Vacationing in a hotel is one thing. Bidding goodbye every morning or evening to a parent as he or she goes off to work in a hotel is another. That is why the Sheraton Tel Aviv Hotel and Towers has developed an annual Children’s Day on which employees’ children are invited before the school year begins to be workers themselves.
There is a miniature manager, reduced receptionists and a basic bellboy.
The children arrive with mounting excitement and make their way to the department marked “Personnel.” They give their names and ages as they collect their uniforms. Most receive a white T-shirt with the Sheraton logo and a cartoon and marked “Children’s Day 2001,” along with a sticker indicating the job they are to undertake for several hours. Some get actual uniforms.
This year they walk through a tunnel made from drapes and emerge into a darkened room that is illuminated by ultraviolet lamps and decorated with toys. General manager Mickey Schneider is very enthusiastic about this particular project, which has won several international awards over the years. Although the recent event was the 18th annual Children’s Day, the level of enthusiasm depends on the manager’s personality. As Schneider is always on the lookout for ways to keep his staff motivated, he is a keen champion of this day.
A kid-friendly buffet breakfast of chocolate-spread sandwiches, chocolate milk and various fun-looking but hardly healthy cereals is served in the employees’ cafeteria. The music is ear-splittingly loud. Eventually, Schneider arrives, dressed as a magician. The “school of magic” has been the theme of this year’s summer entertainment for kids staying at the Sheraton chain, inspired by the popular Harry Potter series.
Mickey the magician welcomes the children. He tells them how happy he is that they are here and how important it is “for you to see what your parents do all day. When they work on Shabbat or on holidays you probably wonder where they are and why they have to be away. We want you to see that we are a family, and that it is a lot of fun to work here.
“Today you will be able to feel what your parents feel when they are at work. You enjoy your schools, they — I hope — enjoy their work. But they have one advantage over you: there is no homework here!”
Schneider outlines the schedule: Work from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., followed by lunch (“better than McDonald’s and Burger King put together,” he promises) to be followed by a magic show by a professional magician and a “surprise salary.”
As each grown-up department head holds a sign aloft and calls for his or her young volunteers to step up, the children squeal with delight. The majority will get to carry out the job that is their first choice. But the children are cautioned by Schneider: “Remember that we have a lot of clients, so behave well and don’t hang around.”
Isaac Spiegel, from Melbourne, is a returning guest. “This is absolutely fantastic,” he says “they should do it more often.”
“Things may be a little slow today because we are overstaffed!” jokes Schneider.
Miri Kolodny, originally from Boston, has worked in reservations for 17 years and has “seen many children’s days come and go.” This is the first year that her eight-year-old son, Sam, is old enough to work with her. ” I think it’s great. It is important for children to know what their parents do,” she says. Her loyalty to her job is apparent, however. “It is very important to let the guests know what is going on, though. And we have some people outside in the lobby explaining the concept to them.”
Not all the children have chosen the same jobs as their parents. There are a lot of budding chefs, because the uniform with the chef’s hat is particularly popular. Executive Chef Eyal Rosenberg has been at the hotel for a year and a half and loves it.
“They don’t have anything like this at the Hilton in Eilat. This is so nice.”
With help from the pastry chef, the children are making marzipan, chocolate balls and petit fours, for the children’s banquet later that evening.
The “Tower,” on the 18th floor, is reserved for business guests. It is a more exclusive and personalized part of the hotel with an executive lounge that is open all day for meals. But the room staff is what suddenly makes this floor interesting.
Yafit Cohen, 11, is the supervisor (her father is Moshe Cohen, the houseman) and Ayelet Arbel, 12 (the sister of Iris Arbel, a hotel sales manager) is the chambermaid, nowadays known as “room attendant.” The room is too tidy, and they have to jump on the bed to mess it up in order to make things look realistic.
Anissa Abuayoun, who has been at the Sheraton for 20 years, is the supervisor, who patiently explains to the girls what they have to look out for when tidying up a room. “Check the mirror for spots, clean the phone…” Abuayoun’s son is working today as a housekeeping supervisor. This is his second year attending Children’s Day; last year he was the general manager. When he grows up though, he plans to be a doctor.
Dorel Porat and David Yitzhakoff are porters. Dorel’s father, Yaron, is the technical systems accounting manager, and David’s mother, Berta, is a room attendant. Dorel says he wants to work in tourism when he grows up.
In answer to a question, the children are told they are not allowed to swim. Not because they shouldn’t enjoy themselves, but because kids often misunderstand what it means to work in a hotel: It’s not just a long holiday for parents, and not being able to be home on weekends and holidays is a hardship for them, not a paid vacation.
Meanwhile, the third floor is hosting lots of fun activities for those under eight. There are movies, a common room with games, computers and arts-and-crafts activities.
In the lobby, a pair of 10-year-old girls, Rivki and Sarit, are clearing tables, serving drinks and making tiny sandwiches with Lori Lieberman, the lobby cook from Ukraine.
Some of the boys have decided that being a bellboy is the best job “because you get tips.” In fact this year’s “bellboy” is a girl.
Lior Levy is six and a half. He is the guard outside the entrance to the personnel department. Although neither of his parents work at the hotel, he is here because of his aunt, Ronit. He isn’t very clear on what she does, but he does give specific instructions as to where to find her.
When the clock strikes 12:30, lunch is as good as promised, followed by the real magician: Yaron Ben-Menahem.
Finally, all the children are paid for their labor in chocolate coins, which come inside elegant navy-blue pouches. Not bad for a couple of hours’ work.