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thisselflovecamebacktome · 2 years

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Things I Learned About Hotels By Working In A Hotel That I Wish Others Knew; AKA, Why You Need To Be Nicer To Hotel Workers:

I’ve been wanting to make this post for at least a year now, but this post has really pushed me to do it, so I definitely recommend reblogging that too because while I will avoid covering the same ground, I definitely 100% agree with it all.

Last year, I worked as a hotel receptionist for around eight months and it may sound dramatic, but it has completely changed how I look at travelling and staying in hotels. I will also note that the hotel I worked in was relatively small and open less hours of the day (especially during covid lockdowns) than most hotels, but most of these experiences are ones other hotel receptionists I’ve spoken to, both within Australia and internationally, have confirmed they have also experienced. So with that in mind, these are the main things I wish customers knew.

1. Hotels partake in a specific kind of exploitative capitalism that I have not experienced in any other job over my 13 years or so of working. This relates to not only how they treat their workers, but customers too. This will be an overriding theme and arguably the thread pulling everything else I say here together.

2. It does not matter if you’re planning to pay cash on the day, reception still need your card details. People claiming that they’ll pay cash on the day just to not show up, or worse yet, be let in by central without them checking that the guest has paid happens more than you’d think and it’s the receptionist’s head on the chopping block if the hotel doesn’t have a card to attempt to get payment from. With this in mind, do not give them your personal card if you wish to pay on your business card, or at absolute least, tell them that you are going to call back and give them your business card details at a later time if you do not have access to it yet so that they can make a note, because ultimately the card you give is the card getting charged. Also, make sure you explicitly say that you want to pay cash on the day if that is the case, otherwise your card will be charged.

3. If you book through a 3rd party, any cancellations/refunds, changes or complaints about price need to go through them, not the hotel. It is incredibly rare that a 3rd party will give a hotel your card information (typically only happens if the hotel calls them because payment hasn’t gone through), so no, a hotel cannot do anything about the fact that Agoda charged you more than the hotel’s sale price or if you accidentally ordered a twin room instead of a family room through Trivago. What they can do in some cases is extras. So if you order a twin room and need to pay for a cot to be put in the room, you can call them and they can take the card details to charge for the cot and nothing else.

4. Hotel workers know if you are lying to them. Every conversation you have with another worker at the front desk (whether it be housekeeping, reception or the boss) is recorded with video footage and has notes left for the other staff. Do not tell them that Becky who worked yesterday promised you a refund or to change rooms or to hold a room for you if they did not because it only takes one look in our notes to see that Becky has noted that the boss said no. Likewise, all VIP status guests have indicators in their booking to say they are as such and don’t ‘always have the same room!’ and to say as such is not only entitled but a tell-tale sign that you are lying. Likewise, ALL bookings receive confirmation emails with a booking name, customer contact (usually phone number AND email, but if it’s 3rd party, it may just be the number) and at least one booking number on it. There is 0 point telling them you have a booking if you don’t.

5. Deliberate same day bookings are a pain. Look, obviously things happen where cars break down or your house floods or whatever and you suddenly need a room you didn’t think you would. That’s annoying but ultimately fine, I’m not talking about you guys. But if you have known for the better part of a year that you’re coming to a concert or visit family but only book your room on the day, know that you are making the receptionist’s job harder for no reason. This goes doubly as hard if you come in after housekeeping has left, triply as hard if you come in within the hour that the hotel closes, because chances are they’ve already done finances for the day and now have to redo them, and quadly so if you’re coming in as the receptionist is walking out at the end of their shift for the night.

6. Preferences are just that: preferences. If you ask for a specific room or a specific floor, that does not automatically mean that you will get it. It means that the hotel will do the best it can to put you in that room/on that floor it it is available when they designate rooms (usually the afternoon before you come). And no, being older or in a wheelchair or having a pram with a baby in it does not change that. Most if not all hotels have ramps and/or elevators for you to get to each floor. That does not mean that you should not ask for it or that the staff will not try to put you in the next closest thing to what you want should your preference not be available, but a hotel is not going to kick out somebody else who is midway through their stay just for you to get a room one door closer, especially given both of you may have requested it. Also, accessible rooms and “regular” rooms are not interchangeable. If you have been put in a “regular” room or vice versa, it is because you booked that.

7. Just because you received a free upgrade last time you came, does not mean that you are always entitled to one. Sometimes if you are lucky, a hotel will overbook the type of room you are in but will have some more expensive rooms available, leading to you to receive a free upgrade. This is done at random and I have only ever had it happen to me once; earlier this year where my friend and I got a seaside view we did not pay for. A hotel will likely not tell you that you’ve been upgraded, especially for that reason, but if the room is different/has more amenities than you paid for, chances are that’s what happened. But like I said, it is somewhat a rarity, and even rarer to happen to happen to the same person multiple times unless you have some kind of deal with the hotel. So coming downstairs stomping your feet around and yelling when you get exactly what you paid for the second time is not going to get you an upgrade. If you want to be guaranteed to be in the the more expensive room, you are going to have to pay for it.

