Lodging - Good, Bad, Giggle

As I think about writing this post, I giggle a little. When you're hired staff at a show, the show committee usually books your lodging arrangements. I’ve been the person in charge of booking staff accommodations, and I’ve been a member of the staff that someone booked accommodations for. It’s not easy for a show committee to balance the many costs for a show. Lodging accommodations can be a big expense. Sometimes a show gets creative to try to save money. I get it, I’ve been there. I’m going to tell you about the experiences I’ve had as a member of the staff when someone else was booking the accommodations and the pro’s and con’s from my point of view. I've been working shows long enough to have stayed in a variety of places. I hope you get a chuckle out of my stories. I sure have over the years. I also hope to give you something to think about if you're ever booking staff accommodations.

Most of the time I’m booked in your average hotel. Nice staff, clean, and close to the show site. Some hotels are newer; I stayed in one that had been open for only two weeks. Some are older; I stayed in one that was smaller and had been in the same family for a few generations and had tons of old school charm. Whether it's two queens or a single king room, it’s all good. Hubby fits a king bed better because he’s 6' 5". One time we got a free upgrade to a king whirlpool suite. The room had a fireplace, mini kitchen, and big corner whirlpool tub. After a day of working a long show, that tub was a welcome way to relax. That’s probably a once in a lifetime upgrade, but it sure was nice. At one show though I was the only one booked to work it, no Lynn to room with. I was sound asleep when the phone rang around 11:30 pm and the hotel desk person asked me to unlock the deadbolt because my roommate was trying to get in the room. That made for an uncomfortable first meeting. I had no idea I had a roommate, nor had I ever met this person. But she was a great roommate and all was well in the end.

There's pros and cons to everything though. Checking in at a hotel when you're not the one that booked the room can be tricky. Usually the show books multiple rooms for the weekend. Are the rooms booked under a personal card, or a club card? Does the hotel know the names of the people staying in each room? We do not know if the other staff had specific requirements, so we are not always sure which room is ours. Also, many hotels change their breakfast hours on the weekend. Usually, it’s later than during the week. Depending on the positions we are working and the time the show starts, that tasty continental breakfast may not be open before staff leaves the hotel. For example, an 8 AM show start usually means 6:30 AM on-site for the secretary and office staff. We leave the hotel around 6 AM depending on how close the gas station or fast-food joint is that's serving breakfast. For some shows, we've learned to bring our own breakfast because there's no option open that early. Again, pros and cons to everything. You just plan ahead.

We had a super fun weekend a few years ago when a friend let us borrow their RV for a 3-day show. It’s not uncommon for a show committee to offer to pay camping fees instead of hotel rates if you have that option. We had that option one weekend, and it was a blast. Pros first. No drive to and from home or a hotel. Just a few hundred-yard walk. Your restroom is close and there is no line. You're onsite with friends and family and get to socialize more. The food you want to eat is right there. No stocking coolers and packing items that are "heat tolerant" only. You can have mayonnaise! The cons are that you are cooking and cleaning. No housekeeping or continental breakfast. Setting up, hooking up, loading/unloading food and supplies is all on you. And of course, someone has to empty the wastewater tank.

Another route show committees have taken is private vacation rentals. These can be very economical for a show that needs to house multiple people. We've stayed in a cabin and a couple different houses. The pros and cons of booking unique housing for the staff vary greatly so there isn't a simple list to write. To some extent the lists are similar to the RV list, all the comforts of home and all the same work of home. Ready to giggle with me?

Example 1

Beautiful home on a lake that sleeps six. We were told we would be in the house with three other people, one of them we knew. The show committee said it was three bedrooms and three bathrooms. Reality was three bedrooms and one bathroom. Again, we had never met two of the people we were sharing the house with. Lynn and I took the downstairs bedroom. The bathroom was upstairs, so we did most of our morning routine at the kitchen sink. The five of us soon found plenty to laugh at and bond over. The stairs to the second floor had never seen a code inspector. There was no uniformity in width and rise. Seriously, some steps were not wide enough for your whole foot and others were almost eight inches tall. When you are half asleep in the middle of the night and need to pee, traversing the willy wonka staircase is funny stuff. Now imagine the raccoon mounted at the bottom of the stairs with an arm extending down and reaching for you. Lynn is tall enough he had to duck Mr. Raccoon or the fingers caught his hair. Mr. Raccoon was not the only mounted critter in the house. Evidently, the decorator was an avid hunter and fisherman, or at least they wanted you to think so. Almost every available wall space was covered with stuffed and mounted wildlife. Folks that don't like hunting, fishing, or killing animals may have had a tough time with the decor. The five of us chose to laugh off the weird and odd and make the best of it. Always read the fine print. The fine print required that renters wash their towels and linens before departing. Show staff typically leave super early, 6:30ish, so who's staying to wash laundry? Lynn got stuck with that one because the rest of us had to leave to open the show office and start the show. There’s no fine print about staircases and I don't know if you could check ahead of time, but the two flights of old wooden stairs we had to climb to get to the entrance with no exterior light at the door turned out to be dangerous. Even had a housemate slip and fall on those stairs. In the end everyone had a comfy bed to crash in and we still laugh when we tell the story.

Example 2

The cabin in the woods. The cabin was supposed to sleep ten and there were only five of us staying there. We were told two bathrooms, a small kitchen, one bedroom and one loft with several beds. That was true. One of our roommates was a person we work with often and are good friends with. The other two we knew from working a previous show together. It's normal for show staff to be the last to leave a show site every night. Getting lost in the woods trying to find a small cabin with no signage for directions is not fun late at night in the dark, but we found it eventually. The kitchen was small alright, not enough room for two people to stand. But it had a coffee pot! That's what really mattered. We let the couple we didn't know as well have the bedroom and the rest of us took the loft with four beds. After some investigation, we found a partition to pull out which divided most of the loft in half, so we had semi-private rooms. No fine print about washing laundry this time. We got lucky with good housemates and had a nice weekend. Two full bathrooms is very helpful in these situations.

Example 3

Saved the best for last. Show committee contacted us ahead of time and said we are looking into renting a home and rooming you with these people. Is that ok? Yes, people we knew and were comfortable with. The home was as advertised, three private bedrooms, two full bathrooms and a regular kitchen. The couple that owned the house was amazing and sweet. They gave us a tour when we arrived, explained where things were and offered to build us a fire in the firepit to relax by. Yes, really! We unwound by the fire sipping wine while eating supper. No fine print. We had a great weekend with good friends.

I don't usually care which route a show committee goes. I do appreciate being asked if we are comfortable with roommates. There are pros and cons to all of the choices. As staff, I try to be prepared for any option because I have been the ones booking the accommodations from time to time and understand the expenses associated with running a show. My reason for sharing these stories is two-fold. One, maybe you’ll pick up a tip if you're booking the accommodations for the staff next time and two, roll with it, enjoy it all and just have fun.