MONROE - Chewing tobacco and glitter - it's all part of a day's work when you're a motel housekeeper.
One of the more "interesting" things that housekeepers at the Super 8 in Monroe have found involved chewing tobacco. In her first week on the job, Courtney Fiene, who has worked just two weeks now at the motel, walked into a room with her housekeeping trainer Christine Morgan. As they were cleaning the room, they noticed chewing tobacco - all over the bed.
Morgan, who's worked there since May, has had her own surprising finds in her short tenure: She herself had to clean a room following a wedding party and its glitter fest.
"Everything glittered when you walked into the room," Morgan said.
The staff at Super 8 motel recalled their memorable room clean-ups during a International Housekeepers Week appreciation party held in their honor at the motel this week.
The housekeepers said they also encounter many types of people through the course of their jobs.
Some guests stay for just a night or two. Others are long-term or returning guests.
"No two people are the same," Fiene said.
While the staff said they enjoy seeing the different hotel guests who come through the doors, some hotel guests don't see all the work that goes on into making their stay a pleasant one.
"Some people don't take into consideration of what we do," Fiene said. "They expect it."
What guests expect is a lot of work behind the scenes, said the housekeepers. There is a consistent way of cleaning the rooms, from training new employees to the actual cleaning.
"It can be hard but it can be rewarding," said Amy Reusch, an employee at Super 8 for almost eight years.
Three to five housekeepers start around 8:30 a.m. every day and are assigned specific rooms in the 54-room motel. The numbers of the rooms and the number of hours the employees work depend on how many rooms are being used; the housekeepers work anywhere from three to seven hours a day.
They start out making sure their carts are stocked and ready with everything they need, including towels and linens.
If there is an individual or group of people staying longer than a night, the housekeepers clean the bathrooms, remake the beds, and deliver fresh linens to each room. When a guest checks out, the entire room is cleaned and the bed is stripped. Everything gets disinfected.
"We're on the front line of disease control," Morgan said.
Even though some guests rooms are harder than others, housekeepers said they get their jobs done.
"We do what we got to do to get the job done for our customers," said Savannah Topp, an employee of Super 8 since April. "It's all about making the customer happy."
And sometimes it takes a group effort to get the job done.
"We all work well together," Topp said.
"This is their home away from home for the moment."
One of the more "interesting" things that housekeepers at the Super 8 in Monroe have found involved chewing tobacco. In her first week on the job, Courtney Fiene, who has worked just two weeks now at the motel, walked into a room with her housekeeping trainer Christine Morgan. As they were cleaning the room, they noticed chewing tobacco - all over the bed.
Morgan, who's worked there since May, has had her own surprising finds in her short tenure: She herself had to clean a room following a wedding party and its glitter fest.
"Everything glittered when you walked into the room," Morgan said.
The staff at Super 8 motel recalled their memorable room clean-ups during a International Housekeepers Week appreciation party held in their honor at the motel this week.
The housekeepers said they also encounter many types of people through the course of their jobs.
Some guests stay for just a night or two. Others are long-term or returning guests.
"No two people are the same," Fiene said.
While the staff said they enjoy seeing the different hotel guests who come through the doors, some hotel guests don't see all the work that goes on into making their stay a pleasant one.
"Some people don't take into consideration of what we do," Fiene said. "They expect it."
What guests expect is a lot of work behind the scenes, said the housekeepers. There is a consistent way of cleaning the rooms, from training new employees to the actual cleaning.
"It can be hard but it can be rewarding," said Amy Reusch, an employee at Super 8 for almost eight years.
Three to five housekeepers start around 8:30 a.m. every day and are assigned specific rooms in the 54-room motel. The numbers of the rooms and the number of hours the employees work depend on how many rooms are being used; the housekeepers work anywhere from three to seven hours a day.
They start out making sure their carts are stocked and ready with everything they need, including towels and linens.
If there is an individual or group of people staying longer than a night, the housekeepers clean the bathrooms, remake the beds, and deliver fresh linens to each room. When a guest checks out, the entire room is cleaned and the bed is stripped. Everything gets disinfected.
"We're on the front line of disease control," Morgan said.
Even though some guests rooms are harder than others, housekeepers said they get their jobs done.
"We do what we got to do to get the job done for our customers," said Savannah Topp, an employee of Super 8 since April. "It's all about making the customer happy."
And sometimes it takes a group effort to get the job done.
"We all work well together," Topp said.
"This is their home away from home for the moment."