Diaries of an emigrant: how a Ukrainian woman lives in the Maldives. How life is in the Maldives for mere mortals Life in the Maldives

Dazzling White sand, shallow as flour, the purest ocean, shimmering with all shades of blue, a palm tree bending over the water, silence broken only by the sound of the surf and the rustling of palm leaves - this is the picture of an ideal tropical paradise. This is how we imagine the very “bounty” that all vacationers who go to distant warm countries are looking for.

I saw such a landscape in different countries in the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and even India. So why is the Maldives the example of a tropical “bounty” for most?

Artificial paradise

Holidays in the Maldives are divided into holidays on resort islands and so-called inhabited islands. It is a holiday in resorts that is the embodiment of that very ideal vacation on snow-white beach. I privately called it an “artificial bounty,” because, unlike the “natural bounty” on inhabited islands or in Thailand, it is maintained in perfect order. The island where I worked was only 600 by 800 meters, but more than 300 people worked on it. Not a single bottle brought by the surf, not a single cigarette butt, not a single local residents, nor dogs relieving their natural needs on the white sand will offend the guest’s eyes. Even with mosquitoes, an irreconcilable war is being waged here so that guests are not bitten or, worse, infected with a tropical disease, like Dengue fever.

On the inhabited islands, everything is the same as everywhere else - garbage, dogs, local residents of varying degrees of colorfulness. Also, do not forget that the Maldives is a strict Muslim country, and you can only appear in a swimsuit on specially designated beaches. Alcohol is also prohibited and its consumption is criminally punishable. This, of course, does not apply to tourists, but you can only buy alcohol in resorts. In Male and on the inhabited islands, alcohol cannot be found in any restaurant. It is also forbidden to import alcohol, even purchased in duty free; there are gigabytes written on travel forums about how to bring alcohol to the Maldives.

But I wasn’t particularly interested in all these difficulties and I didn’t have a choice of a resort or an inhabited island, because I got a job as a diving instructor in a five-star and expensive hotel.

What is it like to work in paradise? - Eh, if I had a dollar for every question like this... But no one is throwing around dollars today, so I’ll try to answer it absolutely free of charge.

Heavenly job

Among diving professionals, the Maldives is considered one of the best places for work, although with its own disadvantages and specifics. Here you can count on a stable, good salary, while food and accommodation are provided by the employer, and a work permit is also issued by the employer at his own expense. Everything is official: weekends, sick leave, holidays. At the end of the contract, they pay for a ticket home. Since there is almost nowhere to spend money on the islands, you can save a decent amount in a year. But here we just come to the disadvantages...

The islands are small, often quite remote, no entertainment, no shops, only the simplest health care. I worked in the northernmost resort of the Maldives, about 300 km from Male, which is more than an hour by seaplane.

The hotel, of course, has a store specifically for staff, and on the inhabited islands around there are stores (by our standards, an average general store, I couldn’t find hair conditioner, the girls will understand). There are also hospitals in the atoll where they can even cut out appendicitis, but, for example, I flew to Male to treat teeth.

There are many rules and restrictions for staff in Resorts. Of course, they are different on all islands, most often: the more stars, the stricter. For example, the servants can swim and sunbathe only in one place, they cannot walk on the beach in front of the guest houses and, in general, it is better not to wander around the island idly. There are also strict rules regarding appearance: piercings, tattoos, bright manicures, three-day stubble are all illegal.

Entertainment is also different than bigger island and the closer you get to Male, the more vibrant and fun it is, as a rule. Our entertainment included a bar for the staff with alcohol at affordable prices, a disco for the staff once every three months, and periodically various sports competitions (football, volleyball, pool and even chess) with cash prizes. It’s like a maximum security sanatorium in paradise :)

But first things first…

Few people do not dream of living and working in a picturesque corner of the planet, one of which can rightfully be called. But working in the Maldives just sounds good. In fact, this is daily and sometimes very exhausting work.

There are several ways to find work in this exotic region.

Through specialized agencies that carry out personnel selection. They offer enough profitable terms, which include the preparation of all necessary documents for work and residence.
Independent search work. When you come to the Maldives to relax, you can combine business with pleasure. But here it is necessary to take into account what prohibits getting a job. For legal registration, you will need to collect a certain package of documents, extend your visa and undergo a medical examination.

