35-year-old Ale (pron.”Á-lay”) Santoyo has worked at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn most of her adult life. She talks with Anna Pier about her journey of self-discovery through her work, the joy of working at a unionized hotel, and her Mexican heritage.
You’ve worked for a long time at The Fairmont. Fifteen years in May. And honestly, I’ve worked just about every job. I have been a housekeeper, a turndown, spent a couple of years as a spa attendant, and a spa experience coordinator. I have worked as an esthetician for six years, and this year also as a massage therapist.
When did you start as an esthetician? After I went to school in Napa and Concord and graduated in 2019 as an esthetician.
What does your work entail? A facial includes shoulder and neck massaging. Doing facials, I realized how much we humans need touch – not romantic or sexual – but therapeutic. I have incredible experiences doing facials. People – both men and women – open up. They tell me things they don’t share with others, sometimes their deepest awareness, or fear. Talking, crying. So many emotions are stored in the body.
Tell me more. For example, there was a woman who was just getting out of an abusive relationship. She opened up to me, told me her darkest thoughts. I encouraged her. Years later she came back to the Spa, with her new husband, and she introduced me as “the girl who saved my life.”
Where did this lead you? Through experiences like this I came to realize that I have a gift. I decided to become a massage therapist as well. Last April I graduated from the National Holistic Institute in Santa Rosa. It’s a beautiful thing to be able to help someone release their emotions.
You have worked here at the Fairmont for fifteen years. Is there any difference since it has become unionized? Yes. There’s so much to talk about. If there’s one thing I am happiest about, that we achieved, it is the wonderful network of power and solidarity among the co-workers. There is a fair process for everyone. Our relationship with management is so good. People know that they don’t have to stand alone.
When we first met, you were just back from Paris, where you had gone to a conference as a representative of UniteHere Local 2. Yes. In July 2023 a co-worker and I went to Paris for a conference of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Thirty-four countries were part of it, and we spoke with representatives from all over the world.
What was the goal of the trip? We wanted to speak with the CEO of Accor, the large international hotel management group that the Fairmont is part of. He is French, and France is all about workers’ rights. We appealed to him to honor the same rights and values for workers here in this country. When we returned, the management here was very responsive to us.
What are some of the specific benefits for all the co-workers? Our health care is fully paid for now, and it includes the whole family. We get paid vacation. And something big and powerful is that, starting in 2026, the part-time and on-call employees will also accrue health care benefits and paid vacation. During holidays and other busy times they often work longer hours than full-time employees, so this is really beautiful.
And everyone got substantial raises when the contract began, increasing each year over the four years.
Let’s hear about you. Where were you born? I was born and raised in Mexico, in Uruapan, Michoacan. My father had been working in construction in the US since he was 16, and going back and forth. Finally my mother said, “We’re coming with you.” So when I was 19, he brought my mother and my two younger sisters and me here to live. We came legally, and I am a citizen. My father was very hardworking, and had arranged things for us.
How was it for you, at 19? I did not want to come. I didn’t speak English, I was too old for high school, it was really hard to meet anyone. Everything I knew was in Mexico.
What did you do? I went to the JC (Santa Rosa Junior College) where I got my G.E.D. (General Educational Development) degree in Spanish. Meanwhile, I was learning English.
Are you glad you came here? I honestly can’t imagine living somewhere else now. I’ve learned the language and the lifestyle. I do visit Michoacan every couple of years.
Talk about growing up there. My childhood in Mexico was so beautiful. It’s a different lifestyle. There is such a sense of community. The Latino culture is so welcoming and warm. And I had the privilege of a stay-at-home mom.
What do you enjoy in your free time? Hiking, reading books, meditating. And I love spending time with my family. A lot of my family is here. And of course I enjoy spending time with my fiancé. He is American, a general contractor who grew up in the South Bay. He’s building a home for us in Hayward.
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