Student story: Housekeepers clear way for campers

By Melissa Hernandez

Beds unmade. Disarrayed hallways. Overfilling trashcans. No clean towels in sight.

This is what hotel life would be for the Flint Hill Publications Workshop campers staying at the Holiday Inn without members of the cleaning staff, like Angela Cortez.

There she was Wednesday afternoon -- the cleaning cart filled with supplies and white towels. Wiping the bathroom floors with one clean swipe, she sighed. Her coal-colored hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

Although campers occupy 55 rooms in the hotel, she said work remains the same.

 "I clean a dozen rooms each day," Cortez said in her native Spanish.

For hotel housekeepers, the standard time to finish a room is 35 minutes. For long stays, 20-25 minutes. Qualifications for a hotel housekeeper include doing well during training, doing quality work and showing a desire to work.

Tapping her foot quickly as if in a rush, Cortez said one thing campers could do to ease her job is clear their beds of personal items.

"Making beds will be a lot faster if there was nothing on the beds," she said.

Janitorial staff members often goes unnoticed, said Erin Thompson from Campus High School.

"I feel they are under appreciated," Thompson said. "They don’t get enough credit for what they do."

Cortez continued cleaning the hotel room as she moved the vacuum to the rhythm of its roar.

"Work is work," Cortez said.

Melissa Hernandez is a senior at Kapaun Mt. Carmel High School and a student in the advanced writing class.