Confessions of a Hotelier

After many years in the hotel industry there are a few quirks I’ve noticed about people. For some reason people act a certain way when they are staying in hotels and they have no problem voicing their concerns to anyone in earshot. I guess the thing that catches me off guard is how they act, because I doubt that they would like it if I came to their place of business and acted in such a way. So for everyone’s enjoyment here are a few of the funnier things I’ve come across. 1. When you are cut off from the bar, just order a coke. This one should be common sense but it’s not. As a manager I’m often called to be on hand when someone is about to be cut off, this is because people will swear, yell and in some cases, throw punches, if you deny them alcohol. This is someone that I’ve encountered first hand, luck for me the desk was between me and the guy throwing the punch so he missed. 2. You can have it all, as long as you pay for it. So you’re spending $175 a night and think that you’re hot shit, so I should comp your parking, breakfast, drinks and whatever else because you have chosen to grace us with your presence. Well first of all $175 is nothing to a hotel that charges $300 and second if you booked with a site like Expedia then you’re not loyal to my hotel and we all know it. The prices are there because we have to pay overhead, no one works for free and to keep people employed we need to pay a certain amount. If we don’t charge guests accordingly then we can’t afford staff, it’s that simple. 3. The hotel never keeps one room “just in case” This is a perishable business, so once the day is done we can’t sell that room again. Because of this the sales department and front office go crazy to sell every room. In fact there are incentives to get a perfect sell. There is never a room kept “just in case celebrity A arrives” 4. Just because you stay in hotels doesn’t mean you know how they work I drive a car every day, yet I still take it to the mechanic because I don’t know the exact details of how it works. Yet time and again I’ve had upset guest’s throw out the “I stay in hotels all the time and this has never happened!” This can refer to being charged for parking, not having a free breakfast, being charged for phone calls, getting or not getting a paper in the morning or anything else. 5. Yes we need a method of payment before you check in. Have you ever rented a car? It would be safe to assume that they need a credit card right? Well the same goes for a hotel room. In each room there is a TV, bed, walls, chairs, coffee machines, iron and so forth. All of which can be easily damaged. As an experiment try costing all these items out to see how much money we have to invest in each room. Maybe then you can see why we might like to make sure you have money to pay for the room upfront. And as a side note, an expired card is useless, there still isn’t any money on it.

7 Comments

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Hi I Was"

Sep 17, 2015 at 1:32pm

A Cut of Customer and after that I did ask for A coke' and Was nice He gave Me free of charge I Thanked the Manager the fallowing Morening at My comblmentry breckfast For Putting A stop of Makeing a compleet ASS OF MY SELF and runening A FAMLY GET AWAY; I Think Of that evey Time Whene I stay at eney place Now Nothing But reaspeck For All in You'er line Of WORKE"TO ALL THE PLCES I HAF STADE THANK YOU" :') From A changed Customer"

Rant or Confession?

Sep 17, 2015 at 1:49pm

/Confused...

I was"

Sep 17, 2015 at 2:08pm

Is all good Thankes" No need to wat' rant"

Sir Expat

Sep 17, 2015 at 2:48pm

In what condition are your stables, boarding peasant? My flying horse is of delicate temperament. And fetch me fresh bathwater and your finest wenches.

Sir shit sap"

Sep 17, 2015 at 4:20pm

You sond like A old Coke hed Friend I Yous to Know Dum fuck Sed shit like that hope He OD'S Soon He dos Not deeserv eney More then that Fucking Meet Ball"

canali

Sep 17, 2015 at 5:36pm

they're all hillarious...f*cking bunch of dolts can be the GP, at times.

Thank YOU!!

Sep 17, 2015 at 8:03pm

I too work at a hotel! Thank you so much for putting into words exactly what happens to us front line staff. After the most grueling summer in my recollection, it was therapeutic to read your confession. It's hard to have faith in humanity working in hospitality, but god love the people that show us a glimmer of hope by showing gratitude for what we do. We really need to focus on the good to stay sane. Please watch the "Diamond Member check-in" video on Youtube if you haven't already. It's also very theraputic. Peace be with you my fellow hospitality operative.

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