reporting and then decide if you want to do dinner first or bar first. Sometimes I find it easier to do dinner first and then go to the bar to watch a game.

Head back to room and catch up on report...another complaint possibility...the hotel doesn't have the channel you need to watch your game, there are people being loud in the hall (even if there are not).

Get up have breakfast and go back to room to finish up as much of report as you can to make sure you did everything.

If you have to forgo something on the first day make it the shuttle and go do something in the morning and lunch...you can still have that when you get back.

Good luck.

Liz

Since you do not drink alcohol you should probably get in touch with the scheduler IMMEDIATELY and explain that you must withdraw from the shop.

This is definitely not a shop for a newbie, even one who does drink alcohol. They never should have assigned it to someone who did not have a track record showing that they were ready for this. Otherwise, Liz has given good advice as to how to handle the tasks of such a shop. It is not at all out of line with many hotel shops.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/02/2015 02:59AM by walesmaven.

I do agree that if the shopper has not handled bits a pieces of this kind of evaluation for this company, they are in pretty deep. Aside from the alcohol issues there are just too many moving parts to this whole if you don't already know what they are looking for and the extent of narrative that is/will be required.

@Traveliz wrote:

once inside start the evaluation of that and find something/make something that needs to be fixed and call for that. Meanwhile you decide you need more pillows, blankets, or want turndown and call housekeeping for that.

All excellent advice except you missed grabbing a snack at the gift shop while waiting on check in and at least one company I do hotel shops for asks that you not do the housekeeping and maintenance call on the same day.

People who don't drink should not be signing up for anything with a bar. People can argue that all day long, but I think it is completely ridiculous .

It's kind of like an atheist taking on church shops. It's probably going to feel uncomfortable, no matter how good of a shopper you are.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

It's kind of like an atheist taking on church shops. It's probably going to feel uncomfortable, no matter how good of a shopper you are.

How many times have I been the only person at the hotel bar? Too many times to count. The bartender basically spends a good deal of time talking to me and watching me drink. Pretty often, I get free drinks. Sometimes that is fine. Sometimes not. Somebody bought me a round on Friday night. I'm not sure how I'd pull that off without drinking at least a little bit of the drinks?

LOL! If I had to have 2 drinks at the reception AND 2 drinks at the bar ON THE SAME DAY, even if I took just a sip of each of the 4 drinks, the only call I'd be making to housekeeping would be for someone to help me find my room! Would that count?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/02/2015 06:11AM by ceasesmith.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that a nondrinker can't take a shop with a bar component that requires an alcoholic drink, any more than a vegetarian can do a burger shop.

But, for my own edification, Is it assumed that you have a guest with you to drink one of the alcoholic drinks at each location? Or could you order one drink, say you don't much care for it after all, and order a second one without drinking the first?

The point of staying for the second drink is often to see if they offer you a refill proactively, if it's prepared in a similar manner and if the bartender issues a new receipt for the identical drink, so the above scenario would not fit most shop requirements.

Saying that you don't like a drink will also usually end up in it being comped and the bartender will make you something that you do like. They will most likely wait for you to try and make sure you like if you didn't drink the first drink.

If you bring a drinking guest, you can say that you are the DD and order a non-alchoholic drink, however. It's not required for any shop I've ever been on for both guests to drink.

Must have been assigned by a newbie scheduler, lol.

The OP writes---------->"*2 alcoholic drinks/appetizer at manager's reception; *2 alcoholic drinks/appetizer at bar,".

Correct me if I am wrong------->2 alcoholic drinks SLASH appetizer<-------could mean Either/Or. So if the OP does not drink why can't they have the Appetizer? If given the choice, which she is, would not the Food be more convenient? So she says she will gain 20 pounds, then she will just have to find a Gym shop to do next.

Also she does not say she needs to ORDER or DRINK the alcoholic beverage. I would rather eat four appetizers than drink four drinks and try to complete a report with a sane mind. The Manager reception AND the Bar does not appear to be a choice but a requirement.

Thank you all and especially Liz for all of your input. The pay is $50, but it is a 4* hotel.

Going on vacation, but this seems like an 8 hour work day. More like 80 hours for a newbie like me (I have done other shops so I have an idea, just not hotels).

Drink:

I think I can improvise a fight with my non-drinking partner, I storm out and he leaves apologetically. Thoughts? I will be known in the some industry like the one that storms off at bars.

Yes, it is 2 alcoholic drinks AND an appetizer. I must order, it does not say I must drink.

Food: I cam pack out and give it to the first homeless person I see.

Just afraid that after all of this I won't get paid because my report is not pretty enough or I miss a critical item.

