J.O.H.M.: December 2010

 **To those of you who are reading my blog every day (*COUGH* *SARAH* *COUGH COUGH*) :D I apologize that this post is a day late. We have had 2 very frustrating and difficult days here, partly because our internet service has suddenly gone kaput on us. The customers are cranky, which in turn makes us grumpy, and really Wednesday (when they install the new DSL line) just can't come soon enough! Bear with me as I write these in cafes when I can!**

December was just awesome - we had some glorious time off for the holidays and we got to spend that time with family and friends. I had a little get-together with friends in my 'rents house in ATL. My aunt threw a lovely tea-party for the girls on my mom's side of the family. And best of all, my own family came to NOLA and spent Christmas here with us! We had a blast (though my Dad had a subdued blast, being sick, so more like a sparkler...), and Lille even got a couple of music videos shot while here.



ADAM

Oof. Another WALK-IN customer at 3:30AM? Where are they even getting the impression I'm open 24 hrs? #joysofhostelmgmt

2 Dec


ADAM

Woke 2 find new guy sleeping in commons. Couldn't get in HIS b/c last nite he got wasted, lost all (key incl.) to a mugger. #joysofhostelmgmt

6 Dec


ADAM

E-mail arrives from Brazil asking 4 a "one-night stand". Don't know if his English is off or he misunderstands my business.#joysofhostelmgmt

9 Dec


ADAM

Closed kitchen but couldn't find key. Found it, locked kitchen door. Later learn 2 twits in my absence snuck in.. not out. #joysofhostelmgmt

11 Dec


ADAM

5 police cars in front of hostel when I come back... 'cuz a guest called to fill out a police report for a wallet stolen on Bourbon St. Fake out. #joysofhostelmgmt

12 Dec




ADAM

Neat. A guest left a DVD collection of Hitchcock's movies...20 films here.

14 Dec


ADAM

Have locked myself out of my reservation system's back office. Tech support's on holiday. Uh oh. #joysofhostelmgmt

27 Dec

ANNA

Tweeting from my new iPod. I love guests who are rich AND forgetful. #joysofhostelmgmt are sometimes quite joyous!

29 Dec

Christmas Eve in the Bellury Party Room :)

The bonfires on the levee were an incredible highlight - SO COOL!

At my fave NOLA brunch spot, Surrey's. This is me optimistically planning to eat a plate of biscuits and gravy AND a plate of mango-stuffed french toast. NOM NOM NOM!

Adam sporting his sexy new coat - it's definitely winter now

Lunch with Mama B <3

J.O.H.M.: November 2010

In November the weather finally began to turn cool - mercifully so! It was a month with some stressful moments: we began to suspect our housekeeper of stealing from guests, as money and belongings continued to disappear (she was, too). We had a terrible 2 days when we thought we had overbooked the whole hostel (we hadn't). We ended up cooking a huge Thanksgiving meal for the whole hostel - a tradition the owners started when they opened - and it was just Adam and I. I got super stressed, because I didn't know until the day OF that it was going to be ME cooking (I don't like cooking). In the end all things worked out, and month had plenty of enjoyable moments to balance the stressful ones.


ADAM

Have to e-mail a bunch of women who signed up for a female-only dorm and let 'em know sorry, they're getting male company. This won't be pretty. #joysofhostelmgmt

5 Nov

 

ADAM

No, Mr. Japanese Tourist; as willing as I am to prostitute myself for a good review, you may not borrow my personal toe nail clippers. #joysofhostelmgmt

6 Nov

 

ADAM

Wow - the English girls leaving Room 8 dropped off a thank-you card and box of chocolates. I've been tipped before, but...#joysofhostelmgmt

8 Nov 

ANNA

I love it when guests give us gifts.Especially $$. ^_^ This week, I've racked up $10, a bouquet of flowers & a box of fererro rocher chocolates! #joysofhostelmgmt

12 Nov 

ADAM

We're at 86%!!! 6 points over competition! http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/AAE-Bourbon-House-Hostel/New-Orleans/31313/reviews  #joysofhostelmgmt

16 Nov 

ANNA

This is what happens when I leave the hostel @ night: came back 2 find Adam telling our life story to guests w/ empty wine bottle in hand :D #joysofhostelmgmt

22 Nov

ADAM

Ah. EXPLETIVE-expletive. Did we really just successfully double-book the entire hostel? The #joysofhostelmgmt are a distant memory.

22 Nov

 

 ADAM

#joysofhostelmgmt: woke yesterday to find the support beams of our patio roof knocked out and said roof in yard. We suspect the Estonians.

25 Nov


ADAM

Wife has successfully cooked a great Thanksgiving meal for 50 guests, w/ only me for a Tonto to her Lone Ranger. #howdoesshebloodydothat?

