This is GREAT!!!!!!!! Who hasn't stayed in a hotel and wondered about how clean it really was? Get the straight word from the Head of Housekeeping at a major hotel in Seattle. Secrets about the life of any hotel and the lifestyles of the guests.
Behind the scenes at the hotel - great for any travel program.
This would be a good segment in a longer-running feature on "Work" or "Jobs You Never Knew About". The music needs to be more relevant, but otherwise it is a well-done piece.
This piece made me feel a bit voyeuristic, and I appreciated the hands-on (or hands-off!) tips for the traveler. It answered some of my "gee-I-wonder" questions about hotels (I will never feel the same about a hotel bedspread again!). I wondered about the choice of music and how it would tie in -- then smiled at the "just doesn't see" lyric at the end. Nicely done.
Only disturbing because I don't want to know so much about how unclean hotels are! Deaths?! I'm gonna buy an RV.
The Gideon Bible thing is pretty interesting.
Overall, I love pieces like this. I want to do a regular series of people's jobs that I want to sound just like this. You know what -- everyone has an interesting job. The most interesting ones are the ones I don't know much about. This piece takes it down a very nice avenue, to where the employee talks not only about her job, but about how things work and of what to be careful.
Where can this fit? Well, anytime 20/20 airs one of those Dirty Hotel shows would work. Or, at the beginning of a vacation season. Best of all, some show should do a regular "At Work" series and air pieces like this once-per-week.
"...my only negative comment is about the sound quality, there should be someway of dampening the echo of the room."
I wholeheartedly disagree. If everything sounded like we were in the studio all the time, it would be pretty boring. (Not to mention that public radio really lacks good monster truck ads.) I really don't understand the desire for many in public radio to make things sound dead (soundproofed) or the constant complaining about phone sound. Isn't the content more important? In this case, the echo helps set the listener in the bathroom so it provides a transition.
My only complaint (this is pure opinion) is that I'm not sure what a song about a tall girl from Brazil other than the line "...she just doesn't see.." has to do with anything about North American hotels. I'm actually in favor of talking over song lyrics, but I do believe that they should be relevant to the story otherwise it can be distracting. I would have put a variety of music underneath. Maybe I'm missing the point. It's been known to happen.
Engaging and full of great details –– funny, surprising, even useful ones. Takes you on a fun trip and next hotel you hit, you'll hear this housekeeper's voice in your ear.
Comments for Housekeeping: Behind the Scenes
Produced by Jake Warga
Other pieces by Jake Warga
Rating Summary
7 comments
Matt Kaufman
Posted on August 11, 2004 at 12:18 PM | Permalink
Review of Housekeeping: Behind the Scenes
This is GREAT!!!!!!!! Who hasn't stayed in a hotel and wondered about how clean it really was? Get the straight word from the Head of Housekeeping at a major hotel in Seattle. Secrets about the life of any hotel and the lifestyles of the guests.
Behind the scenes at the hotel - great for any travel program.
David Mann
Posted on January 02, 2004 at 10:53 PM | Permalink
Review of Housekeeping: Behind the Scenes
This would be a good segment in a longer-running feature on "Work" or "Jobs You Never Knew About". The music needs to be more relevant, but otherwise it is a well-done piece.
Janice Gully
Posted on December 29, 2003 at 07:37 AM | Permalink
Review of Housekeeping: Behind the Scenes
This piece made me feel a bit voyeuristic, and I appreciated the hands-on (or hands-off!) tips for the traveler. It answered some of my "gee-I-wonder" questions about hotels (I will never feel the same about a hotel bedspread again!). I wondered about the choice of music and how it would tie in -- then smiled at the "just doesn't see" lyric at the end. Nicely done.
Hans Anderson
Posted on December 23, 2003 at 10:02 AM | Permalink
Review of Housekeeping: Behind the Scenes
The Gideon Bible thing is pretty interesting.
Overall, I love pieces like this. I want to do a regular series of people's jobs that I want to sound just like this. You know what -- everyone has an interesting job. The most interesting ones are the ones I don't know much about. This piece takes it down a very nice avenue, to where the employee talks not only about her job, but about how things work and of what to be careful.
Where can this fit? Well, anytime 20/20 airs one of those Dirty Hotel shows would work. Or, at the beginning of a vacation season. Best of all, some show should do a regular "At Work" series and air pieces like this once-per-week.
David Clements
Posted on October 07, 2003 at 07:22 AM | Permalink
Review of Housekeeping: Behind the Scenes
I wholeheartedly disagree. If everything sounded like we were in the studio all the time, it would be pretty boring. (Not to mention that public radio really lacks good monster truck ads.) I really don't understand the desire for many in public radio to make things sound dead (soundproofed) or the constant complaining about phone sound. Isn't the content more important? In this case, the echo helps set the listener in the bathroom so it provides a transition.
My only complaint (this is pure opinion) is that I'm not sure what a song about a tall girl from Brazil other than the line "...she just doesn't see.." has to do with anything about North American hotels. I'm actually in favor of talking over song lyrics, but I do believe that they should be relevant to the story otherwise it can be distracting. I would have put a variety of music underneath. Maybe I'm missing the point. It's been known to happen.
Myles K Mandell
Posted on October 07, 2003 at 05:57 AM | Permalink
Review of Housekeeping: Behind the Scenes
I enjoyed the show, my only negative comment is about the sound quality, there should be someway of dampening the echo of the room.
Transom Editors
Posted on October 01, 2003 at 11:42 AM | Permalink
Review of Housekeeping: Behind the Scenes
Engaging and full of great details –– funny, surprising, even useful ones. Takes you on a fun trip and next hotel you hit, you'll hear this housekeeper's voice in your ear.