Work Made Good From...Unit 2017 of Conrad Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US

Overall Note Work Made Good From : 8.5/10

View from Unit 2017, Hotel Conrad Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US (January 2025)

• WiFi : Yes

• Comfort : Waw (many options for remote work : 2 terraces outside or inside at the kitchen bar etc.)

• Plug access : Yes, but make sure you have your European > US adaptor as the hotel doesn't provide for one

• Quiet : perfect, and the amazing view adds more to the quietness

• Laptop Restriction : No, you can use your laptop in a free way (even at the beach)

• Benchmark Matcha Latte index = 9,63 $ ( ≈ 9 € )

• Pet friendly : to be checked directly with the hotel, forgot to ask

• Price : from 400 $ during low season (June > August) to 2 400 $ / night (peak season : usually March)

• Meeting room or phone booth : you could use the living room or huge table in the terrace as a meeting room. Else, there is an entire floor dedicated to seminars, conferences and corporate events you could book for (in advance!)

• Amenities : luxury marble bathtub, 2 amazing terraces with a full beach-view, good WiFi, US plugs, large table and many chairs in the terrace, yoga class at 7.30 am by the beach

• Plus : luxury, voluptuousness and the most inspiring beach-view ever

• Minus : not your typical go-to hotel if you want to meet other nomad workers or business-people belonging to your business community (tech, finance, etc.) or working just like you. This remains primarily a leisure and holidays place to chill & relax.

When my friend Lara invited me to spend NYE with her in Miami, I jumped on the opportunity. Beach, warm weather and parties. Could I dream of better ? However, Lara had one condition : she could only welcome me for a certain period and then she needs to resume work and can't have me around as she has patients coming to her place. Hence, I solicited my friend Jonathan, owner of the unit 2017 at Conrad Fort Lauderdale in Florida, and asked him whether I could stay few days there to work remotely, and his answer was : Yessss :)

This is the very first hotel I am assessing from work perspectives. Accordingly, I will start making categories to distinguish between casual coffees and luxurious hotels among various work spots. The whole bet and essence of this website is that today, with a laptop, we could work from anywhere and it doesn't necessary have to be a traditional office.

This unit, and the hotel in general, is great for reading, writing, working individually, but not your typical go-to-hotel if you want to meet like-minded digital workers with their laptops for the unique and simple reason that there is no space dedicated to remote workers. All that's available is a corner equipped with a computer and a WiFi, in case you need to send few emails. That's it! That being said, even if this hotel is not your typical go-to place for work, I pretty much enjoyed working from my unit if you decide to book a stay there. I think unit 2017 (and probably the other ones as well) is so relaxing and so inspiring that it is perfect for individual work requiring a lot of reading, writing, inspiration and alone time. It is also perfect for calls and remote meetings.

I spent most of my time reading the book "The Betrayal Bond : Breaking Free of Exploitive Relationships" by Patrick J. Carnes, PhD with Bonnie Phillips, PhD, and while reading this book, I couldn't help but wonder whether my previous job at BeCharge (Plénitude, ENI) in Paris was an exploitive one. I was so released when, with mutual agreement, the contract ended in November 2024.

Below the facts that make me realize today, with a lot of reflection, that my role was some sort of scam :

1. I never had a job description prior to joining the company, or while at it. Lesson learned: never ever accept a position based on an interview, title or salary. A job description helps in setting and defining roles and responsibilities...and avoid disappointments.

2. Break of promises : prior to joining the company, I specified being a member of CREW club (Commercial Real Estate Women) via my previous employer, and highlighted the importance of maintaining my membership. My future boss replied "Yes to be assessed. Commercial real estate is a market segment that I'd like you to be in charge of." Once I was part of the team, his speech changed and refused to pay for my membership, justifying his decision by budgetary restrictions (while the membership fees amount to 235 $ / year)

3. A huge huge gap between what I expected to be doing as a Business Development Leader (business plan, strategy, market penetration initiatives, sourcing of important contracts, negotiation) and the reality of my daily job (extremely operational, non sense tasks : entering the GPS locations of various parking plots, preparing PPT presentations of new locations without even attending investment committees...). Some tasks I never even had to do while I was an intern and when I started my career many years ago. I experienced "bore-out" for the first time in my life. The most boring job ever!

