This month was absolutely dominated by the Mardi Gras festivities that begin 3 weeks before March 8 and ran strong and wild up to that day ... and beyond! It was definitely stressful, but totally worth it. I'm so happy we had the chance to experience this crazy party NOLA revels in each year.
It was also dominated by BEADS. Beads, beads and more beads. For a month, it was as if the hostel was breeding the cheap, colorful necklaces because they were in EVERY corner, in EVERY room, in EVERY bush and bathroom. We hauled 4 trash bags full of beads to a donation center the end of March - they employ mentally disabled or handicapped persons to clean, sort and resell the beads for the next year.
Other updates I neglected in previous posts:
- We fired the thieving maid end of November, and hired a FABULOUS new housekeeper the beginning of December. Her name is Jess and I knew the moment I met her that she was a keeper. And she is - without a doubt, she's the best housekeeper this hostel has ever seen.
- In February at some point, I began taking weekly violin lessons from a local musician; finally reaching for a long-time desire of mine to play that instrument. As of right now, I'm not playing full pieces of music, just little bits - but I'm slowly slowly slowly getting better!
It was also dominated by BEADS. Beads, beads and more beads. For a month, it was as if the hostel was breeding the cheap, colorful necklaces because they were in EVERY corner, in EVERY room, in EVERY bush and bathroom. We hauled 4 trash bags full of beads to a donation center the end of March - they employ mentally disabled or handicapped persons to clean, sort and resell the beads for the next year.
Other updates I neglected in previous posts:
- We fired the thieving maid end of November, and hired a FABULOUS new housekeeper the beginning of December. Her name is Jess and I knew the moment I met her that she was a keeper. And she is - without a doubt, she's the best housekeeper this hostel has ever seen.
- In February at some point, I began taking weekly violin lessons from a local musician; finally reaching for a long-time desire of mine to play that instrument. As of right now, I'm not playing full pieces of music, just little bits - but I'm slowly slowly slowly getting better!
Hostelsclub has chosen #MardiGras wk, of all times - & in the middle of the business day - to disable my site's back-office for maintenance. #joysofhostelmgmt
ADAM
One enterprising celebrant of #MardiGras has put wheels, a motor, & handle bars on his beer cooler and is riding it through the streets.
ANNA
6AM: fight breaks out between intoxicated couple in hostel- bruises, scratches, 911 call, broken chair result. KICKED THEM OUT. #whataday
ANNA
ANNA
@Hostelworld says we've been one of their Top 10 Best-Rated Hostels in the USA for 2 mo. running! Nice to hear during #MardiGras stress.
My desk was phoned by a guy who apologized "for being off-topic". Wanted general info about a distant street in NOLA. Told him what I knew. #joysofhostelmgmt
ADAM
Left our water bottles where guests saw them & ended up selling them for $1 each. Selling 4 paid for the whole case of 24. #joysofhostelmgmt
ADAM
Discovered a police road block in our alleyway. I'm thinking someone stole it and hid it there. Ah, #NOLA. #joysofhostelmgmt
ADAM
Whew! #MardiGras, fin! Hostel's still booked right through March, but there's less pressure w/ guests paying $20 per dorm night than $100.
ANNA
Mardi Gras craziness is over - YES!... Now, back to our regularly scheduled craziness...
ADAM
We're up from 10th best-rated #hostel in the US to 7TH, and our bosses just told us we made 2X the #MardiGras profits of last yr! BOOYAH!
ADAM
Just commended the parents of a guy named Blaze. Turns out they wanted to name him "Blais" after Pascal, but the nurse misunderstood.
ADAM
The office is open 8:00-24:00, except in emergencies. Your need for a hair dryer IS NOT AN EMERGENCY. #joysofhostelmgmt
ADAM
Apparently I have now been accepted; the Boss has revealed to me the location of the best little local BBQ joint in #NOLA. And... wow. Yum!
ADAM
Tennessee Williams Festival in #NOLA this week. Includes a "STELLA!" shouting contest. As a Eng major, it behooves me to check this out.
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| Just NOLA |
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| Karaoke night! |
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| Jester baby at Mardi Gras parade |
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| "Muses" parade, first week of Mardi Gras - lots and lots of high heels, as this Krewe was all girls :) |
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| Sign says "$1 per go - $499 cheaper than bail. $5 for ALL DAY." Bathrooms are the tricky part of parade-watching. Lucky for us that St. Charles (main parade route) is only a 7 min walk from hostel! |
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| Mardi Anna! |
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| Mardi Adam! |
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| Rows of "high chairs" for kids to be able to watch the parade over the heads of all the clamorous, drunk adults that will be pushing shamelessly in front of them ^_^ |
ANNA! i am loving your JOHM posts! I read your blog and followed your tweets throughout last year, but it's fun to relive it with you! haha! i'm glad that even though we are far away and all, we can still be blog friends! :D i stalk yours pretty religiously. you have such an unorthodox life and I LOVE IT. tell adam hello. :)
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