The most common vacancies in the Maldives are: bartenders, waiters, maids in hotel complexes, hotel reception representatives and guides.

Such a wide range of vacancies is determined primarily by the religion of the indigenous people. Religion prohibits them from working with alcoholic beverages, and women are called upon to do only housework, without even thinking about work.

There is a high chance of finding seasonal work in the Maldives. This is great for couples. Basically, this is work in agriculture for collecting fruits, which are then sent for export.

To get a job, you must be fluent in foreign languages (mainly English) and have work experience in the intended field.

Necessary documents and procedure for official registration for work

He can enter as a worker only with the official permission of this organization. In the meantime, if a person is on the territory of the state, he needs to leave its borders.

Once permission has been received, the employer must notify the Immigration Department of the worker's arrival. He must do this 48 hours before arrival. Upon arrival, a person submits an application for a resident visa within 7 days from the date of issue of the permit.

A necessary and mandatory condition for employment is passing a medical examination, which also includes passing all tests. After successfully passing the medical examination, the hired worker is issued a card that contains his personal data and work responsibilities.

The employer bears full responsibility for the employee. According to the law, he must provide him with housing, salary, food and uniform. A contract is concluded between the employee and the employer, which specifies all the conditions and guarantees of cooperation.

Cases in which a work permit is invalidated

Maldives- a state with strict observance of law and order. If the employee intends to take leave, he must provide the Department with a letter from the employer. This document certifies the worker's right to leave the territory of the Maldives.

Otherwise, the work permit is invalid, and the employee does not have the right to find employment for the next 3 years.

Labor legislation

When hiring a hired worker under a contract, the employer undertakes to bear all of his basic and additional expenses:

Pay wages.
Preparation of the necessary documentation.
Providing additional funds for treatment if a worker’s life is in danger.
Payment for accommodation and meals.

In turn, the employee undertakes to respect the religion of the country, not to violate the law and to conscientiously fulfill his work responsibilities.

Accommodation on the island

Even if a person who does not have citizenship of the Maldives wants to connect his life with this picturesque region forever, he still won’t be able to buy a place to live. This is strictly prohibited by law for foreigners.

The only way out in this situation could be long term rental. The price for renting apartments ranges from 600 to 1500 dollars per month:

one-room - 600-680;
two-room – 800.
three-room apartment – 1400-1500 dollars.

In which he asks Ukrainians living in other countries of the world to talk about their new life. This week Nicoletta Popovic talks about life in the Maldives.

WHY DID I MOVE

My move is destiny. I lost my job and on the same day I saw on Facebook a vacancy for a sales and reservations manager at a travel agency in the Maldives. It was a chance to try my luck, and since then Luck has held me very tightly.

For a long time I couldn’t believe that I was flying away: my employer paid for the ticket, so even in Boryspil during check-in, it seemed to me that everything was happening in make-believe.

Fortunately, I didn’t fly to the Maldives alone - two days before departure it turned out that another girl was going to work with me. She became my salvation. Dasha helped me settle in, and the adaptation period was fun: together we got used to insanely spicy food, reminded each other to say “not spicy” when ordering food in a restaurant, often got lost in the narrow streets of the city, running in circles looking for the way home, and every day we were amazed incredible colors of the ocean.

About prices and purchases

The Maldives consists of 1,100 small islands surrounded by the ocean, so there is no production here - everything is imported from other countries, which is why prices are 2 times more expensive than in other countries Asian countries. In Male, the capital Republic of Maldives, there are 2-3 stores with a good range of products, sometimes you can even find sour cream. It is better to buy fruits and vegetables in small shops: prices are lower and quality is better. Unfortunately, there is a problem with dairy products and bread - there is some, but there is no taste.

Work is fun

The first year I worked in the capital - at stone island, as the locals call Male. At first, everyday life was not particularly bright, but over time, friends appeared: artists, musicians, graphic designers, DJs and simply creative people. They “painted” my life with bright colors. Even a simple meeting in a coffee shop turned into a brainstorm and ended with some interesting project.

