Marriott is one of the most well-known hotel franchises around the world. So it would stand to reason that, with all the different locations, working one might be different than working at others.
Three managers of Marriott hotels in downtown Phoenix have opened up about what it is like to work at these hotels.
Manager Shaakira Jordan explained that her job as a front desk supervisor is her “first [job in the hotel industry] and only thus far.”
Jordan said, “I knew I loved customer service and I wanted to expand it by focusing on hospitality,” and that she wanted to get familiar with all a job in hospitality had to offer.
When asked about her favorite part of working at her current job at Marriott, Jordan responded, “I have the ability to make somebody smile instantly and to make them happy.”
Jordan also said her job at a Marriott Hotel felt more rewarding than her previous jobs in customer service because, “You have to work harder to earn their respect and attention.”
Another Marriott manager, Micheal Ruiz, has worked at multiple hotels in Arizona but is one of the first members of his current hotel staff and helped originally open its doors. However, when asked about why he went to work for Marriott, Ruiz said that he was just looking for a second full-time job.
When opening up about what makes his job as a Marriott Manager different from others he has worked, Ruiz said, “It is a combination of having to be a jack of all trades with the way this property is. You have to want to, and be willing to go above and beyond, you have to meet the needs of guests as every guest is unique and different, to make their stay the best stay possible.”
Also when asked to compare working as a manager for Marriott versus the other hotel he works at, he said it was impossible to compare the two as they cater to different types of travelers.
Ruiz also stated that Marriotts are a lot more “mainstream and a lot more accessible” to more people.
Marriott Manager Esmerelda Santos has been working at a downtown Phoenix Marriott for just about two years now, prior to which she worked in Palm Desert, California. She said that what brought her to downtown Phoenix was as simple as a job opportunity.
When asked about the main differences between working in the Phoenix market and the Palm Desert market Santos’s response was, “The markets are very similar. There’s a lot more to do here, a lot more to explore and tell people to do.”
When asked why she likes working in a downtown Phoenix Marriott as opposed to a Palm Desert Marriott, Santos said, “The clientele is really different and most people in Palm Springs are looking to go golfing or hang out by the pool or go to high end restaurants” and hotel workers are “constrained what [we] can recommend. Versus in downtown, “people here want to do all sorts of things, they even sometimes go on day trips.”
When asked what their favorite perk of working at a downtown Phoenix Marriott was, all three of the managers said that the employee rates, or discounts, were the best.
Contact the reporter brindena@asu.edu.