4. Bad intentions and blame-shifting : prior to joining the company, when I told my friend that they included an 8-months trial period in my contract, she almost choked. I remember she said "it's a joke, this is exploitation! This is abuse". I ignored her comment thinking she always misinterpret stuff. True, usually, trial periods are maximum 3-months, renewable once, resulting in 6-months trial period in total. But, in my specific case, I thought : who cares? I know my worth ! I am sure, they will confirm me after 4 months so no need to bother with that. It's only after winning a major tender with one of the largest distributor chains in France (more than 3 000 locations to equip), and despite this success, my boss found stupid excuses to justify why they decided to extend my trial period by another 4 months. It's at that precise moment that I felt the injustice and the unfair treatment. I remember him concluding his long speech to justify extending my trial period by another 4 months with this statement : "It has to do with pleasure and commitment!". Not only was I "oversized" for the job resulting in a form of disengagement on my end, but here I am also blamed and doubted. Instead of admitting the reality of BeCharge (Plénitude) situation : size, organization, stage of development, management, they preferred to shift the blame on me and try to make me doubt my skills or enthusiasm. This is gaslighting ! Instead of recognizing that this is a messy start-up that has the cons of a start-up, coupled with the cons of a large organization since BeCharge got acquired by ENI, and that they are just launching in France without any sound culture, team spirit or career development plan, with a constant changing strategy and priorities, they preferred to put all the blame on me questioning my "pleasure" at work and "commitment". To me, that was the biggest red flag!

5. Bad culture : remote work policy based on my boss preferences (we only go to the office when he wants to go to the office and asks me to be present, and most of the time he prefers to work from home), no clear communication on the strategy, the business plan, the direction, the perspectives, contradicting messages and changing strategies from a week to another...

6. Not a single HR meeting in 8 months of work : I never had the opportunity to discuss or exchange with HRs. No one heard my version of facts or communicated with me in 8 months. The only time I had an HR meeting was when they finally informed me, the last week of my notice period (after 8 months!) that they decided not to confirm me in my position. I was also scared to voice my thoughts as I felt this will result in retaliation from my boss. I felt so isolated !

7. Exclusion from key & strategic presentations in front of the whole company, while we were only 4 in the team which I discovered by pure chance. And when I confronted my boss to figure out why he didn't invite me to the presentation, he replied "I forgot !"

8. Racism : my boss once said, while showing me the picture of an EV-charger that was badly installed (non-sense location) : "it must be a "Moroccan EV-charger"knowing that I am North-African. It's like saying Moroccan stuff are flawed so in other words you are flawed. Sorry but words matter ! This is a form of racism.

9. Nightmares : I had once a nightmare - after I left the company - about my previous boss, the company and its culture. This shows that I was deeply affected in a negative way.

   
   

   Hope these clues could help you identify whether you are in a toxic exploitive work relationship or not. If it is the case, I highly recommend this book : "The Betrayal Bond : Breaking Free of Exploitive Relationships" by Patrick J. Carnes, PhD with Bonnie Phillips, PhD. which is a good start to become conscious of your situation and start implementing the right strategy. Sometimes, the best answer is to leave, just as I did. I obviously played a role in that bad experience not being proactive such as : not asking for a job description upfront, not initiating myself a discussion with HR since they didn't plan for one, not being more assertive and more open about my disappointments and disenchantments, not expressing explicitly how this job is such a disappointment, not trying to suggest solutions to maybe move to another division of ENI or Plenitude but I guess, if I didn't do so, it means my work destiny wasn't with this company. Have you experienced a similar situation? Did you read the book"The Betrayal Bond : Breaking Free of Exploitive Relationships"? Did it help you with work situations or personal ones? Can't wait to hear your stories.

   
   
   
   
   
   

   

   Work made even better wearing this beautiful Hermes bracelet honoring Brazil and its warm colours, I can't find the exact same model since it was bought many years ago but here's a similar piece featuring a precious paradise : https://www.hermes.com/fr/fr/product/bracelet-precious-paradise-H114412FPJ265/