A year and four months later, I changed jobs and moved to a hotel. My stay here is more reminiscent of a large summer camp than work: everyone knows each other, everyone is friendly, everyone does their own thing, but if you need help, there are easily those who will provide it. It’s like a big family, one mechanism, so even in difficult situations you don’t feel pressure and stress, and the work week becomes like a vacation with quests.

Standard of living

The capital is home to 150 thousand people, a large percentage of whom are migrants who come from neighboring islands in search of better life. Having land in Male is a great luxury, so those who have their own land build it up with 5-8-story buildings and rent out apartments at crazy prices. Therefore, visitors spend most of their salaries on rent. Meanwhile, landlords work either in government institutions, or in decent positions in private companies.

A family is considered rich if it can provide its children with a higher education at a decent university outside the Maldives. Mainly in Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, UK and Australia.

How friends are made

About a month after our arrival, Dasha and I went to a neighboring island to admire the beautiful sunset and sit on the beach: we listened to the sound of the waves, interrupting it with conversations about “life.” On the way back, buying tickets for the huge wooden boat Doni (local public transport), we met Danya and Katya, a couple from Russia. They are organizing a festival and show - they came to the Maldives to explore the territory. The guys invited us to a farewell barbecue, where they introduced us to the locals - the founders of the Society for the Protection of the Environment and part-time organizers of various parties in Male. The evening turned out to be rich in conversations, stories, life stories. This is how we found open friends among the Maldivians.

Is it easy to become one of your own?

There are a lot of expats in the Maldives, and everyone is treated very well, with the exception of Bangladeshis - they are “cheap labor” here, and therefore the attitude towards them is appropriate. I have friends from Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, but the closest ones are local. I like their ability to remain calm in any situation, not to panic and solve all problems over a cup of coffee. At first it was unusual and even strange, but eventually we began to learn it ourselves.

Fate brought me together with talented, open and cheerful people who know how to appreciate life and inspire, support and just be there, so here I feel in my place, as if I had traveled before and now returned home. Friends like to joke that I am a Maldivian from Ukraine.

The language barrier

English in the Maldives is the second language, so there was no language barrier as such. I speak fluently, but since moving I have improved my level. Due to the specific nature of the work, knowledge of an additional foreign language is a great advantage, but Russian is also highly valued here - it is one of the most popular languages in tourism. I began to study the local Dhivehi language for myself, but due to the fact that it is not in the list of languages in the Google translator, there is nothing to brag about yet.

Inspiration and self-realization

In addition to learning the local language, my friends inspired me to become creative. On weekends, I often take my camera and go in search of adventure. Over the past year, I managed to shoot a photo book dedicated to the city of Male and take part in an event called Arts&Crafts Bazaar 2014 with my photographic works.

But this country inspires me not only beautiful scenery and colorful sunsets. The Maldives is a Muslim country, so on the local islands there is no alcohol, clubs, bars, pork or dogs (they consider the latter animals to be dirty at heart).

Only a few months later I realized that I was living in a completely sober society, and this turned my mind upside down a little.

Recreation and entertainment

When the opportunity arises, I enjoy traveling with friends to a local island in search of new experiences. Each of them is unique due to some special local traditions, but they are all united by hospitality and good nature. Therefore, I recommend to everyone who is going to the Maldives as a back packer to visit several local islands, staying in guest houses there to get to know this country “from the inside.”

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Finding yourself in the Maldives, a person thinks that he has died and gone either to heaven or to Photoshop: at first it is impossible to believe that the water is really so blue, the sand is really so white, and the fish are so colorful. But the Maldives has another side - those who work there and do not relax perceive island life in a less rosy light. KSENIA NAUMOVA found out why employees of local resorts sometimes try to escape from here.