I wouldn't "storm out", as this could make you memorable. Why not just order a colorless drink, take a sip, discreetly go to the restroom, dump it in the sink and fill it with water?

Is this shop done on Excel? If so it makes it easy to keep up. I would definitely not make a scene. I am thinking it's really going to be difficult to do this shop without either one of you being drinkers...and I am wondering why you have to order two drinks if you don't have to drink them (or appear to have done so?)

Liz

I think I know this shop and msc. You need to move fast. You don't have to spend a lot of time doing each task. Like the manager's reception, just stay 10 minutes.

Regarding the alcohol, I think you will have to break this rule and at least drink a little!

Yes, dump the colorless drinks! Genius.

Done on Excel. And by the way, I am on a Mac, so I will write it out on Numbers and then export in Excel, which is the reason for my anxiety about not getting paid.

Maybe lines will get screwed up in exporting the file. Anybody filling the template on a Mac and then exporting to Excel and having an issue?

The template was sent on Excel, but it opens on a Mac as "Numbers." So I'll have to make sure to export to Excel at the end.

I know I can write a good report, but I am unsure about how things look once exported to Excel.

Last night I dreamt that I forgot to get the names of the hotel staff. Nightmare!

BTW: I really truly appreciate you guys holding my hand in this. <3

I can offer advice on 2 fronts...

#1 is easy. I'm a mac person. If you select the file, right-click (or control-click) and choose "Open with..." and then direct it to Excel, assuming you have the software installed, it will open in Excel. If you don't have it, you will need to input the date in Numbers, then export into an Excel format before you submit it. I also recommend writing the narrative portions in word and then pasting them into whatever spreadsheet you are using, since the editor in the spreadsheet software is not the easy to work with.

#2 is a bit more troubling. If neither you nor your partner drink, please do not pretend to fight, cause a scene or create an unnatural interaction in any way. That will most likely get your report rejected. The only possibility I could see would be to have the partner order the alcoholic drink and then step away to dispose of it while the shopper orders food and a non-achoholic drink. It's still somewhat hard to pull off, since even a clear vodka/soda will be effervescent. Your partner would need to have some soda water hidden away to pour into the glass after emptying it. Then there's the issue of ice and the garnish. It's highly problematic at best.

Truth be told, and this is honestly the best answer (I say this as a seasoned hotel shopper, former scheduler, editor and person who has had to call shoppers on the phone and tell them that their hotel report was being rejected); You need to contact the MSC, explain that you do not drink and that your partner does not drink, then ask if it will be acceptable to either not order alcohol or not drink it. Only with the prior approval of the MSC can you truly alleviate the worry that taking an assignment that you are not fully prepared to perform will be accepted, provided that you can remember all of the names and get the report done on time to the MSC's satisfaction. When you agree to an assignment which includes a bar visit, the scheduler and MSC assume that you are OK with drinking. They need to know that you are not. If you are seen ordering drinks and not drinking them, and then suspected as the shopper, the client could refuse to accept the report. Don't make someone call you and tell you that you just bought the hotel stay after doing all that work. I swear it was harder to make those calls then receive them (Yes, I have also had a hotel report rejected).

I know the MSC that you will be working for. You really must cancel and explain. Trying to hide the fact that you are not drink when seated at the bar is not going to cut it. At a manager's reception, you could get away with dumping the first drink in a nearby restroom and taking the second to your room and dumping it there. The colorless drink trick in the bar would still require you to be seen at least sipping the drink. You partner does not need to drink, but one of you must be seen to drink. This MSC is not kidding about the clients' reviewing video tapes. AND you will never work for them again if this is detected.

Ha! Thank you all for all of your input. I will be contacting the MSC and explain. I really appreciate all of you walking me thought it. You and you and you are all awesome!!!!! Thank you!

I got the specifics of this shop AFTER they assigned it to me. I have done several other shops otherwise, just not hotel with so many activities including alcohol.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/02/2015 05:30PM by abclaudia.

I was actually really surprised by the fact that the MSC listed this type of shop as a "beginner." The report is simple. However, there are so many tasks that I really don't enjoy it.

This thread has been helpful to me as another newbie to hotel shops, so thanks for posting @abclaudia. I'd be interested to hear what the scheduler says when you talk with them.

On another note: wouldn't getting up from the bar to go to the restroom *with your drink* be memorable? That seems like really odd behavior to me.

Yeah, it would be pretty gross to take your drink into the bathroom, so I could see how that would attract notice and seem like odd behavior.

*sigh*

There must be a better way to obtain bar info..





(Why can't hotels separate bar visits from room visits?????)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/02/2015 09:52PM by Shop-et-al.

There are bar shops at hotels that don't involve staying in the room, but I've not seen many good hotel shops where you didn't have to visit the bar.