Pros and Cons of Working in a Resort to Make Money on your Adventure

Resort jobs let you mix business with travel and access adventures around an awesome destination, but you’ll likely work hard for your travel days.

Resort hotels are located in some of the most beautiful locations in the world, which makes them a fantastic place to work and meet your adventure travel needs.

If you want to spend your winters skiing Breckenridge and your summers surfing Hatteras, working at a resort might be a good fit for you.

However, you have to keep in mind that the main thing you’ll be doing at the resort is working, and probably at a pretty low hourly rate.

You’ll have to balance work time and play time so you can get the right amount of adventure and exploration in your life.

Still, for those without significant financial commitments who want to travel and make money, getting a resort job is a fantastic way to do it.

Here are a few high-level pros and cons associated with working on a resort.

Pro: Living in a Destination Locale

The reason that people pay so much money to visit a resort is because that resort is located on prime real estate due to the natural landscape, activities, uniqueness, atmosphere, etc.

When you work on a resort that matches your ideal adventure travel destination, you rarely need to travel far to reach your version of an exotic locale.

Working in Belize gives you access to awesome diving and sport fishing, while working in Breckenridge allows you to hit thousands of miles of world-class ski and snowboard slopes within driving distance.

This pro can become a con if you tire of the surrounding area, especially in the off season, so consider your destination carefully if you want to hang around a while and explore new places.

Otherwise, prepare to move on after a season.

Con: Long Hours and Low Pay

As previously mentioned, you’re not at the resort for a vacation. You’re there to work.

Resort jobs aren’t the best paying jobs because there is often plenty of labor supply willing to fill the positions.

You’ll also often be forced to work long hours to meet the needs of tourists.

You may be working evenings and weekends, but it all depends on the job and the shifts.

Getting a resort job is not for the traveler with an aversion to work, and it’s not for the traveler that wants to bank a bunch of money (unless you’re perhaps the hotel manager or some higher-level manager.)

Jobs of this type are better suited for the traveler that wants to cover the burn rate, getting some cash flow to fund a minimalistic lifestyle and their adventure habit.

Pro: The Experience of a Lifetime

When you work at a resort, you’ll quickly become close with your fellow employees and likely get in with a good local group, unless you’re a jerk.

You’ll be constantly meeting new people and all of it will be against the backdrop of your personal adventure travel paradise.

Lifelong relationships will be formed with colleagues, guests, and locals.

You will experience adventures that many people only dream about or regret they didn’t attempt, and you’ll do them almost every day.

No matter your age, the experience will likely hang with you the rest of your life.

Con: The Living Conditions

Many resort jobs pay for your housing, which is a great perk to manage your overhead costs while traveling.

However, that housing provided by your employer will most likely be a small room that you’ll share with a few other people.

Privacy in your new home can be a challenge (kind of like a dorm room), which may make it difficult for folks not used to living in those communal conditions.

The housing is not necessarily poor quality, but it will likely be tight. It will quite certainly be less posh that the resort rooms for the guests.

If you don’t get along with one of your roommates, you’ll have constant problems for the entire season (not unlike a bad roommate situation that ruined a semester at college).

You can of course rent your own house or apartment outside of the resort, but prices in the areas that you’ll want to live or feel safe to live in are usually high as a result of the ideal location.

Looking for a resort job?

There are a number of job boards for resort jobs out there.

Search for a job board on Google, or try a couple popular ones like www.hcareers.com or www.coolworks.com.

Your best bet for landing a job may be a personal referral, so of course check out your friend or LinkedIn network, and see if you can get an inside track on a resort job.

Remember, many of the resort jobs in top destinations are in high demand, so get aggressive to get the gig.