It is also hard to believe that in the 1960s, when the Maldives gained independence, the prospects for tourism on the islands were considered zero - this was stated in a special UN report. It is still not difficult to understand what brought the organization’s commissioners to such an idea: the Maldives is the “ water world", life, or rather, survival in the middle of the ocean on tiny pieces of land. Not even sushi, but coral reefs that crumbled into dust. Here, obeying some eternal call, special people once sailed from the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent: hardy, calm and courageous. This feature of their breed is still felt today. The islanders live their whole lives with the feeling that there is a sea all around them and they have nowhere to run. And this makes them not only patient, but also, for example, very delicate. A friend of mine once told me that in New Zealand and Australia, huge Maori people work as bouncers in bars, and they are the most gentle bouncers in the world. They simply carefully push the rowdy back to the door so that he doesn’t even have time to get upset. Yes, yes, the same Maori who perform the warlike haka dance.

The Maldivians are much the same. But at resorts there are usually only 50% of them - this is how many resorts are required to hire by law. Most often, locals occupy the positions of gardeners, cleaners, and dishwashers, although good resorts, where the owner and management company there are some other aspirations besides making money, they are gladly promoted to more serious positions, and they do not fail: they, as a rule, turn out to be very effective workers due to their natural intelligence and even character. And most importantly, they are not susceptible to “island fever,” the main disease of all visitors, especially Europeans and Americans.

“I almost stopped posting photos from the island,” says my friend, German Svenia. “Friends in Germany begged me not to torture them anymore.” Svenia’s appearance, however, is not exactly joyful: she has not left the island for nine months, only to the neighboring town “for shopping,” that is, literally for chips. Svenia – she herself admits, but no one really hides it here – is beginning a period of that same “island fever”, it’s something like claustrophobia in the middle of the ocean. “I tend to get a little aggressive,” she says, clenching her teeth subtly.

She knows every corner, every tree on her island, and this is one of the largest resort islands in the country. Her favorite place— thickets of bushes near the golf course, from where palm trees are not visible. There she thinks it smells like the Mediterranean Sea. You can close your eyes and imagine that all around you are France or Italy, many kilometers of land, hills, rivers, cities, and in them - restaurants, streets... and people. Strangers.

In the Maldives, there are big problems with personal space (and with space in general; the average area of the resort island is 5 sq. km): it is absolutely impossible for an employee to find a place for privacy here, especially if he is not in the highest rank. Most live with neighbors in one room, like in a dormitory, a separate villa is reserved only for the general manager, separate rooms for only a few people, for example, the head of the catering service and the director of accommodation. Each employee is entitled to one day off per week, but this is somewhat of a convention.

David, a young and ambitious Hungarian, recently arrived on the island to work as an assistant manager, having graduated from a prestigious hospitality school in Switzerland. He is proud of his rapid rise and seems ready to see out his contract to the end. His only complaint is that when he goes scuba diving on his day off, the head of one of the guests always appears nearby, who recognized him and, right in the water, starts asking to fix the air conditioning in the room or saying that they didn’t get a second bottle of water in their room. At these stories, such a spark of rage begins to jump in David’s eyes that it becomes clear: he will not complete the contract.

A foreign employee in the first months of the contract and after six months are often two different people. My friend Jennifer, PR director of one of the Maldivian resorts, a hurricane person, a New Zealander with an Australian passport, was planning to quit in the first month. She was persuaded to stay and was given a room at another resort of the same chain, on a larger and more fun island.

Jennifer held out for another three months and, having quit, rushed off to Bangkok with joyful cries. This is despite the fact that she, it seems, was never bored on the islands, constantly coming up with new entertainment for the guests: she either took them on a Pokemon hunt, or brought dancers from a famous theater to the resort, who gave a performance right on the beach and staged a ballet workshop. class for guests in an underwater nightclub.

Jennifer, by the way, doesn't eat fish. Surprisingly, so does Svenia. For a person who cannot tolerate fish and seafood, the islands turn into a rather hungry place: if they try to please the guests here and carry mini-carrots and foie gras for them by plane, then in the diet of the employees, as in the diet of the Maldivians, central place takes tuna. Slightly less central is coconut and rice. In the service canteen, every day they serve several variations on the theme of these three products, occasionally adding delicacy chicken or beef to them. By the way, even guests sometimes feel the dominance of tuna: they cook it here in all kinds, and they get tired of it pretty quickly. Even the seafood here is imported: the water around the Maldives is so clean that all kinds of shrimp and scallops cannot be found in it - they need more organic matter to live, that is, in other words, plankton, plants and sea carrion.

