Orlando Hotel Jobs with Westin Available

A small number of Orlando hotel jobs will soon be available.

Officials at the Westin Lake Mary Orlando North, a $50 million hotel that opened during November, recently announced that the facility plans to add 15 more staff members during 2010. The hotel currently employs about 150 workers.

Steven Ragsdale, general manager of the hotel, told the Orlando Business Journal that the company will need to hire new staff next year as the hotel enters the busy business travel season.

"After we get past the (traditionally slow) holiday season, we expect to pick up our staff to about 165 total employees," he said.

The available jobs will include positions at all levels of the hotel, including guest services and cleaning staff. Workers at the hotel earn anywhere between $20,000 and $40,000 per year.

It is currently a questionable time to open a new hotel and expand staff numbers. Smith Travel Research found that during October, the Orlando area had a hotel occupancy rate of 57.5 percent, which is a decrease of 8.7 percent from last year. At the same time, room rates decreased by 14.6 percent to $91.36.

However, the Orlando area is willing to take its chances. Rich Maladecki, president of the Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association, said new hotels such as the Westin not only create jobs for local workers, but also provide the area "with something fresh to attract individuals from outside locations."

Recent figures show that the area could certainly use the added jobs. Although the Orlando-Kissimmee area saw its unemployment rate decrease from 11.6 percent to 11.4 percent during October and managed to add 1,800 jobs during the month, the area has seen a 4.5 percent decrease in employment since this time last year.

In particular, the area's leisure and hospitality industry employed 193,100 workers during October, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is up from 192,000 workers during September, but a 2.1 percent decrease from last year.