Class Acts: Service and Inequality in Luxury Hotels

by Rachel Sherman

In this lively study, Rachel Sherman goes behind the scenes in two urban luxury hotels to give a nuanced picture of the workers who care for and cater to wealthy guests by providing seemingly unlimited personal attention. Drawing on in-depth interviews and extended ethnographic research in a range of hotel jobs, including concierge, bellperson, and housekeeper, Sherman gives an insightful analysis of what exactly luxury service consists of, how managers organize its production, and how workers and guests negotiate the inequality between them. She finds that workers employ a variety of practices to assert a powerful sense of self, including playing games, comparing themselves to other workers and guests, and forming meaningful and reciprocal relations with guests. Through their contact with hotel staff, guests learn how to behave in the luxury environment and come to see themselves as deserving of luxury consumption. These practices, Sherman argues, help make class inequality seem normal, something to be taken for granted. Throughout, "Class Acts "sheds new light on the complex relationship between class and service work, an increasingly relevant topic in light of the growing economic inequality in the United States that underlies luxury consumption.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sociology, Labor, Ethnography, Read For School

373 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 18, 2006

Reviews

[Amanda Keck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having worked in a mid level hotel for several years and being a student of anthropology, I am interested in both the hospitality industry and ethnographies. What I gleaned from this book wasn't what the author intended however. (Although I did grasp what she was trying to get across and have no arguments against her conclusions.)

What I found shocking was how the training at mid level hotels stresses employees to treat guests as though they are luxury consumers and how little it values the effort employees put into their jobs and how thin their resources are spread. The author emphasises using guests names, personally escorting them to their destinations on the property, and anticipating guest needs (one example was given of offering water and a towel to a guest coming in from jogging.) These are all things as an employee of a mid range hotel would have been expected of me. Where I find the problem is that managers don't understand how time consuming this can be.

As a mid range hotel front desk worker, I was expected to do at the least four jobs at a luxury hotel. Front desk, concierge, reservations, and telephone operator were all my responsibility. I realize we didn't deal as much with concierge type tasks, but we did often print directions, call cabs, and recommend restaurants to guests. We also often ran extra pillows and blankets and forgotten sundries to guests, all free of charge and rarely without being tipped. What I find shocking is despite being a larger hotel than at least one of the properties the author talks about in this book, I was expected to handle four to five jobs for half the wage and without the benefit of tip income that those employees enjoyed, while being expected to treat them in the same fashion as a luxury consumer.

The one problem I have with the author's statements is that she claims guests aren't paying for the amenities, they are paying for the service. Here I would like to disagree somewhat. Mid line hotels offer the basics. I do believe these guests ARE paying for more spacious rooms, better decor, and better amenities in general, as evidenced by many guests emphasizing the displeasure with rooms and feeling entitled to upgrades. I also feel that the reason they are paying for the service is because mid range hotels often don't provide enough staff or resources for employees to treat guests in the fashion that managers and corporate assume they are being treated. If more employees were available to front desk workers at mid range hotels, I think guests would be SHOCKED at the treatment they received and that sort of treatment would be more aligned to the way employees are trained to treat their guests. I remember distinctly in training an example of a guest enjoying a type of tea that we didn't carry and the training materials suggesting that it be purchased and left in the guest's room for her arrival. When I asked about this sort of anticipation of needs most of my fellow employees scoffed and stated that we didn't have the money or time for that and this wasn't the Ritz. However, one employee that had been with the hotel awhile stated with pride how she had won a service award in previous years for getting repeat guests' favorite magazines and candy and had it waiting in the rooms for them, but that corporate had cut her doing this because of budget and time constraints.

In this vein, I think an interesting follow up study would be to study the difference between corporate expectations and execution in mid level hotels.

[Niniane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating! The author did undercover research by working in two luxury hotels as a concierge, room service deliveryperson, and front desk employee.

Workers are constantly confronted by the inequality of guests paying $500-700/night and the worker is paid $14/hour. Workers deal with it with many mental techniques. They judge guests for being tacky or stingy or too wasteful. They passive aggressively put rude guests on hold.

Guests from a non-upper-class background feel out of place at first. They don't know customs, who to tip, and the lingo. The workers gradually teach these customs to the guests, like a finishing school. Many guests get accustomed to the luxury and find they can't stay at cheaper hotels.

The service is why hotels charge so much. Workers learn to personalize their treatment of guests, remember their name and preferences, anticipate needs, and act like nothing is too much to provide. Workers have to act like they WANT to provide this labor, to ease the guests's guilt.

Guests often reciprocate and get gifts for the workers. Their guilt makes them eager to pretend there is a real bond, or that they are actually equal. Sometimes guests cast themselves as disadvantaged, by saying that they have to travel so many days of the year, or they are jetlagged and tired from travelling, or they feel uncomfortable in a new city.

Guests want to be treated like they're in their mom's house. They want workers to remember them, do things selflessly for them, and fulfill their unstated desires.

I read this book because marketing made me want to stay in beautiful luxury hotels and I wanted to break that spell. This book was highly effective in doing so.

[Carmen von Rohr · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was far less interesting than I thought it would be, though it does make an important theoretical contribution blah blah.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suuuper interesting look into the pre-2008 financial crisis luxury world. I’d be interested to see what a similar study would look like today, with the current economic climate and technological advances. This is the second book I’ve read by Rachel Sherman and I do enjoy her analysis and writing style - I only wish this book included more little anecdotes from her experience in each hotel! However, it is a thesis, so I’ll forgive it. I’ll be watching for more of her work for sure.

[Margarita Malixi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a graduate of a course majoring in the hospitality industry, I found this book very helpful in ever angle you look at. It gives you first hand personal experiences that you could very much relate to whether from the worker's perspective or the guest's. It is very entertaining and enjoyable although it has some heavy chapters that talk about the science of all of it. It's a very good book to read. Highly recommended.

[Tina McCully · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author seems to be disappointed that people with good jobs won’t rise up and revolt because some one has more money than they do. Not the unbiased examination I was expecting.