25 Nov

ANNA

Relishing the $15 tip from the Indians from room 3, "Get yourselves a nice bottle of wine!" #joysofhostelmgmt
28 Nov

ANNA

Good grief, what is going on? Another $10 tip, this time from the German in (crappy little) room 14! Not complaining... :) #joysofhostelmgmt

28 Nov

ADAM

Can't go to bed tonight 'til the police car shows up so I can file a report on the stuff stolen from a guestroom. #joysofhostelmgmt

28 Nov


I'm not sure where exactly all my November photos  went - I can't even find the pic of me in our kitchen with a large knife and horrible grimace on my face in the middle of cooking Thanksgiving dinner (shame, 'cuz that one was a real humdinger). So to make up for the lack of pixels, I am instead going to post a highly embarrassing video I took one day when I was in the office and apparently feeling a little loopy...  I also tossed in a video taken in October, during Rob's visit when we were alligator-hunting in Jean LaFitte Park & Preserve.   ... You're welcome.

J.O.H.M.: October 2010

RED LETTER MONTH!  Man, talk about good times - not only is October my BD month, I had visits from Robbo, Becky Salley (though I cannot find a single photo from our fun times together! Did I lose them??), plus surprise visits from Mom & Grace, plus BD gifts and surprises, plus a Halloween extravaganza night off. It was stellar. :)


ANNA

Magical weekend filled w/ @rexmorganmd & David G & jazz & 'gators & mosquitos & cream soda(?) & a really baaad movie & parallel parking.

3 Oct

ADAM

#joysofhostelmgmt A stayover from @rexmorganmd (Rob Bellury)

5 Oct


ADAM

#joysofhostelmgmt WTF?!?!? "Hostelworld Review: No frills and great location. Best hostel in NOLA. Rating: 66%" ?!??

8 Oct

ADAM

#joysofhostelmgmt Here's what's amazing: our OTHER crap review today ("didn't give me linens"? Your bed was PRE-MADE, dude!)? 76%.

8 Oct

 

ADAM

#joysofhostelmgmt "Hi. Where do I go to see one of those cool jazz funerals?" "..dunno." "Well, when's the next?" "Check... the obituaries?"

8 Oct


ADAM

#joysofhostelmgmt We are officially full for Mardi Gras (week of Mar 8), presuming the deposit checks arrive as they should.

11 Oct

 

ADAM

Seeing recommendations for your hostel in OTHER hostels' customer comment threads is definitely one of the #joysofhostelmgmt...

15 Oct

 

ADAM

Thanks to several more generous customers, we are now the best-reviewed hostel in New Orleans by 3 percentage points instead of 2.

15 Oct

 

ADAM

A little #advice: never EVER say the WORD "refund" to customers. They won't remember any qualifications or modifiers, only that you said it. #joysofhostelmgmt

16 Oct 

ADAM

Customer with the worst attitude yet has arrived. She's staying while looking for an apt b/c she's getting her seminary degree here. Oof. #joysofhostelmgmt

22 Oct

ANNA

BEST. BIRTHDAY. EVER. Thank you sweet husband @adamvolle, @lmbellury and @lillemusic!! <3
26 Oct


 

ADAM

Oh, swell: a guest too afraid to leave the hostel. Not gonna get a really high "Fun" rating from her.. Just 1 more of the #joysofhostelmgmt

27 Oct 

ADAM

I really wish the cab drivers would stop telling our guests they're liable to be killed walking around our neighborhood #joysofhostelmgmt

28 Oct


ADAM

Uh-oh. 2 couples have reported the money from their wallets missing today. Same room. 1st time since we've arrived stuff's been stolen. #joysofhostelmgmt

28 Oct

 

ANNA

VoodooFest music festival + Halloween parties galore + costume parades + more concerts = lotsa hungover guests & a nice slow morning for me!

31 Oct

Brutha' Rob &  David G

Robbo

Magical Swampy adventures

Siblings

My BD gift from Adam (& his mom!) == JEM!

This is my happy, red, surprised face

Best BD gift ever

We all rode bikes to Audubon park

And ate BD cupcakes

Sistas

Scooter times

My ride

Our Halloween costumes :)

J.O.H.M.: September 2010

Another month of exploring New Orleans! I bought Adam a bike and membership to an office co-op (tho, we've moved on since then to more fun modes of transportation), we went to the zoo, we had more visits from family and we began to relax a bit into our roles as Hostel Managers. We learned how to better deal with troublesome guest, which is perhaps one of the most valuable skills I've gained so far.


ADAM

#joysofhostelmgmt Just walked into Rm 8 to ask the couple wrapped in sheets and post-coital bliss who, exactly, they even are.

2 Sep
 

ADAM

#joysofhostelmgmt Tell a new arrival where the best place to get good Cajun is, get accused of taking kickbacks from it. Fine, don't go.

5 Sep

ADAM

#joysofhostelmgmt Panicked phone call from lost guest: "Me and chicken are the only white meat out here! I'm about to be gang-banged!" He made it home safe.

5 Sep

ADAM

"In my hometown of Pamplona," says our Spanish guest, "someone dies every 2 years by a bull. Usually," he adds, "it's an American."

6 Sep

ADAM

#joysofhostelmgmt Being a biz in a residential 'hood, our trash output is way beyond the limit. So, we've bought off the trashmen w/ beer.

10 Sep

ADAM

#joysofhostelmgmt Why do reviewing customers gush about us in their comments - "PERFECT" - then give us a flippin' 80% score?

