Millhouse

What nationality are you?

As someone else has said, she is probably doing 6 x 12 hour shifts a week for, let me guess... 2500Dh a month.

You will be spending more than that on hotels, flights etc to visit her (she will also be knackered and so I'll very much doubt you will be getting your back wheels in that often either)

You'd be better off paying her that to stay at home in your home country - at least the pair of you might have some fun.

Euc-

Yeah right. Almost all hotels have normal working hours, which means 48 hours per week. It is up to the hotels how to implement this. Which means some work 8 hours a day 6 days a week, others work four 10 hour days and one 8 hour day (like mine) with 2 days off and yet others work 8.45hrs and the days off are alternating, so one week its 1 day off and the next week 2. (add 1 hr break to all the above working hours).

Rotana is in the last category.

To the OP: do some more reading about the country, Islamic culture and what is and is not allowed. We here can tell you how strict they actually are. For example, you can legally buy alcohol in RAK without having a license, and although living together is technically not allowed, if you are discreet you can go a long way.

Also, when your girlfriend finishes her 3 months probation she will be able to do a SSO: Staff Stay Over. She and one guest can stay in any other Rotana property except the ones in her own city for a special rate of maximum 110Dhs a night incl. breakfast. For Yas Island employees its different though, as they can stay in Abu Dhabi as well

Millhouse

Hi Euc, that's really interesting - I was under the impression that their hours were much higher than that. Do they all do overtime or something, I'm sure it's been told to me as worse than this.

What are the salaries?

Euc-

The hotels I worked at, and I have friends working for a few of the major brands are all around these hours. Occasionally overtime occurs, this is compensated as time for time. Naturally they get all the regular PH's off, or if it is not possible to take it on the day itself as the operation does not allow it they will get it as a pending day.

Salaries depend on the position, naturally, but range from 800Dhs for the lowest grade to 50k and up.

For example the receptionists will get ~1500Dhs, waiters are ~1100Dhs, Steward (dishwasher) ~8/900. the higher up you go the higher your salary.

Middle management in a proper hotel, so say a Front Office Manager normally gets anywhere between 10 and 15k, F&B Manager can get more depending on the amount of outlets he looks after. Director of Sales for an established hotel starts around 20k. Plus "the package".

Euc-

Btw, from what I read about his girlfriend, sharing room in KC and all, I would assume she is lower grade staff and will earn a max of 2000Dhs plus service charge (which can range anywhere between 0 and 2000 dhs, depending on how busy the hotel is).

Do remember they do not have any other expenses if they do not want to have them. The hotel provides for practically everything; 3 meals a day, transportation, laundry and most of the time they have a lounge with some internet facility's as well.

Millhouse

Hi Euc, the service charge...I have always worked on the basis that they don't get any of this so interesting.

The bit I'm never sure of is tipping using the credit card. I assume that if I put the tip on the card they don't see if and they are better if I leave cash, is this right?

Euc-

I can only speak for the hotels I know, and I am sure there are dodgy hotels where employees see nothing of the service charge, but most 4 and 5 star hotel employees will get it. Within Rotana it is mostly between 500 and 1000dhs a month. But I heard from previous Angsana people that they used to get around 1500 with some months over 2000! It does depends on a lot of things, and some hotels do use the service charge to cover breakage etc, so it will be lower in the end. Also depends on your grade in some hotels, for example the hotel where I am working at now, everybody will get service charge. And that really includes everybody, from the waiters to the GM. Others (like Rotana) include only the lower grade staff in the service charge as the higher grades get their bonus (although it depends on their perfomances how big their bonus is). I believe the bonus in Rotana is 5% (or 10.. hmm) of the yearly salary.

With regards to tipping, if you put extra on the creditcard, chances are that they will never see anything of it. If you leave cash, it depends on the outlet. Some have devided the tables and you have only one waiter, if you leave a tip he may put it in his pocket straight away. Some outlets prefer to collect everything and devide it evenly amongst the staff at the end of the month.

lionheart

You are probably right. Very few guys on here would even consider following their own British girlfriend to a foreign place let alone an Asian one, especially as it would be much easier to start afresh with a new one.

Millhouse

Why does the race matter?

Given the low salary she will get, and the high cost of visiting her then they (as a couple) would be better off if she didn't go. If she is insistant on going to earn a minimal salary then he would be better off paying her to stay...