When we decided this summer to try Helpx as a way of travel we sent some emails to different hosts, and one that answered us was the Baltasound Hotel, in Unst, the most northern island in all England. This was the email that they sent to us:
“Good Day Joaquin and laura,
I have detailed below what we provide and what we expect in return.
As regards working days/hours you would have at least one full day off. Working hours are flexible and depending on what role you would be assisting with your working day would generally start around 10am and over by three o clock leaving you plenty of time to explore the island. Alternatively you may have the morning off and work of an evening. There is access to the internet and there is a local garage which hires cars and bicycles. We also have bicycles which you may borrow as long as customers have not pre arranged a hire.You do also have access to a washing machine.
We will provide you with 2 cooked meals a day. Breakfast and dinner. We do not provide a lunch service for customers so do not cook for staff. We would however provide a sandwich for lunch. Evening meal would usually be at 5:30pm but may sometimes be erratic as it depends on how busy we are in the restaurant. We will try our best to fit in with any special dietary requirements you may have but will need to know before you arrive. All staff/helpers would be provided with the same dish from our tour group menu. You eat the same quality as our residents. We do not treat you any worse.
As a couple we would presume you will share a room. Due to the fact that hotel bookings may change dramatically from day to day we need you to be flexible with working hours. Similarly we will be flexible as possible if you have any specific requests on days or time off. We would do our best to make arrangements for the entire week so you know in advance what you are doing, but once again it is not always possible due to the changeable nature of bookings. There may be days when there may be only 2/3 of hours of work to be done so we ask that a level of commonsense is used and if needed extra hours are put in on other days. You would be the benefactor as regards time in this arrangement.
We would make every effort to ensure that you were able to work at the same time as you are a couple but there will be occasions depending on how many other helpers we have at the time that we may ask you to work at different times. As previously said we will do our best to avoid this but please be prepared that sometimes it may be necessary. Work would be whatever was required at the time. This may be housekeeping, kitchen porter, waitressing, car park and groundskeeping. Basically anything that you might imagine is the day to day running needs of a hotel. I probably make our expectations sound a lot tougher than it actually is. I just don't want anyone to turn up with false expectations. In short we will provide you with a good enjoyable well fed environment with plenty of opportunity to enjoy a holiday experience. In return we expect whichever duties are allocated to you to be carried out in a effective and appropriate manner. Whilst you may not be a regular member of staff, we still expect you to follow the rules that are laid down for them and behave in a manner that would not adversely affect guests view of the hotel.
There is lots to do on the island but it would be up to yourself to get out and about to do it. This may be stating the obvious but you would be surprised how many people arrive expecting to be provided with a full entertainments programme. There is a leisure centre nearby which has a small swimming pool, weights gym, tennis and squash courts.
If that does not sound too demanding we await confirmation that you still wish to join us and we can firm dates. Also can you please tell us what skills or abilities you can bring.
Best regards,
Steve”
I have detailed below what we provide and what we expect in return.
As regards working days/hours you would have at least one full day off. Working hours are flexible and depending on what role you would be assisting with your working day would generally start around 10am and over by three o clock leaving you plenty of time to explore the island. Alternatively you may have the morning off and work of an evening. There is access to the internet and there is a local garage which hires cars and bicycles. We also have bicycles which you may borrow as long as customers have not pre arranged a hire.You do also have access to a washing machine.
We will provide you with 2 cooked meals a day. Breakfast and dinner. We do not provide a lunch service for customers so do not cook for staff. We would however provide a sandwich for lunch. Evening meal would usually be at 5:30pm but may sometimes be erratic as it depends on how busy we are in the restaurant. We will try our best to fit in with any special dietary requirements you may have but will need to know before you arrive. All staff/helpers would be provided with the same dish from our tour group menu. You eat the same quality as our residents. We do not treat you any worse.
As a couple we would presume you will share a room. Due to the fact that hotel bookings may change dramatically from day to day we need you to be flexible with working hours. Similarly we will be flexible as possible if you have any specific requests on days or time off. We would do our best to make arrangements for the entire week so you know in advance what you are doing, but once again it is not always possible due to the changeable nature of bookings. There may be days when there may be only 2/3 of hours of work to be done so we ask that a level of commonsense is used and if needed extra hours are put in on other days. You would be the benefactor as regards time in this arrangement.