8. If you book a room at a pet friendly hotel, do not be surprised that other pets are also at the hotel. Listen this should be a given, but you’d be surprised how many people brought their dogs to the hotel and then somehow got surprised and started bitching at the idea that someone else had their pet there and demand new rooms because of it only to lose their shit when finding out that all the rooms are pet friendly.

9. Hotels do not control the businesses around them. Yes I understand that the 24/7 McDonalds speaker next door and the road on the other side is loud. Yes I understand that the smoke from the pub on the last side and the fact that their patrons use up most the parking the hotel shares with them is a pain. No, there is literally nothing the hotel staff can do about it. These things are noted on the website and something you should have looked into before ordering the room.

10. It does not matter if you only use the room for an hour or half a day, you will be charged a full night’s accommodation. Housekeeping is not in all day and the minute you check in, that room is no longer usable if the head of housekeeping isn’t there to mark it as clean, even if you do not touch a single thing in the room. So no, it does not matter if you’re using the room for a conference or a quickie and not staying there the night, you are getting charged the full rate. Same goes if you show up at 4am and barely sleep in it or decide not to show up at all.

11. Early check ins/late check outs (especially ones that are free and/or without notice) are a big deal. Room selections are usually done the day before you show up and are often done with early check ins/late check outs in mind for the customers in the room before you, you and the ones after you. So if you don’t give hotels that notice and reception allow it anyway, especially for free and especially when it’s busy, they have done you a massive favour, even if it’s not as early/late as you would have liked. Like at the hotel I worked at, I was meant to charge an extra $10 for every hour extra a customer spent in the room and an extra night’s worth if they were not out by 1pm. Instead, because my boss wasn’t around to know the difference, I usually left it up to housekeeping and if they thought they could do it, just allowed people to stay the extra for free. So yeah, keep this in mind next time you ask for extra time, do not return this kindness with rudeness about how you want more time and do not be deliberately late out of the room the next day. Because chances are at least one staff member has put their neck on the line for you.

In saying that, it also means that if the hotel says no, that genuinely means that they are too busy to do so and nothing personal. What they will likely do instead if you ask is hold onto your luggage which you can either come and pick up or, specifically for early check ins, give permission to be put in your room once it is ready to go. Legitimately though, just tell them when you make the booking or as soon as you know and avoid the potential disappointment and making their staff’s job harder.

12. The boss matters. I am not saying this in a ‘their opinion trumps all’ way, I am saying it in both your experience as a customer and the staff’s as workers is nearly 100% up to the boss. At the hotel I worked at, the boss I had for 99% of my time there not only refused to let me do things I knew how to do and could easily do with little disruption to my day without permission (yes, refunds included in case you’re wondering), but he was also never around and barely answered calls when workers were calling with emergencies or to ask permission to do the thing. Again, it is the receptionist’s head on the chopping block if they do it without permission, so keep that in mind next time you yell at them for not doing something straight away. Like trust me, most receptionists would rather just do it and get it done with. That boss would also literally just chuck out any complaints.

Alternatively, the boss I got in my final few weeks there not only read and acted on the complaints, but listened to the workers and allowed me to act and just let him know what I’ve done. Not only did my day go smoother, but there was an obvious change in attitude from guests.

13. The staff are trying their best. A lot of this goes alongside the above about the boss making a difference, but a large majority of the time, if something wasn’t done properly, chances are it was an accidental oversight from it being busy OR, and more likely to be completely honest, the boss has not given their workers the tools to do the job properly. The main example of this I can think of at my hotel is my boss refusing to upgrade/replace anything AND giving housekeeping cheap cleaning products he knew did not work. So yes, they understand it’s horrific that the couches in the rooms are beyond use or that the carpet has a stain on it. There’s not much they can do about it. Also, them giving you the boss’ and/or the health inspector’s contact details is not them trying to put more work onto you personally, it is them hoping that someone will listen to you because management sure as hell hasn’t listened to them for the months on end they’ve brought it up.

Likewise, if you claim to have lost something in the room and reception/housekeeping does not find it, it is not that the hotel has stolen it and your racist and assuming remarks about which member of staff stole it make you an asshole. Like no one wants your half used lipstick Karen, especially during a pandemic.

But also just in general, while I do not have many positive experiences with the hotel I worked at, the people who worked at my level (so maintenance, housekeeping and the other receptionists) were genuinely the nicest and best people I have ever worked with and would do anything to help myself and the guests when asked respectfully. We all understood that it was a group effort and for one section to do their job well and/or for the customer to be happy, every section has to do well. And like genuinely, that goes both ways. Like the more organised and willing to help a customer is, the easier it is to make you happy. So like genuinely, next time you travel if you could do something as small as making sure your rubbish is in the bin rather than across the room/in the sink or making sure any pillows you don’t use and the remote are put back when you leave, that makes a world of difference for the staff and future customers.

