6 Things I Learned While Working Front Desk For a Major Hotel
I’ve been working in hospitality since 2015, with short-lived deviations into retail/grocery, and it’s my favorite industry I’ve ever worked in. I started in housekeeping, delivering linens and towels to the housekeepers and vacuuming hallways, then transitioned into the Food & Beverage department of the same hotel as a Food Runner.
The hotel I worked for (I wont say which for privacy reasons) had its own restaurant inside, and it was my job to run food from the kitchen to the restaurant, which had to be at least a mile apart, at opposite ends of the building.
If I had multiple orders to run, I’d have to put them all on a tray, and carry at least fifty pounds of food all the way down to the restaurant, which was very painful and inconvenient. Whoever built the hotel and thought that putting the restaurant and kitchen a mile apart from each other was a good idea clearly wasn’t a good architect.
I was a Food Runner for two years until I decided to cross-train for front desk, which I had been interested in ever since starting at the hotel. Working front desk was a whole new ballpark for me. Throughout my adolescent life I had only worked food service and janitorial jobs.
I never had a job where I had to work with computers, print paperwork, and answer telephone calls with the proper etiquette, and now there I was, in my 20’s, out of college, working in a field that was foreign to me. The only “job” I had similar to that was working as an office aide at my middle school for zero pay, but all I did there was greet people and put things in filing cabinets.
I worked front desk for two other hotels after leaving the first one, and it’s been one of the most . . . interesting experiences of my life. I’ve met many people from all walks of life, I’ve been yelled at, cursed at, spit at, threatened, and harassed. I’ve been in many stressful, beautiful, annoying and downright terrifying situations, and today I’ve compiled 6 things I’ve learned from these situations. I hope it makes you laugh.
1. Some People Are Disgusting!!!!
One of my tasks as a Front Desk Clerk was to help the housekeepers clean the rooms when we were understaffed (this was at one of the smaller hotels I worked for), and you wouldn’t believe the things I found in the rooms: used condoms, dog shit the guests failed to pick up, globs of hair in the tub drain, vomit in the sink, toilet, tub, bed, and on the floor, semen and fecal matter on the sheets (Yes, you read that right — FECAL MATTER on the bed. I’d like to assume it was their child’s, or their pet’s perhaps, but you just don’t know with some people, and even if it was, they should’ve had the common courtesy to clean it up), and so much more. I’d never been more disgusted in my life, not even when I was cleaning bathrooms and busing tables.
2. The Customer Is NOT Always Right.
I couldn’t count how many times a customer has tried to tell me how to do my job. They think they’re an expert in everything; every industry, every field, and some people are just misinformed or deluded, or they stubbornly deny the truth.
An older gentleman arrived to check-in a few months ago. He told me his name and said he had a reservation for tonight, but when I searched for his reservation, it said he wasn’t due to arrive until three days later. He screamed in my face and said that was impossible, he’d reserved it for today. So I showed him his reservation details by turning my computer around. He said, “What day is it?” I said, “Friday, January 3rd,” and he said, “Oh, I thought it was the 6th — should’ve checked my calendar. Can I just check-in early since I’m already here?’
Another time, I was working at the desk when I received a call from a very confused lady. Here’s how it went:
Me: “Thank you for calling (Hotel Name), this is Richard speaking. How may I accommodate you?”
Customer: “Yes, I want to make an order, but before I do, I want to ask you about the food you serve.”
Me: “We serve free breakfast everyday from six am to ten am.”
Customer: “Do you fry your fries in peanut oil? I’m deathly allergic to peanuts.”
Me: “No, none of our foods are fried. Was this something you requested at your last visit with us? When was the last time you stayed here?”
Customer: “What? I’m in there almost every week, I just want to make sure my food isn’t fried in peanut oil. Are you new? Let me talk to someone else.”
Me: “I’m sorry, but there’s nobody else here, and no I’m not new. I ca —
She interrupts me and says, “I just want to order a burger, with a side of fries fried in anything but peanut oil, and a large coke.”
Me: “Ma’am, this isn’t a restaurant. I can’t provide those items for you.”