We would make every effort to ensure that you were able to work at the same time as you are a couple but there will be occasions depending on how many other helpers we have at the time that we may ask you to work at different times. As previously said we will do our best to avoid this but please be prepared that sometimes it may be necessary. Work would be whatever was required at the time. This may be housekeeping, kitchen porter, waitressing, car park and groundskeeping. Basically anything that you might imagine is the day to day running needs of a hotel. I probably make our expectations sound a lot tougher than it actually is. I just don't want anyone to turn up with false expectations. In short we will provide you with a good enjoyable well fed environment with plenty of opportunity to enjoy a holiday experience. In return we expect whichever duties are allocated to you to be carried out in a effective and appropriate manner. Whilst you may not be a regular member of staff, we still expect you to follow the rules that are laid down for them and behave in a manner that would not adversely affect guests view of the hotel.
There is lots to do on the island but it would be up to yourself to get out and about to do it. This may be stating the obvious but you would be surprised how many people arrive expecting to be provided with a full entertainments programme. There is a leisure centre nearby which has a small swimming pool, weights gym, tennis and squash courts.
If that does not sound too demanding we await confirmation that you still wish to join us and we can firm dates. Also can you please tell us what skills or abilities you can bring.
Best regards,
Steve”
How you can read here or in it Helpx's page, they ask for a maximum of 5 hours of work per day in exchange of breakfast, sandwich and the group menu, but, what does this really mean?
It means that you will have a complete breakfast with cereals, milk, yoghurt, some fruit, toasts and a hot plate with bacon, eggs, beans, ... Then you will have a sandwich for "lunch" but don't have big expectations about it because it would be normally a mayo with tuna sandwich. Luckily some day it would be of jam and cheese and if the owners don¡t realize maybe you found some cucumber, tomato or onion. Finally, dinner: This is the most complicated part of all the meals. Don't expect big things about it, because it consists in a hot meal (not very good normally, and I can not understand how clients can pay for it) and that's it. Don't expect dessert or something similar, because how I will explain later, they told us very clearly one night that the dessert is an award and that they would only give it to us when they want (more exactly when they have leftover food, and they gave it to us, as we were animals because many tims it was broken pieces of cake or even cake crumbs!). Don't expect either be able to grab any other food during the day because they will call you a thief.
The food timetables are the following:
- Breakfast: From 9 to 9.30 (on weekends)
- Lunch, the time is imposed by them.
- Dinner at 5
Also remember that you have no way to cook you anything, or storing food, because the only fridge that is supposed to be for the staff does not work. Also in the little shop you can't buy much, because everything is overpriced and closes at 5pm, so depending on your schedule is difficult to go.
Back to the e-mail, it says that a maximum of 5 hours work.
- If you're a man, you will work probably as a handyman in the morningyou work in the morning, unclogging drains, nailing nails, sanding the cabins or anything like that.
- If you are a woman you will work in the kitchen or cleaning the rooms, the common areas and the bar.
Back to the e-mail, it says that a maximum of 5 hours work.
- If you're a man, you will work probably as a handyman in the morningyou work in the morning, unclogging drains, nailing nails, sanding the cabins or anything like that.
- If you are a woman you will work in the kitchen or cleaning the rooms, the common areas and the bar.
If you work in the kitchen your turn will begin at 12 or 18, depending on the day , and if you make the rooms at 10.
In the kitchen basically you will have to clean plates, pans, Tupperware , ... because they do not have any dishwasher (only one for glasses ) and then you will have to clean the kitchen . If you have to clean the rooms also you will have to clean the Pub ( a dirty and smelly place, that at least when we stayed me and another girl had to cleanup and that was not thoroughly cleaned in a while , because it was full of mold and dirt) , restaurant, public areas and rooms.
Hours of work :It's supposed to work up to 5 hours per day , and if you finish before your work, you can go , but that's not always true since you can only finish before if you work on the kitchen at evenings, because if you are in cleaning even if you 've finished you will be given tasks that serve only to fill time as clean the legs of chairs and dining tables ( two days in a row) .
Also note that if one day you do more hours they will not considered them. They have also made people scratch the floor with small spatulas just to get them to work five hours . Obviously the break ( 15 min) is not included in those 5 hours, but is mandatory, as I will explain later.
Laura
