Monday, August 18, 2008

Towers

After two weeks in Reservations, I moved up to Towers reception. The Maurya is split into three blocks of rooms. First is the main block which contains the standard category of rooms as well as the most expensive rooms in the hotel like the presidential suites. The next block is Towers which is the block of rooms above the standard blcck and is described as a "Hotel within a Hotel". The third block is ITC One which is the premier category of rooms.
I've worked at Towers reception for the past two weeks and have two weeks left. Yulya, my roommate and colleague from Russia, is working in ITC One reception. We work different shifts each week so that at the end of four weeks we will have seen the reception desk at all 24 hours of the day. The first week we worked 12-9 pm. Last week we worked 3pm-12am. This week we are working overnight from 9:30pm to 7:30am. The last week we will work 7:30am to 4:30pm.
I am nervous about working overnight this week because, to me, there is no worse feeling than being tired and not being able to go to sleep. Normally I could just go to a vending machine and get a soda but they don't have vending machines in the hotel and the employee cafeteria closes at 2:15am. It will be a long week, but I think it will be interesting to work overnight for the first time. Since the hotel has many international guests, and the international flights come in at night India time, the busiest time for check-ins is late evening and night. The morning is busy with check-outs and preparing for the day's work. But I am told late night/early morning is generally very quiet.
Its often interesting for me to work in Towers because this block is where many guests of the US Embassy stay. Also, we have several flight crews who stay with us, one of which is the American Airlines flight crew from Chicago to Delhi. People are often very surprised to see me and hear my American accent. The other night I met a pilot from American Airlines whose daughters both go to UWEC, so he gave me his youngest daughter's contact info since she will be looking for roommates in December when I come home. Its been a great medium for me to tell people about AIESEC since many guests are curious about how I came to work in a hotel in India.
While many things are still hard, like where to buy black stockings for work or get chocolate syrup so I can take my malaria medication, other things are so much easier, like getting around the city without a car (just jump in an autorickshaw and go 5 kilometers for $1 US) or going shopping for clothes (I can buy 4 outfits for about $30 US, clothes that would cost that much for just one piece in the States). While Delhi is a city of 15 million people, Pizza Hut still closes at 11:30 and most markets close at 9 pm, but at the same time the market nearby will deliver food to my door and even McDonalds delivers! So many things are so completely different, it makes me question why everything is the way it is. But I am getting used to this city of contrasts and constant surprises!

2 comments:

Jaarkz said...

there are few joints in Delhi where you can get food 24 X 7 like Koumsom in Nizamuddin Railway station & New Delhi railway station. Not far from your place around "Nehru place" you can also go to In& out its a convenience store in a Gas station where you can get Chocolate Syrup and most of the things u'll be needing. You might have figured it out by now but if still wanna know the places from where u can get stuff do lemme know

Nishant Khurana said...

How do i apply for internship in ITC Maurya ,New delhi for interning from january to april?