Customer: “What? Who am I on the phone with, then?”
Me: “This is the (Hotel Name).”
Customer: “Oh my goodness! I must have dialed the wrong number. I’m so sorry. I was trying to call Burger King. Just put me through to them, dear.”
Me: “That’s okay, but I can’t put you through to them unfortunately. I can get you their numb — ”
Customer: “Well, why not?!”
Me: “Ma’am, you dialed the wrong number. I am not in any way connected to Burger King. I physically have no way to transfer you to them. The best I can do is look up their number for you.”
Customer: “I already have their number! I just dialed it wrong. You mean to tell me you wasted my time with this and you won’t even help me?
Me: “Ma’am, there’s nothing I can do, I’m terribly sorry.”
Customer: “I guess I’ll just hang up and dial AGAIN. I’ll be telling them about you.”
Go ahead and tell Burger King about me, lady, they aren’t going to do anything! SMH!
3. A Lot of People Are Selfish and Inconsiderate.
COVID-19 has brought out the worst in people: people hogging and hoarding toilet paper, hand soap/sanitizer, and cleaning products, people cutting other customers in line at the grocery store, etc. I’ve come to learn that a lot of people exhibit inconsiderate behavior in their day-to-day lives, and nowhere is that more true than in hospitality.
I’ve seen guests park their car under the front awning when they come to check-in, and leaving it there for hours at a time, blocking other guests who want to check-in; listening to loud music or watching loud TV in their room at three in the morning while other guests are trying to sleep; smoking in the lobby (when smoking indoors is definitely not allowed) around guests with COPD and other pulmonary or respiratory diseases, etc.
4. Develop Thick Skin Fast.
No one likes angry and rude customers, but its an occurrence of everyday life, especially if you work in customer service, front desk, call center, etc. You can try your hardest to appease the customer and diffuse the situation, but some people are just determined to be displeased. When some customers are angry, they become rude, intolerant, and downright mean! When they can’t get what they want, they start insulting and name-calling you like children.
I’ve been called an asshole, a punk, terrible-at-my-job, shit-for-brains, a f#ckhead, a bitch, even the N-Word. If you work front desk (or any customer service job), you should develop thick skin as soon as possible, because you will be name-called, harassed, maybe even racially-targeted, and you cant let those comments stop you from doing your job. Kill them with kindness!
5. Don’t Lie To The Front Desk!!
Guests lie to me all the time. Most of the time its because they want a discount, free food/amenities, or a free room, but their lies almost never fool anyone. This one time a man approached the front desk and said he found a rat eating a roach in his bathtub, and wants a new room and a refund. Do rats even eat roaches? It seemed very unlikely that there was a rat in our hotel at all, especially one enjoying some roach cuisine, so I asked one of the housekeepers on duty to check his room before refunding anything.
He got all offended as the housekeeper went upstairs: “What, you think I’m a liar?”
Yes, sir, that’s exactly what I think! Pretending that there’s a rodent in you room is the oldest trick in the book.
The housekeeper came back and said there weren’t any roaches or rats in the room. He bitched and moaned, but ended up walking back to his room, disappointed.
Another time, this lady locked herself out of her room, she came down to the front desk, and … this is a sample of my thoughts during our conversation:
Really, lady? You locked yourself out of your room and you think we should give you a discount because of it? Oh, but that wasn’t you climbing out of the first floor window five minutes ago and walking around? Yeah, we saw that.
6. People Have a Huge Capacity For Kindness.
This article isn’t all about negative experiences and annoying customers. I’ve seen people show great kindness and humility during my time as a front desk clerk. One time, a homeless woman arrived to check in, and begged to pay for her room in increments. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do that.
Most hotels require a credit card authorization in full. But out of the blue, the man behind her in line, who was also waiting to check-in, offered to pay for her room. And it was a pretty hefty bill: $1,256 for a week’s stay. He must’ve been loaded or something; either way it was a really kind thing for him to do.
Have you ever worked in a customer service-related job? Share your comments in the Responses section, and as always, thanks for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it.