No fruits grow here either, except coconut. More precisely, they grow, but tiny and little, and even those still immature are eaten by flying foxes, they are also fruit bats. The only local thing is papaya: this heroic fruit grows to the size of a boulder in a couple of months. But papaya is not endemic; it grows only where the owners of the island bother to plant it. And mangoes, passion fruit, pitaya, as well as apples and pears are brought from Sri Lanka and Europe.

Even bananas are rare here. Maldivian bananas exist, they are grown, in particular, in the Addu Atoll, they are tiny, not too sweet, but at least they are native.

The chef of the Shangri-La resort, Australian Michael McCalman, turned to recent months on the island entrusted to him, a large-scale farming program: both entertainment for himself and benefit for his employees. He took under his wing a vegetable garden, which, according to the latest fashion, many resorts have started, not to enliven the landscape, but for the sake of a real harvest. The chef orders seeds of various plants from Australia and checks whether they will take root or not. Almost like astronauts in orbit. The chef puts those that produce a healthy harvest into mass production, at the same time helping the locals earn an extra dirham: he sends them to neighboring islands, teaches how to care for them, and then buys the harvest at a price that suits everyone.

If the Maldivians can turn off the “fisherman” genetic program and turn on the “farmer” program, it is quite possible that at least they will be able to provide resort employees with fresh vegetables that have not previously flown halfway around the world.

Each island has a “back door” - a utility bay, where food, fuel and household goods, from napkins to shampoos, are brought to the resort from Male, and garbage is also collected. The passage to this bay is usually carefully disguised, since the sight is strikingly different from the idyllic picture that guests see: broken-down cargo boats with gloomy sailors (they say they used to manage to supply bored employees of five-star resorts with even drugs), unhappy restaurant managers - people come to the island every day a portion of spoiled or low-quality products slipped by the supplier. Changing an insolent supplier for a Maldivian hotel is not at all as easy as for an ordinary city restaurant: it’s far away and expensive.

So, when you pile fresh strawberries onto your plate at a Maldivian resort, remember that each berry has gone through approximately the same circles of hell as a Top Model contestant, and many of its still quite edible sisters have flown across the ocean only to end up in the trash heap: Quality standards in most Maldivian resorts are very high.

On the islands, as in general hotel industry, there are many Germans - their discipline is known. But they too fall into eccentricity in the Maldives. A general manager named Markus is called to the Maldives from Phuket to replace another German, Hans. Hans flew away on vacation and on family matters and is in no hurry to return, although he loves his resort. Marcus gradually begins to go crazy: he rushes around the island in a buggy like crazy, carries guests’ suitcases himself, dances at discos in an underground club and treats everyone to champagne from his general manager’s fund - just so as not to get bored. True, the guests do not notice anything - they only see a wide smile and a person who can quickly and clearly solve any of their problems. “I don’t like living in a hotel,” says Marcus, “I like to go home after work and cook dinner.” In the Maldives, Marcus was given a villa, the same as the guests, since he is a task force, a valuable employee on a special mission. It would seem like an idiot’s dream, but after a week of dining on the familiar room delivery menu, anyone will understand what a luxury it is to fry eggs for breakfast.

The rest of the employees all live together in large common buildings. At some resorts, Maldivian employees, even if they are from a neighboring village, are not allowed to go home overnight, only on weekends. In others, more humane, they organize an overnight ferry to your home. Sometimes local riots occur: even patient Maldivians lose their nerve.

The most interesting Maldivian I met on the islands is Ahmed. A cheerful, smart and cynical chubby guy at the age of 25 runs the sales department: he is the best at drinking with travel agents so that they then sell the hotel with a special breath. Ahmed has excellent English. “Did you learn this in Addu City?” - I ask. Ahmed's home atoll is known for its good schools, left over from the British. “No, I just like to drink with white people,” Ahmed laughs. “And I watch Game of Thrones.” Ahmed, by the way, told a Maldivian story about why the islands lost in the ocean converted to Islam. According to this unofficial but plausible version, it was like this: an Arab traveler, who lived on the islands in a Maldivian family, somehow learned that the only daughter of his hospitable hosts would soon be sacrificed sea monster. This was the tradition on the islands: every year the most beautiful girl fed to the miracle juda. The traveler volunteered to go ashore instead of the girl and negotiate with the monster. The monster turned out to be the local ruler - and the Arab, as payment for his silence, demanded that the Maldivians convert to Islam.

