It's been 2 years since I worked at a hotel but I found these tidbits that I wrote down while I was there and I thought it might be good to pass along. Enjoy.
I understand
that you may have had a bad day, but it is not my fault. You don’t have to
smile and be in a great mood, but don’t be a jerk to me just because your
flight arrived 2 hours late.
If you smile
at me I find it much easier to smile at you.
Just because
you are en elite member of our rewards program doesn’t mean that you get to
treat me like crap and expect to get every single ridiculous request.
If you
complain about every single little thing that you don’t like then we are less
likely to care the 12th time you call about something that doesn’t make any
difference at all.
We all talk
to each other. We generally know who is going to cause us problems.
You have
much more flexibility with your reservation if you book it directly through us.
We can shorten, extend or easily cancel your reservation if you made it
directly. If you use a third party we cannot modify that reservation in
any way in regards to price or length of stay. Anything like that has to be
handled through the third party.
It’s usually
a good idea to bring a printed copy of your reservation with you. 99% of the
time reservations are correct and we have no problem finding them, but every
once in a while it will be incorrect or just missing all together.
Don’t be in
too much of a rush when you are checking in. I will get you your keys and on
your way quickly but you can make it a better experience if you don’t act like
you’re going to turn into a werewolf if you don’t get registered in 30 seconds.
Also, please don’t turn around and walk off while I’m still trying to tell you
something. It may be something important. I had one guest that turned around
and walked the opposite direction of the elevators and had to turn around at
the other end of the lobby just to come all the way back past me. If she had
waited an extra 3 seconds I would have told her where the elevators were.
Even if you
aren’t rushing, please pay attention to what I am saying. If I tell you about our
airport shuttle times and then you turn around and ask me when the shuttle goes
to airport, it makes my right eye start to twitch.
Please don’t
talk on your cell phone while checking in! I hate that. And I hate it even more
if you are using a Bluetooth headset. If I start talking to you and you point
to your ear that makes my left eye twitch a little. Just tell the person you
are talking to that you will call them right back or tell them to hold on for
the 60 seconds that it will take for you to get your room keys.
Remember
that a request on your reservation is just that, a request. Specifically bed
type is the issue that we run into most often. We do our best to honor requests
for bed type but sometimes we just can’t. This is especially true if you booked
your reservation that day. Also, if you arrive earlier in the day we are more
likely to have the king bed that you requested. If you have to have a certain
type of bed, call reservations and see if they can guarantee one for you.
Usually the people that have guaranteed bed types are the ones that booked far
in advance.
You cannot
negotiate a better rate with me or my supervisor by directly calling our hotel.
We will always transfer you to our 1-800 reservations number. Now that being
said, if you are staying with us that same day, sometimes we can help you out. Especially
if it’s late at night and we have lots of rooms left to sell. Also, we are more
likely to negotiate a lower rate if you are standing in front of us than over
the phone. Some supervisors will offer a lower rate and some won’t. It never
hurts to ask. In my hotel we are usually more willing to give you a lower rate
at 10:00 PM than at 4:00 PM. That is unless we have a ton of rooms to sell then
it usually doesn’t matter when you come in.
We don’t
keep rooms “in reserve” or “hold extra rooms to the side.” When we are sold
out, we are sold out. The hotel will sell every room and sometimes more rooms
than we have. Just like airlines we sometimes will oversell our rooms. It
usually works out with cancellations and no-shows but every once in a while we
have to “walk” a guest to another hotel. We will pay for their room and
transportation. The people that get “walked” are usually some of the last
people to arrive at the hotel. If you arrive between 4:00 PM and 9:00 PM you
are at a very low risk of being “walked.” When someone is “walked” we almost
always have rooms left but they are guaranteed to our elite rewards members.
While it
seems obvious, if you don’t tell us about a problem, then we can’t fix it. I
have had people come to the front desk and complain to our manager about a
problem in their room last night. He’ll ask “Did you call down and ask to have
it fixed?” “No I didn’t.” That’s odd, I wonder why it wasn’t fixed.
We did not
make your room keys stop working so don’t blame me when they do. You probably
put them next to your cell phone or a magnet in your purse. There may be an
instance that your keys stopped working for no reason at all, but you just need
to chalk it up to bad luck and I’ll make some more for you.
We really do
care about our guests and want to make your stay as enjoyable as possible. We
are here to serve you. If you enjoy your stay and like our hotel then you are
more likely to stay with us again. That is ultimately what we want to happen.
Remember
that we are people too. We have feelings and also have the ability to make
mistakes the same as you. I am constantly amazed how some guests will speak to
us. They would never want their child or spouse talked to in that manner but
have no problem dishing it out to us. We are on our feet all shift and only get
a 30 minute meal break per day (at least it worked that way at my hotel) and we
still keep a smile on our face and upbeat tone in our voice. So what does this
all come down to? Don’t be mean to the front desk clerk and don’t be stupid.