11 Sep

ADAM

#joysofhostelmgmt And why can't it be the other way around, since the actual scores are averaged to rate us on aggregators?

11 Sep

ADAM

 #neworleans Couple of guests just got back from their day out with a pic of themselves posing with Nicholas Cage. Cool.

12 Sep

ANNA

Day off starts NOW: check-ins are all tucked in for the day, Honey & I are watching "Date Night" and I'm staying up later than 10pm. YES!

14 Sep

 

ANNA

#joysofhostelmgmt: great thing about hostel guests is they're always willing 2 share- now enjoying someone's gift of a glass of Merlot!

16 Sep 

ADAM

Was just almost engulfed in flame helping my guest start the grill. Man left the gas on for a while, apparently. Quite the ball of fire.

19 Sep 

ADAM

#joysofhostelmgmt Sometimes you get lucky w/ who your guests are. Case in point: the French chef who just fixed us all dinner for $5.

19 Sep 

ADAM

#joysofhostelmgmt A LONELY PLANET writer just checked in! Well, he says he's one. Pretty damn ingenious of him if he isn't. Slave-mode: On.

20 Sep 

ADAM

#joysofhostelmgmt How much ya wanna bet these guys who've set their arrival time for 2 in the morning... are still going to be late?

26 Sep 

ADAM

WHOOHOO! Hostel's rating when we arrived: 79%. Today it hit 83%. If we hit 90% - and we've tons of time to do it - we get a BIG bonus.

28 Sep 

ADAM

Actual review for our hostel: "Anna + pancakes = a lot of fun in new orleans".  :)

30 Sep

St. Louis Cemetery #1

A sculpture in the Lower Ninth Ward - part of our City Tour took us to the areas most devastated by Hurricane Katrina

Boss #1 and Boss #2

This guy was the comedic interlude in our zoo trip

"Whee!"

:)

Biking by the ol' Mississip'

Audubon Park

@ Jean Lafitte Swamp Preserve: Happy family faces

Us with sweet Emma

 

Joys Of Hostel Management (J.O.H.M.): July 2010

Happy Anniversary to me! :D  *confetti*

Yesterday, July 1st 2011, marked the one-year anniversary of my arrival in New Orleans. (Dear lord, but it went quickly... Jaw-droppingly quickly)

In honor of this special occasion, I have a little treat for you, dear readers: back in March I randomly started reading back through the messages Adam and I posted on Twitter throughout those 9 months.** Most of our funniest tweets were about random or annoying things happening at the hostel, and we usually labeled them "#joysofhostelmanagement."  It was a hilarious trip down memory lane, and I began compiling the best of the tweets to turn into a blog post about our hostel management adventures. So for the next 12 days, you'll get one post per day, representing each of the 12 months we've spent here. Enjoy!

**for those of you unfamiliar with the particularities belonging to the art of Tweeting, each message one sends out into the Twit-world is only allowed to be 140 characters long. This is why there are so many abbreviations and annoying word substitutions in the below messages. Normally, it makes Adam and I shudder to change "you" to "u", but the tweet sometimes demands it. Apologies to the grammatically sensitive.

JULY:

ANNA

Learning how to run a hostel. Life is goooood!

1 Jul

ANNA

First shuttle pick-up and guest check-in on my own -- I got this, yo. :)

4 Jul

ANNA

Fellow employees/bosses =watching fireworks and getting smashed, I'm cozy in the hostel office with internet, my Kindle and the boss's dog

4 Jul

ANNA

Good grief, was tonight a test or something?Missing bedsheets, broken light fixtures, a screaming dog, no gas in shuttle van - crazy night!

5 Jul

ANNA

Booked my first tour! Dang, that was an easy $40.

5 Jul


ADAM

Another day of learning on the job with half my brain tied behind my back. But the bosses are very cool with that. Now to watch THE GAME.

8 Jul


ADAM

My first Saturday night managing a hostel in New Orleans. Yeah, things are lively.

10 Jul

ANNA

Bourbon House Hostel is currently listening to Lille. And loving it.

15 Jul

ANNA

Housecleaner quit on ME, after we had a weird wrestling tussle over making pancake batter for breakfast. Lucky for me, the bosses didn't really like her anyways.:/

21 Jul

ANNA

Augh! Dorm bed guest thinks she got bed bug bites - the death knell for any hostel! Truly the most terrifying prospect ever. *bites nails*

21 Jul

ANNA

No housecleaner = me cleaning WHOLE hostel every day. It's a good morning when I've finished cleaning all 5 bathrooms before 9:30. w00t!  :)

25 Jul

.

First impressions: neighbors

First impressions: neighbors

First impressions: Boss #1 (the one on the right)

First impressions: French Quarter

First impressions: visit from Sarah!

First impressions: French Quarter

First impressions: French Quarter - perfect little green house

First impressions: French Quarter alleyways

First impressions: Rainbow

First impressions: Restaurants I enjoy

First impressions: Mardi Gras love

First impressions: View from our loft/room into office below

First impressions: Office, with stairs leading to our loft/room

First impressions: Welcome to the Bourbon House Hostel!

First impressions: my kitchen

.