Now, as a price for keeping silent about what happens in the Maldives and remains in the Maldives, management receives quite good salaries. However, you can spend it without even leaving the island: in the employee villages there are shops where they sell products from the mainland, such as chicken, at exorbitant prices.

Numerous Thai masseuses also miss the food - to them, accustomed to a rich bouquet of spices, local food seems terribly bland. “When someone flies from Male, I always ask to buy me food at Thai Express, there is such a cafe there,” sighs masseuse Khom, with whom we talked about the intricacies of making papaya salad. “They don’t know how to cook curry here at all, just chili and that’s it!”

Perhaps only the Filipinos do not complain about the Maldives. While we chat with Jennifer about the features of catching Pokemon on tropical island, Filipina marketing manager Suna sneaks by. Jennifer, who seems to be her boss, notices the intruder. “Suna! Where are you going?! It's your day off today! Take off your badge immediately and go to the beach. She's like this forever! On the weekend he’ll sneak into the office and let’s answer letters.” Suna looks at us with wise eyes. She’s about 40 (maybe more, island girls always look younger due to the high humidity), her family remains in the Philippines, and she doesn’t mind working on her day off at all - she knows that she still won’t be able to be completely distracted.

However, working in the Maldives is still considered terribly prestigious in the industry. And not at all because of the tropical beauties, but because of the challenges that life on an island, connected to the mainland by very ghostly threads, presents to a hotel manager. It is believed that if you learn to solve hotel problems here, you will learn to solve them anywhere. It turned out that a newly built dome of an underwater restaurant becomes covered with a layer of fish plaque in a couple of hours? We register in job responsibilities diving instructors that they now clean this dome twice a day. An uninhabited island where a newlywed couple had a romantic picnic goes underwater due to a sudden tide? We evacuate the couple to main island and compensate for moral damage with a free spa procedure.

Do you know, for example, how the Internet is installed in the Maldives? A thick cable stretches to Male, the capital, from Sri Lanka, and from there the Internet is distributed... through the air. Through microwaves. During a storm, the Internet is sometimes cut off. How sometimes the electricity produced by the generator is cut off. In general, there are many moments when it becomes clear why the UN once declared the islands unsuitable for tourism, despite #seapalmsandwhitesand.

But when everything is good in the Maldives - and from the point of view of a guest, most often everything is still good there - you are still glad that there were stubborn Maldivians who convinced foreigners to climb into the very heart Indian Ocean. The first tourists, Italian divers, lived in huts, ate that damned tuna, sat in the evenings by the light of a light bulb powered by a diesel generator - and were completely happy. So is it worth complaining in 2016 while sipping champagne in a pool overlooking the azure lagoon?

Working abroad is a fashionable topic these days. Students leave in droves for the summer under international exchange programs and learn the joys of capitalist labor from the very bottom, as they say: some as a gas station attendant, some as a waiter in a cafe. In tourism, our prospects are, at best, to work at the reception somewhere in England or America, at worst - as a trans-farm from morning to night in Turkey or Egypt.

Therefore, when I found out that my friend, Tatyana Kozlova, worked in the Maldives for four years, I grabbed her with a death grip. Firstly - the Maldives. A piece of heaven on Earth. Secondly, working in a hotel of a level that our Belarusian hotel business can only dream of - in the luxury chain “One&Only”! And, finally, to even get into middle management in a hotel of this rank is almost impossible. But she did it, going from SPA reception manager to the position of sales executive!

Tatyana, you have the experience of numerous interviews for vacancies in other, no less pretentious hotels - « FourSeasons» , « RitzCarlton» ... What questions are usually asked?

