Extended Stay America reviews

Extended Stay America is a Hotel that does everything it can do to drain the life out of you and yet continues to expect you to give 150% everyday while cutting hours, jobs, positions and benefits. ESA has one of the most cost effective labor models in the hotel world. With that being said they continue to cut hours and positions for the sake of meeting shareholder expectations. Yearly budget goals are set by "C" level management sitting in their cushy offices without any input from front line management-doesn't matter if you have have been in your position for years they don't want or ask your input; yet if you fail to meet their goals then you as a manager are a failure. What did you do wrong why are you spending so much money doesn't matter that you are up revenue year over year in the company eyes you aren't making money. This company says they value their employees yet eliminated positions as soon as they create them. They have this great idea to bring in recruiters to help find quality staff but all they do is open a requisition and schedule an interview they don't actually look for candidates. Managers have voiced their frustrations with this program Saying it is a waste of money but do they cancel the program, no they have them take on more tasks of recruiting only to finally get rid of the program cuz the company isn't making budget. This company is forcing all management levels above general managers into taking mandatory furlough days unpaid to help fix the fact we aren't meeting budget. They remove apples and oranges from an already ridiculous breakfast offerings yet expect the on site managers to explain to guests what happen to the fruit. They started the year promising Assistant general managers for every hotel then they take it back and demote almost all of their recently promoted managers back to a team lead position. This company does surveys on their managers to find out their opinions on the state of the company. They find out that the majority of their managers say they have no home life work life balance. So what do they do? Eliminate positions cut front desk hours demote AGMs, remove current AGMs from salaried positions then cut AGM hours too. They expect the GM to clean rooms work the front desk do laundry and still get reports done on time. When Jim Donald was CEO he made it a point to meet with management teams at conferences or town hall meetings actually met with his people and make them feel like family. Gerry Lopez doesn't care about his employees to Gerry his employees are just numbers. This company expects us to hire the right people and have amazing employee retention and are shocked that new hires only last a week. Perhaps it because the company doesn't provide training hours the GM has to train them on housekeeping (while working front desk and doing laundry). God forbid you go over hours for the week or you use one hour of overtime. During quarterly reviews the GM presents in front of the entire district and your higher up managers drill you and make you feel like you don't know what your doing. They expect you to give amazing customer service and get amazing survey scores by your guests but you can't order a hair dryer cuz the company isn't making budget. Thy have this great idea to remove dishes from their rooms (keep in mind it's and extended stay hotel with kitchenettes and guest expect dishes to actually use the kitchen) how doe guests get dishes; they request them from the front desk who then had to leave the desk unattended to take dishes to a room - doesn't matter if you have irate guests waiting when you get back. ESA is one of the most reactive companies I have ever worked for they do not plan ahead. They create these initiatives and expect you to adhere to them and once you finally get everything to the new expectations bam they change the policy. Lately with all of the budget cuts job eliminations and demotions - job security just isn't there who knows if you'll even have a place to work tomorrow or what your job title will be. Everyone from the housekeepers, to the front desk clerks, GMs and district managers are overworked and underpaid. Overall I have stayed with this company through thick and thin and while at one point I thought we were on the right road apparently somewhere we deviated from the GPS suggested route and ended up lost and heading back to where we started.

Skeleton Crews at every site. One size fits all mentality for ordering and hotel amenities. Order Budgeted Allowance isn't even enough to cover linen and cleaning supplies. Let alone replacing worn items in the rooms. Excuse by corporate is "ALL HOTELS HAVE BEEN RENOVATED WITHIN THE PAST 5 YEARS. THEY SHOULDN'T BE IN BAD SHAPE IF YOUR KEEPING YOUR BUILDING UP." You get a Purchasing card (credit card) for emergency situations that require payment immediately to fix BUT it only works at select locations and not at STAPLES when you run out of toner or paper, doesn't work at any of yhe usually grocery stores for replacing food when our OLD fridges mess up and spoil the guests food. They want you to spend YOUR OWN money on items upfront if the card doesn't work where you need it. Then 75% of the time they decline your reimbursement request for things like TOILET PAPER, SINK PIPES, CLEANING SUPPLIES, TONER and other NECESSITIES. Because "Your suppose to order enough to last for the month with the budget we give you" All but 3 employees are Part Time; Night Laundry, Maintenance, Lead Housekeeper aka KAI Champion. Full staffed is 10 to 12 employees. Impossible to cover hotel with alloted hours and hourly restrictions which were put in place to stop them from having to provide health insurance to more employees. Managers are expected to work the front desk at least 16 hours a week. Average work week for GM'S is between 60 and 80 hours a week and at least 6 days a week but normally you don't get a day off unless you ask for someone else to come cover your hotel which 95% of the time is another GM who is in the same situation. These hours don't include the sales drive bys that have to be done by GM three times a week between 10pm and 5am. GM's on average with extended stay are UNDERPAID for the market anywhere from $10,000 to as high as $25,000 depending on brand comparison. With 10 times more work then a standard GM. GM HAS TO do the jobs of GM, FRONT OFFICE MANAGER, CHIEF MAINTENANCE ENGINEER, EXECUTIVE HOUSEKEEPER, ROOM INSPECTOR, HOUSEKEEPING, SALES MANAGER, MARKETING MANAGER, you name it YOU are it. There is 1 sales person for 20 to 30 properties and they are handling between 50 and 100 leads a day by themselves. In past 3 years the following upper managment have quit or been fired: CEO, CFO, COO, 3 Senior Vice Presidents (which caused regions to to change across the country from 4 Divisions to 3), 82 or 120 Regional Directors of Operations, 107% Turnover on GENERAL MANAGERS of hotels since 2014. Furloughed the District Manager's and Regional Managers 1 day this year with hopes of making number look better. 401k removed in middle of 2016 (Just recently told it will come back starting January 2017). Company Morale is completely shot. 12% increase in budget expectation compared to most hotel standards of 2.5% to 5%. This was due to taking out a $800 million dollar loan and also defaulting on previous $1 Billion Dollar loan causing interest rate increase of more the 6%. Got to pay the loan by any means.