"We have a lot of laughs here together. The housekeepers experience many funny things that we like to share with each other. For example, we all have a great time when one of the cleaners has cleaned the bathroom too enthusiastically and comes out of the room soaking wet. They accidentally gave themselves a shower. It's also always funny to guess what kind of guests are staying in the rooms. We then create our own story about them. Of course, we sometimes hear strange noises coming from the rooms as we walk through the corridors, which makes us chuckle. This is how we entertain ourselves as a close team and keep the work varied. Truly, no day is the same here."

Besides all the coziness among ourselves, appreciation from our guests is also something to be happy about. Recently, Belgian guests were so pleased with the room cleaning that they gave the entire housekeeping team five euros tip per person. Isn't that great? We also often find written notes in the rooms stating that guests were very satisfied with the room and the cleanliness, so sweet. What I personally find very nice is that as housekeeping, we are allowed to decorate the rooms when guests check in who are celebrating their birthday or spending their wedding night here, for example. We then make a balloon arch or decorate the rooms romantically with rose petals and swans folded from towels. Although it can be quite challenging to make those towels really look like swans.'

Every time I arrive at work, my colleagues start singing "Maria, Maria, Maria". It always makes me laugh. It also says a lot about the great atmosphere we have among us. They also call me the 'cappuccino woman' because I drink it once or twice every day. I find it delicious and it gives me good energy for the day.

In September 2016, I moved from Portugal to the Netherlands with my two daughters, while my son left for the United Kingdom with his wife. My husband had already been in the Netherlands for work for some time, so it was very nice to be together again. In November of that same year, my daughter and I went for a job interview at Hotel Zaltbommel. Because my daughter spoke English, she was hired immediately. I only spoke Portuguese and was advised to first learn the Dutch language and then apply again. After a few months, my daughter's supervisor asked if I was still interested in working at the hotel. This was great news; of course, I wanted that! So I started as a maid. At first, I was uncertain and didn't talk much with my colleagues because I didn't understand the language well. Fortunately, everyone was very nice and always tried to help me. When I worked here for a few months, I was asked if I wanted to clean the kettle. But I only understood the word 'water' and thought: what do they mean? 'Something with water' gave me the idea to clean all the windows extra well and I left the kettle untouched. In hindsight, we had a good laugh about it. Fortunately, we now use Google Translate more often, that helps a lot.