Firstly, they listen to how good your English is and how you formulate your thoughts. But the first question that is asked specifically in the Maldives is: “Do you understand WHAT the Maldives is? This is a closed space, an island. You cannot go anywhere (and all contracts are for 2-3 years). Are you ready to forget about discos, shopping, bars, clubs for 2 years?..” It was easier for me, because before that I had worked on a ship for 7 months - also a closed space. They take people off the ship easily. Because if you have passed the ship, you can survive in any conditions.

They ask: how do you surprise your client? Here we need specific examples. I have a lot of them. For example, once a well-known presenter of the ORT channel was vacationing with us. She really liked the burners that we put in the rooms, oils are added there, and it smells delicious. I found her butler, found out what kind of oil was used in her room, and asked him to make her a package as a gift. Six months later she comes again. Having remembered her taste, I prepared the same oil for her arrival. She was delighted!

The more stories like this you tell, the better the employer understands that the person has an understanding of what the service industry is and how to work with a client. Indeed, in my case, 70% of the clients in the hotel are celebrities: world-famous politicians, directors, actors, writers, fashion designers, top models, presidents of countries.

- What was asked, for example, in« RitzCarlton» ?

Rits Carlton has a complex system. 5 interviews, including a psychological test. Moreover, they can talk to you about the same topic, and then randomly ask the question: do you consider yourself an honest person?

- So, the first job in the Maldives is in a hotel« Kurumba» . In what position?

Guest relations. The usual position for Russian-speaking personnel. Hostess in a restaurant, waiter, receptionist, guest relations. Nobody hires a Russian thief for a managerial position - these are unique cases. Guest relations meets guests upon arrival and helps with registration at the reception. Russian guests love it when people speak Russian to them. In this position I had a salary of $400. Plus food, accommodation and one day off per week.

- And in« One& Only» you came to work inSPA. Another position, other responsibilities.

Initially, I applied for guest relations, but I was hired for a position at a higher level - reception manager at SPA, with five people subordinate. I trained them, in addition, I supervised all Russian clients in the SPA and all VIP clients. Salary - $800 dollars plus a monthly service charge (it is included in the client's bill and divided among all SPA employees) - from $300 in the worst month to $400-600. The largest service charge I received during my entire work experience was $900. And tips, of course. They go separately and depend only on your work.

- How were you brought into the system?

- “One&Only” is truly a system. Any employee first goes through an introductory course: during the week they tell you what “One&Only” is and introduce you to top managers of the entire chain. You should know by sight all the general directors of all hotels. One day is completely devoted to getting to know the hotel. And when you already come to your department, they create a separate training program for you.

- What are the hotel standards?

There are a lot of them! First, the standards of the hotel itself, then each department has its own standards. For example, according to SPA standards, we are obliged to ask the client several mandatory questions: what type of massage he wants, what strength (strong, weak), which massage therapist - a boy or a girl (for many clients this is important), is there Are there any contraindications for massage? It is also necessary to warn the client that he must come to the SPA 45 minutes in advance to take advantage of our additional services, and warn that the massage can be canceled 12 hours in advance. At the end of the conversation, you need to summarize: so, Mr. Smith, you ordered such and such procedures on August 5 at 10 am, your massage therapist is a girl, and so on. You must definitely tell the client this. According to the standard, it is necessary to mention the client’s name at least three times during a conversation. In addition, since the hotel is part of the “The Leading Hotels of the World” chain, it was necessary to know their standards. Plus, there are also the standards of Richey, a very reputable organization involved in hotel inspection. Richey inspectors are people who themselves have worked in high positions in the hotel business, for example at the position general director in some high-class hotel. They have very tight control. Inspectors always arrive incognito, disguised as guests.

- Tell us about your experience of such verification.

The inspector booked the SPA by phone and arrived at 10 am - in fact he was late for the massage, although we always warn you to arrive in advance. But this can also be part of the test - how you act in such a situation. Again, we have a standard for welcoming guests. We offer them tea, a wet wipe, fill out a registration card, change their shoes, give them the key, accompany them to the locker room, open the locker, tell them what is in the locker room, where the sauna is, etc.

