Bellman Baggage

If you don't have a room in my hotel or you're not willing to fork over hundreds, even thousands, of dollars for bottle service, this next bit's for you. Maybe you're a frequent traveler, maybe you're a local with impeccable tastes; either way, you know that the hottest hotels in a city usually have some of ...

Go to any hip hotel in the evening and you will find yourself in what would appear to be a den of werewolves. Humans howling at moon.  You will hear noises only thought to be animalistic:  Grunting, moaning, barking, squealing, squawking, yelping, roaring, snarling, yapping, woofing, and yipping. Folks, it never gets old! Walking the floors of my ...

There I was.  Just another regular old night on the hotel stomping grounds bringing up check-in after check-in as the onslaught of arriving guests wouldn't let up. I was minding my own business, at least trying to mind my own business, because all of the guests I was checking in were the hottest girls in the ...

One of the first questions people ask me when I tell them I work at a hotel is, "Do you ever hook-up with guests?" The answer is Yes. And not just for me, but for many of my comrades. That being said, it's not an all-out bang fest. I'm pretty picky, as are my fellow co-workers, with ...

As I write and write on about my bellman perils, I have been emailed by many of you with questions of all sorts. So, why don't we just get it out there?  If there is a burning question you have for me, lay it out. Whether it be about bellmen, the hotel, the housekeepers, whatever:  Ask away! Leave ...

Some hotels run their valet service in-house, but most hotels contract their valet services to another company. When you lose the control -- by contracting the valet work -- the crazies move in. When I first moved to La La land, I actually considered valeting cars. I figured, "Hey, I'm in Hollywood. I'm sure people are generous, ...

There comes a moment in every service industry job where one anticipates the reward for hard work. You've put in the time, energy and elbow grease. Whether it is dropping off the check, retrieving the luggage, delivering the pizza, bringing the dogs, clad in knit sweaters, back to their rightful masters, setting the drink on the ...

As you may know by now, most of the bellmen at my hotel are actors. Choosing to be an actor is choosing to live a daring, spontaneous and challenging life. For most actors, especially for neophytes, the uphill battle is full of money constraints, time constraints, energy constraints and, of course, competitive constraints. Being in the most competitive ...

One of the greatest and most fun things about being a bellman, is working with other bellmen.  It's a brotherhood. Growing up, I always wanted to be part of a brotherhood.  To be part of  a group of guys that shared common interests and supported each other. In college, I even joined a fraternity to fulfill this ...

It's  4 a.m. in the city that never sleeps and I receive a call that room 1604 needs a bellman. Rubbing the boogers out of my  eyes and letting out a loud yawn, I roll out of storage shelf 22 D (my overnight bed) and land on my own two feet. I walk past the front doors ...