[Blarg]

Growing up in tourist destinations in the Pacific, it was commonly felt by the people there that the industry didn't pay well at all, and that most of the jobs were in the very lowest paying tiers. It was probably worse in Hawaii, where the living costs are very high and at the same time, everybody on the planet wants to live there, so they can afford to pay you very little. If you don't want to work in Hawaii, and even for a low salary, you can rest assured that someone else would be absolutely delighted to.

Working at a career counseling center at UCLA, I saw the salaries for professionals(lawyers and accountants) could be a 20k or greater drop between jobs on "the mainland" and Hawaii, just because of the Hawaii factor.

So how much you'll effectively make, as in being able to net after expenses, as well as how much you actually make, can definitely depend on where you are and how stiff the competition is to live there. Not all hotels are in such super touristy areas, of course, but I just wanted to drop you a note about a little of what it's like in one place.