“In many ways this won’t be a typical hotel (non-profit, longer term stays, self-service breakfast and lunch, simplified dinner menu, weekly linen/towel changes, EA evening events etc), so I’m not sure how much prior hotel experience is relevant. Really anyone who is a reasonably skilled generalist, passionate about the project, and friendly should be able to do it.”
I think this is where we disagree. It’s taken me years to develop the (rather basic) domestic skills I have. I think it would be quite a challenge for someone like me, who can competently manage a household, to competently manage a hotel with 17 people. For example, when I organized EA London’s weekend retreat and oversaw the housing, cooking and cleaning for 25 people, it was really hard and I made some significant mistakes.
This worries me because a large majority of the EAs I meet in London are worse at cooking/cleaning/household management than I am. If I’m not currently capable of the task, and most EAs are less capable than I am, then I wonder who CAN do the job.
There are a couple of things I might be wrong about: maybe people are better at domestic tasks outside of London, or maybe there are one or two exceptional candidates (and that’s really all it takes!). But based on my experience, I really don’t think “anyone who is a reasonably skilled generalist, passionate about the project, and friendly should be able to do it” - or at least, not to a high standard, not right away.
when I organized EA London’s weekend retreat and oversaw the housing, cooking and cleaning for 25 people, it was really hard and I made some significant mistakes.
Would be interested to hear more details about this (fine to PM).
Also, it’s unlikely to be 17 guests all at once to start with, things are ramping up gradually so far (have a few people booked in over the next few weeks), so the learning curve should be relatively gentle.
“In many ways this won’t be a typical hotel (non-profit, longer term stays, self-service breakfast and lunch, simplified dinner menu, weekly linen/towel changes, EA evening events etc), so I’m not sure how much prior hotel experience is relevant. Really anyone who is a reasonably skilled generalist, passionate about the project, and friendly should be able to do it.”
I think this is where we disagree. It’s taken me years to develop the (rather basic) domestic skills I have. I think it would be quite a challenge for someone like me, who can competently manage a household, to competently manage a hotel with 17 people. For example, when I organized EA London’s weekend retreat and oversaw the housing, cooking and cleaning for 25 people, it was really hard and I made some significant mistakes.
This worries me because a large majority of the EAs I meet in London are worse at cooking/cleaning/household management than I am. If I’m not currently capable of the task, and most EAs are less capable than I am, then I wonder who CAN do the job.
There are a couple of things I might be wrong about: maybe people are better at domestic tasks outside of London, or maybe there are one or two exceptional candidates (and that’s really all it takes!). But based on my experience, I really don’t think “anyone who is a reasonably skilled generalist, passionate about the project, and friendly should be able to do it” - or at least, not to a high standard, not right away.
Would be interested to hear more details about this (fine to PM).
Also, it’s unlikely to be 17 guests all at once to start with, things are ramping up gradually so far (have a few people booked in over the next few weeks), so the learning curve should be relatively gentle.