The hotel is very stingy with employee hotel comps -- I have been able to get a comp room about one time out of ten tries for my trips over the past two and a half years. Even when there is space available, Hyatt often tries to grab an extra $120.00 or so per night. Extremely low pay for banquet servers -- compared to cities with a cost of living only 50% more like Chicago or Los Angeles, we make one-third of what they earn. The hotel keeps all the banquet tips (of the 22% service charge amounts) and lets misinformed meeting planners prohibit tip jars on banquet bars. Room Service and lobby bar employees are cheated out of tips with unfair tip-pool/wage formulas. Most employees work two or three jobs to maintain a reasonable quality of life because the pay is so low. Unlike some hotels, ours charges $1.50 for employee meals (the food is lousy to mediocre). Those of us who drive, pay $2.50 to $5.00 a day for parking -- some in our department can only afford to take the bus instead of affording a car. Roaches -- we have severe problems with roaches and back-of-the-house drains. Unlike most hotel banquet servers in the US, we have to haul and set-up various specialized banquet tables. About 50% of supervisors and managers, even upper managers, have very little on-the-job experience and/or lack common sense. Employees are often talked down to and are subject to many frivolous write-ups that are routinely rubber stamped by upper management when challenged. We are told by management that if employees discuss their dissatisfactions with their jobs among fellow staff members, that it may be considered "harassment."