I’m sitting at the reception, it’s pouring rain. A cyclist approaches, and at that moment something inside me clicks: it’s him! I quickly find his name in the system, run up to the door, open it: “Good morning, Mister Smith!” He was amazed; he did not expect such a reception. Moreover, he was not the only client at that moment. By the way, he arrived without an umbrella, the seat of the bicycle was wet, and we dried it with a hairdryer. After the inspection, the inspector usually goes to the general director with a report, and then they go together to the departments and assign ratings. When he came to us, he said: guys, you just amazed me!

- Are there many internships in« One& Only» ?

Student trainees from school constantly come to us hotel business in Lausanne. At our hotel they were paid a salary (about $400); but, for example, in " Four Seasons“They don’t pay money for the internship—students work for free for six months. So to speak, they work off the food, housing and experience they receive. Students come with the ambition - “I’m studying to be a manager here!” For many, this is already their second higher education. They are very quickly “lowered to the ground”, they explain: guys, in order to become, for example, a restaurant manager, you must first learn how to peel shrimp. We had a 26-year-old guy from Australia: he rose from a cleaner to a front office manager! At 26 years old! I went through all the steps! And thanks to this, he perfectly understood the needs of the people with whom he worked.

- What system of punishments and rewards is used in the hotel?

Three reprimands - and along with the fourth you lose your job. These are extreme measures, of course. In general, it seems to me that people who work in the service sector literally live it. If you are not passionate about what you do, you have nothing to do in the service sector. The working day is standardized. Overtime is paid only for low positions; managerial positions are not paid. As SPA workers, we had the right to one massage once a month, and we could go to the hairdresser. For other employees hotel SPA provided a 50% discount. Vacation - once a year for 30 days. If you have worked for a year, the company pays for a return ticket home. In the supervisor position, 6 more days were added to these 30 days of vacation, which could be used after working for six months. For a manager position - two times for 6 days after 4 months of work.

- In large corporations, special attention is always paid to corporate spirit. How did things go with this in« One&Only» ?

Every year the hotel widely celebrates its birthday. This is always a huge event, a large-scale event, almost with fireworks. Tables are set for the entire service staff of 800-850 people, a festive program is organized, the best employee of the year is selected by department, the best department of the year. Our SPA department has twice become the best department. When we won, they organized a barbecue for us at desert island. For the best employees they give cash prizes, managers can be rewarded with a trip to another hotel: to “One&Only” in Dubai or Mauritius or to “competitors” at “Four Seasons” here in the Maldives. We always celebrated personal birthdays at the department level. We also had our own, so to speak, slogans designed to unite us for common goals, for example: “Together we will achieve more!” (Together we will achieve more!) or “Good ENOUGH never is!” - “Pretty good - that’s not good.”

- How many staff does the hotel have?

800 people. The hotel is designed for approximately 400 people - 130 rooms. It turns out that there are 2 staff members per guest. We had our own staff territory. Its own gym, computer club (free wi-fi throughout the island), bar with very cheap alcohol, billiards, its own staff beach.

- How did you manage to move from level« reception managerSPA» per levelsales- marketingdepartment?

My contract had ended and I was about to leave. I knew that I wouldn’t stay at SPA, although I really liked my job. But there was a feeling that I would not achieve more in this position and would not learn anything more. The general director called me to his place and said: we want you to stay at the hotel. And he suggested that I try myself in sales. More precisely, first in PR. It scared me a little. We always had one PR manager and did everything. When you are not a native speaker, it is quite difficult. The general was just going to Moscow on a sales trip to meet with all tour operators. When I found out about this, I came to him and said: I want to go with you and help - in any case, you need a Russian-speaking person nearby. I'll pay for the ticket myself.

We came to Moscow and met with all the major tour operators who are selling us. Among Muscovites, our hotel is sold most of all by Luxury Tour and Sodis, and Maldiviana also has a fairly large sales volume.

This trip was a turning point. After that, I was hired into the sales department for the position of sales executive, this is middle management. It is clear that I still had a lot to learn. When they hired me like this, without experience, at my own peril and risk, naturally, I should not have fallen face down in the dirt. I had to work harder than others. I was taught to do market analysis for different positions, countries, nationalities. This is paper work that I delved into. I also had a lot of work with special clients - television people, journalists from famous publications. In general, PR did affect me.

Interviewed by Elena TSVETKOVA

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