housekeeper

line cook

kitchen helper

housekeeping supervisor

guest service agent

The Malcolm Hotel

I would like to share my experience as a server who has been working in restaurants for years, including several other hotels in the Banff area:

This hotel is extremely disorganized. Many servers report discrepancies with their tip-out, leading us to question whether we are being paid what we are owed. Most of the managers lack the leadership skills necessary to motivate and support their team. Management in the kitchen is extremely disrespectful to front of house staff. Servers are expected to behave as though they are working in a fine-dining restaurant when the quality of food is subpar. Guests are routinely disappointed and feel as if they are being overcharged for what is essentially pub-grub. The head chef is unwilling - perhaps unable - to accept constructive criticism. Over the course of one summer season, the majority of our team quit to work elsewhere. Not a single one of them were unhappy with that decision. I strongly encourage anyone with any experience in the food and beverage industry to apply elsewhere, unless serious changes are made.

The only reason I stayed for an entire season at this hotel was because of my wonderful coworkers with whom I bonded over our shared misery and lack of purpose.

Overall not a place I would recommend. Coworkers and supervisors help boost morals, but the housekeeper manager is not someone I recommend anyone having the "pleasure" of working with. The work itself is physicaly demanding but not terrible, the supervisors do what they can to help out. The housekeeping manager however regularly would talk behind employees backs, and show no loyalty for the employees. The housekeeping manager regularly does not show up. There is no appreciation for hard work, or even any recognition for a strong work ethic and efficient time management. Employees are viewed as a revolving door of faces so no effort is put in to get to know and appreciate them. The department is regularly referred to as a family, however the Houseekping manager does little to actually help. Also due to the close relationship between management, if there is an issue, it's impossible to bring the issue to HR and find a resolution. Staff accommodations is planned to be torn down in the future so the hotel has no regard for the upkeep of accommodations. Work hours regularly fluctuate, making it hard to survive off the one income, often resulting in needing to get a second job. There is a very high turnover rate due to the housekeeping manager not having any respect for the employees. Many of the departments around the hotel don't intermingle. Once again, not a place I would recommend working at. 

Don't recommend working in housekeeping during winter season if you need the money since it is (very) slow season.
They hired me as a full-time employee, however since I started a few months ago I never had one single week of full-time except Christmas time. Sometimes you have days of 3 - 4 - 5 hours and most of the time you have 3 days off a week. With that, you can just cover your rent and other living costs (not really possible to save any money). They are constantly hiring housekeepers even though there are already too many, which makes it even more difficult to get hours.
Apart from that, the housekeeping manager is a real pain, seems like she enjoys making people unhappy. The supervisors are really nice though.
If you get a new roommate in your staff accommodation, it's not being communicated at all, the new person will just show up in your trailer/room. Staff accommodation is in a trailer park in a mobile home, there are single and shared rooms. It's alright and a 10 minute walk to work and about 15 minutes to downtown. However, some accommodations are not well equipped (not enough cutlery, pots, or even furniture). There's no point in requesting something since you probably won't receive anything in the end. You're better off buying the stuff you need at the local thrift store.
Apart from all that it's a nice working atmosphere since the co-workers and supervisors are really nice.

I worked in the kitchen with a wonderful team, however despite my efforts I found myself stuck at a lower pay grade to the role I was fulfilling and then was pushed out the door with unfair dismissal,

I was told I wasn't "good enough" (which was later proven wrong) I felt like the more I tried to do the worse things got.

I was later accused of intention to do something that never happened or was going to happen, (if I intended wouldn't I have done it and been caught) 

I was given less than 12 hours to get out of the staff accommodation, (which fyi was a broke down, trashed, insecure old trailer which was setup for 4 people.... YUCK)

I was also informed by multiple sources later that unprofessional comments towards myself and family where made and also some rumours began to circulate too.

This was a very disappointing  thing to experience, and definitely not the Canadian hospitality I expected.

However I thank them at the same time for boosting my skills and confidence although it was wasted on them and only came to fruition when I immediately found my promotion in a restaurant 10x busier and demanding and I was told I was awesome.

The work in this hotel is not difficult, the co-workers and some supervisors are also nice, but that's about it.  Housekeeping management is a big disaster.  At the interview, they promise you a lot of important things that they cannot fulfill.  They promise you 8 hours a day, but you work a maximum of 6 hours. They offer you accommodation for employees in a trailer and after a month they kick you out of the accommodation and tell you just a few days in advance as compensation they give you accommodation in a shared dirty room without furniture that is 2 meters by 2 meters with 6 other people in the trailer.  They also offers you the rest of the food from the restaurant for free, which will also be canceled after a month. You can't communicate with them politely Change of Housekeeper Management is necessary! Thanks for the experience, but I don't recommend this company if you don't want to be under constant stress.

If I could give this place 0 stars, I would. I worked in Housekeeping over the winter and I didn't expect much from the job. But when you are told in the interview that you would work 8 hours per day and sometimes overtime, you kind of expect that. I've had weeks when I worked less than 30 hours per week which doesn't even qualify as a full time job in Alberta. The management treated the housekeepers very poorly and I never felt welcome at work. If it wasn't for my very nice colleagues who became friends, I would have left after 2 weeks. The management was not able to make reasonable schedules, so there were days when we were 3 people at work and had 14 hours of work on our list which we were supposed to finish after 8 hours, and on other days we were 10 housekeepers and were sent home after 4 hours because it was not busy.
All together I felt like we were being treated like garbage most of the time and do not recommend working there.

No legendary team.

I haven’t seen the manager for long time before. 
This summer, All of sudden that showed up and made new rule and instructions, always protects everything on management side opinions and staffs.

We were not allowed to apply for any short vaccination on this busy season though….they can have fun with nice first summer after Covid-19 outbreak.

That means here was not worthy of working hard even if you guys have nice experiences for this work place.

Working harder, getting more rooms and less working hours and pay.

If you have great skills to figure out this busy season as a room attendant, you would receive so unexpected amounts of tasks from unreliable management.

Anyway, Staff accommodations will be demolished soon for brand new fancy apartments.






Having worked in the hospitality industry in both Europe and Canada, I can say this is a good place to work. Yes, working in a hotel is not without stress, and it often seems like situations are getting out of control, but it's important to understand that guest service is hard and mentally exhausting work. Much also depends on your position; don't expect too much if you are easily replaceable and your work is simply physical labor. However, if you show a positive attitude and are genuinely interested in your job, your hard work will not go unnoticed.

I loved my team at the Malcolm!! Everyone had each other’s backs and managers supported through difficult situations with guests. It’s a beautiful hotel and they care about both guests and staff. Moved back home due to visa ending otherwise I would have loved to stay. 

The "managers" of the restaurant gossip about staff, and are petty and unapproachable.   They aren't held accountable by their manager, and have no idea how to lead a team.  

Completely toxic, terrible culture.  Managers make inappropriate comments and are so inept that they are visibly stressed out by basic restaurant operation. All the time.  Noticeable by guests (just ask around town).

Experienced servers, stay away!!!!

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Housekeeper 2 salaries reported	$22.00 per hour
Line cook 7 salaries reported	$22.95 per hour
Kitchen helper 1 salary reported	$18.88 per hour
Housekeeping supervisor 1 salary reported	$22.50 per hour
Guest service agent 1 salary reported	$19.38 per hour

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