Cleanliness is key – Esther Mtshali

“I love clean rooms!” Esther Mtshali, a housekeeper at Maropeng Boutique Hotel exclaims, “Just like I clean my house when visitors are visiting me is the way I clean the hotel rooms at Maropeng – because I want visitors to come back.

“Guests must be impressed with the state they find the rooms in, so I make sure that I clean extra hard for them,” she says. Esther started working at Maropeng in 2005 as an assistant at the kiosk, moving on to the scullery and then to housekeeping.

Her love of her job has certainly impressed those around her. Nurse Monana, who is head of housekeeping at the hotel, describes Esther as a hard worker who works well in a team and is not stubborn: “I trust her because she loves her job,” Nurse says.

Esther’s day starts early in the morning, as she waits for guests to check out so she can remove dirty linen from beds and give rooms a proper clean up.

She is particularly fond of her colleagues and refers to them as her second family. “I am blessed to work with such nice people who are quick to forgive and laugh a lot about things,” Esther says.

One of her most enjoyable times at Maropengwas meeting interesting people during Heritage Month in September of this year: “So many people visited Maropeng to learn about their origins and it was nice to interact with them.”

In her downtime, Esther loves shopping and spending time with her two kids.