14. Most hotels only have one, maybe two receptionists working at a time. As a result, not only was overtime a near daily experience, but a lot of hotels will conduct in illegal (at least by Australian law) activity and will ‘require’ receptionists to sign out for breaks so that they will not be pulled up, but still be present at the desk and work. I have legitimately done 15 hour shifts with barely the chance to have the occasional sip of water let alone eat/have a proper break, and that is common from what I have heard from others in the field. Also, due to understaffing, one of these shifts was before I even finished my training.

It also means that during busy times, yes, chances are that phone calls are going to be missed and that the best way to contact them is by sending an email. The only exception to this is if you are making a booking because they have to take your card details and obviously it is not appropriate to send those via email.

15. The receptionist is not just a receptionist. Cleaning and maintenance services are not available 24/7. At the hotel I worked at, reception closed at 8pm (with a number being left for the 24/7 hotels of the same franchise for cases of emergency) while the cleaners finished any time between 1pm and 6pm depending on how busy things were and maintenance always finishing at 4:30pm. If you have a problem with the cleanliness or functionality of something after those times, it is the one receptionist working there that has to fix it, and honestly? Most the time even if you have an issue within the times that maintenance is working, they’ll send the receptionist to check it out first because they have to come in from elsewhere (whether it be another hotel in the franchise or their office because they’re contractors, not specific hotel employees). Likewise, if housekeeping is having a busy day, the receptionist will often have to help them with cleaning duties to make sure that your job runs smoothly. This goes doubly hard in a lockdown/pandemic because oftentimes the hotel will not have the cleaners and maintenance come in and instead just leave it all to reception. It should also be noted that most hotels do not train receptionists for this. Like the only training I got was how to split/make the beds and where the bins were to take the rubbish out. But that didn’t change that I still had to do the lot.

16. Most hotels do not have on site security. When I said that receptionists pretty much have to do everything at a hotel because often they’re the only ones there, I meant it. The hotel I worked in had contractor security which meant that if there was a threat, I had to somehow talk my way into going to the back, pressing a button there, wait for security to call and then when I didn’t pick up, waiting half an hour for them to show up from their office across town. Given most issues happened at night, it was literally just me and the guests there, making me the barrier of protection to make sure no one got hurt while also being ordered to do what I could to not allow the hotel to endure any losses through theft/lawsuits etc.

During covid, it also meant that reception were the ones enforcing any mandates, which admittedly I felt was much harder emotionally than when I worked retail because while people from my city were nearly all very pro mask/vaccine, the other states of Australia had more mixed views, sometimes violently so, and it was those citizens I was mostly dealing with.

People also get much angrier at the idea of the cost and availability of rooms than you’d imagine.

17. Hotel reception is often thankless and soul sucking. That 15 hour shift I said I did during my training earlier on? I broke down into tears swearing up and down that I was going to quit the next day because the day had been that horrible. Though it was the first time I had ever reached that point in a job, it was far from last, nearly all of which were only at the hotel. It was by far the worst job I’ve ever worked and the one with the worst mannered customers and management. Like in my whole time there, I can only ever remember receiving thank yous from the coworkers at my level; unlike every other job I’ve worked where at very least, most customers and management gave the consistent verbal thank you. And it was made all the worse knowing that so many of the issues, both customer and management related could have been so easily fixed (and mostly were when they changed management, unfortunately by then it was just too late as I had another job lined up), but entitlement and capitalism got in the way.

But even without the customers and specific management, hotel reception is very much a profession where you have to leave morality at the door. Like the amount of homeless or otherwise down on their luck people, even those just a few dollars short, I had to turn away on the off chance that the hotel could sell that room (when in reality, there were nights during the pandemic lockdown where had 50+ rooms spare so were never going to sell that much) still haunts me; as does knowing how much the hotel charged people with bad timing who legally could not leave the state due to snap lockdowns/restrictions despite the fact the hotel wasn’t giving them half of the services they originally paid for. Not to mention all of the means that hotel managers go to to avoid giving credit let alone refunds, even to people trying to do the right thing and stay home during the unexpected height of the virus or the fact the hotel charged by how busy the hotel was so at times I was charging people $700AUD+ for a room I wouldn’t even spend $100AUD on if I was going away. Or even how the hotel would knowingly take full payments from people they know didn’t show up rather than calling them to double check and offering even a partial refund.

And all of that for what? To get yelled at and spat on by customers who don’t want to follow the law? To get scapegoated by management when they didn’t want to fix things? And all for just above minimum wage? It is honestly a black hole of a job where you stare into the void and pretty much never get anything back in return, and ultimately, it’s not worth it.

So if you are travelling any time in the future, even if you cannot do anything else, please do the absolute minimum and remain kind and even say thank you to the hotel workers. You will absolutely make their day.

#hotel reception #hotel #front of house #hotel accommodation #i feel like i've missed so much here but yeah this is what was on the top of my mind all day

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