Lobby of Sheraton Birmingham
When The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, debuted on Disney Channel in 2005, it made every kid dream of living in hotel. A clean room every day? Fresh towels? Interesting people to meet? Hallways to play tag in? You bet! The idea hasn’t faded twelve years later, especially now that I am pursuing a hospitality management degree. So when Starwood (Marriott) hotels offered me a spring break externship that would allow me to live in the Sheraton Birmingham and shadow the food & beverage department, I immediately said yes! The Suite Life of Claire Caviglia was underway.
When I arrived in Birmingham on March 19th, I didn’t get to check-in to a suite like Zack and Cody, but I did get a big room that faced the food & beverage outlets. Perhaps they wanted me to consider my future career even on my off time. The next day, I went to work. Commute time: 2 minutes. I spent the week shadowing multiple people in the department: managers, supervisors, and line employees. It was also my first time in the South; I wasn’t ready for all the accents and sweet tea!
During my time, I was always given a generous break where for part of it, I would go nap in my room! Major perk of this living and working in the same space, just like living on campus at DU. I would also walk in every day to a spotless room–something I am definitely not used to. The gym and pool were only a floor away. Another perk was the proximity of food. Living in the country most of my life, any sort of restaurant was at least ten-to-fifteen minutes away. But I could easily walk downstairs and eat the restaurant, atrium cafe, or order room service. As part of my extern duties, I was instructed to test room service and grade the call and delivery based on Sheraton guidelines. You can bet I enjoyed that!
However, there are some disadvantages as well, especially if someone were to do this for months or years at a time. The Sheraton Birmingham is a big hotel, with over 750 rooms. For the majority of time I was there, it was only running at twenty percent occupancy. So I didn’t get to interact with as many guests as I would have thought. It can be very isolating. All employees get to go home after their day..and you’re still there. It encourages overworking–if you’re there, if you live there, why not just do it? Since there wasn’t much to do in the vicinity of the hotel without a car, I binge watched a lot of Shark Tank in my room. Someone could get trapped in this “bubble” of hotel life and legitimately not see the sun for weeks at at a time.
Living and working in a hotel combines your personal and professional lives. It would take a smart and willing person to be able to occupy and separate both worlds. But for a week? It was awesome! And I got to check off a childhood dream. So if you have the chance, go enjoy the Suite Life!