Inn At Little Washington Reviews

You will be required to work all holidays including Christmas Day, Christmas Eve and every other holiday without holiday pay (it's just a regular work day for them). The owner lives on the property and he is there a lot (when he isn't traveling around the world). So he wants you to make it your life too. You are in the middle of nowhere. You will have to move because commuting from the DC area will take you 1.5-2 hours each way. I tried for a while but had to move closer; just too far to commute. I left my house at 12:30 and got home at 2 am most nights. There can be some very long hours. If it is not busy you will not make much money that night but you will still work a full day. They don't let you close down until all the guests have left and they tell the guests that they don't close at any specific time. They tell them to just relax and enjoy themselves, so sometimes you just have to sit and wait to do final shut down. If you make a mistake the chef might yell at you and make you feel stupid. He is getting older and might lose his cool every once in a while. It doesn't happen every day but I have seen it happen. you pay for your own vacation. they take money out of the tip pool and set it aside for your next vacation year. If you leave before that time they will not give you your money that you put in. Other former employees have told me the same thing happened to them when they left. they don't show much care about employees unless they are in a crisis. The most important people are the guests and they will always place the customer first. They usually don't have enough staff because they can't keep them long enough. It gets old trying to train the new kids especially when you can be overwhelmed yourself. they don't have a formal training program so you are expected to learn by asking questions on your own. The more senior employees there are the easier it is to learn, but over the past while most of the senior people are leaving for some reason. they want to be the best but when it comes to benefits they only want to be average. January through March is very slow and your wages will drop by 30-50% during those times. My paychecks sometimes decreased by as much as $1,000 in the slow months so you have to save money. I just stopped going out for beers and that helped! Summer time can be slower too. You can't take vacation days during the Spring or the Fall, from Thanksgiving through the New Year. You pay for your own vacation--they take 3% out of your wages. If you leave before the end of the year you don't get that back. they give it to the other employees. They invest in the property, not employees. They spent millions on improvements and renovations and give lots of food away to make guests happy but only gave me a $50 bonus at Christmas time and only care about you when they have a need. i know that sounds ungrateful but they give $50 worth of champagne to strangers each night but little more than a pat on the back. I was there several years and unless you are one of the managers or threatening to quit you are not appreciated very much. The chef is getting older (I think 73) and when he is suddenly no longer around, the place will crumble. That is why you should just use it as an opportunity to advance your career. they will respect you more for it if you tell them that. "Hey, I am only going to work here for a year or so." Then, they will treat you better because they will not want to lose you, especially if you are really good. When i celebrated a milestone anniversary (5 years) the top dogs did not congratulate me. But a guy who left after 2 years was honored. They don't appreciate you unless it is beneficial to them. That is why I left. Too much sacrifice and not nearly enough gratitude.

Extremely understaffed. Employees are stretched very thin, and there is a very high turnover rate. Very limited schedule flexibility. I barely received time off for my best friend's wedding, despite giving a six month notice. Low employee appreciation. The blame game is ubiquitous. Management is not transparent with the pay scale.