I am a Hotel Front Desk Agent, Ask me Anything

Could you please give me a wake up call at 08:00?

It would be absolutely my pleasure sure, would you be requiring anything else this evening?

As a front desk employee at a hotel that doesnt do wake-up calls... how do you do wake-up calls? Write it on a sticky note "hey, call this guy at this time" or what?

It depends on the phone system you have. At my small hotel: Yeah actually. That's pretty much it, and you just call their room and greet them.

Bigger one: The phone has a system on it. You just press a few commands, and the room number and it just does a call hang-up ring to the room at the exact time.

Being a hostel front desk agent saying no to this is "my pleasure"

xD Oh jeeze, a Hostel. You're way more badass than me, man. I wanna hear about THAT. Do an AMA, pls.

How often do you get hit on by people checking in? Any good drunk stories?

Actually a lot, which was the creepy thing. I'm not insanely good looking, and a lot of the time young enough to be these guys' daughter. I have quite a few good Drunk Stories, but I'll pick one of my favorites. At my first hotel, we had these reoccurring unpleasant guests, lets just call them Misty and Kyle. So reoccurring, they probably would come 3-4 times a week. The first hotel is really old fashioned, no elevator and actual keys, as in the ones you can use. Drunk + real keys x doors that lock behind you. Every time a drunk guy lost their key and couldn't get in their room, you'd have to get up at 1, 2, 3 AM and drive all the way back down and let them in. Anyway, Misty and Kyle one night are drunk and in a fight, as usual, so Misty kicked Kyle out of the room. He's so drunk, he doesn't remember which room he came from. So he quite literally starts banging on each door screaming at the top of his lungs "I'll kill you, you fucking bitch! You and your whore mother!" Attempting to calm him down, he would just rip us off (usually only one or two of us working at a time, no security) and actually started climbing up to the rooftop. (We have "outside" rooms, which is kinda like all the rooms and halls are outside) For about an hour he was crying and screaming, throwing down his beer bottles at anyone who tried calming him down. He eventually pulled the fire alarm, and the cops were called. Everyone wanted refunds for their night being disturbed. We didn't give any refunds.

judging by your pic you look great.

Ha xD Thank you, but in the area I live there's a lot more beautiful people. Really.

Anyways how does one become a Hotel Front Desk Agent? What degree should you graduate in?

There's actually classes and schooling for Hospitality and to become a manager of a Hotel, so there's actually plenty of options. However, I have none. Zero, literally none. Which I've met quite a few managers and other FDAs that have no education in it other than Hospitality and Customer Service sort of seminars that last 1-3 days. If you DO get an education in Hospitality, I've been told it is easier to become higher up, like an Assistant Manager or Front Desk Lead, however all the ones I have met have never gone through any of that. You can earn your way up and learn hands on, or go through the schooling. I prefer the hands on, and what few heads of companies I've met said they prefer hands on vs schooling.

Yeah you can work your way up, I went from housekeeper to resort manager. I loved working In hostels and hotels

I've heard so many stories about that. Our regional manager worked her way up too, now she has an office and a nice position in the corp. Congrats by they way! Super impressive.

I'm a big-box hotel general manager. Front desk agent is an entry level position that requires no experience. I have no formal education in regards to hospitality outside of any I've received while in my company. Put in your time, work hard, and always be kind. That's how you move up.

Exactly, that's all I've been told. :)

does passing you a $20 or $50 with my ID and credit card and inquiring about upgrades work?

Yes. Yes it does. FDAs rarely ever get tipped, and usually make the same as Housekeeping. What is the difference? Difference is usually Housekeeping gets tipped, and you do not. Really, and FDA (in my opinion) will flip backwards for anything like that.

Kicked out a married couple of the Sweet Heart Suite for 100$ tip.

Kicked out a married couple of the Sweet Heart Suite for 100$ tip.

That's cold

It was also on Valentine's Day. Trust me, Hotel Guests will seriously break your spirit. I used to go and buy with my OWN MONEY cakes and champagne and chocolate covered Strawberries for guests, only to be ripped apart. It's not cold, it's SURVIVAL, man.

Nah - I've worked service industry. I know where you're coming from. $100 is $100.

It also didn't help that the married man was openly bothering a few groups of girls during their vacation. We got a least 3 complaints, so they were going to be kicked out either way.

Nah, you're just a shit employee with a shitty attitude that doesn't even deserve a job.

On the contrary, I love my job. It is too funny and when there are guests who genuinely touch your heart/vice versa, it's worth more than any number figure c:

Hotel management here - I've done the same damn thing haha, front desk is not appreciated enough and we all deal with a ton of bullshit day to day.

THIS GUY-

Someone give this man a bonus or something. I feel like Front Desk and Management deal with so much. Really, a lot of the time your job is harder than ours. I was an Assistant Manager for the longest time, and I saw the wear and tear drive through two managers in the period of three months. Managers really get the whipping.

What's the best way I can ask for upgrades while giving you a tip?

I would probably say pull out your wallet as you're doing so and let them know it is a special night. If they suggest something or offer, just say "this is for being so informative and helpful." It usually works.

Wow, you're a shitty employee. If you worked at my hotel, you'd be fired. That's definitely a complaint that would get filed. I've worked at hotels for many many years, your behavior is neither normal nor acceptable. Stop justifying it by thinking that everyone does it.

Actually, I work for two hotels and I was informed to operate this way. Smaller hotels that are lax on their service rules (don't even give name tags and violate their own rules) put priorities last and figures first. When I've been told by multiple managers to specifically not bother with things and have faced punishments by doing so (even if it was the right thing) you have to eventually stop. I had a manager tell me that I would possibly have to be let go for trying to correct an overcharge.

Then your hotels are pieces of shit.

I had a manager tell me that I would possibly have to be let go for trying to correct an overcharge.

This isn't just bad practice, it is literally illegal. Take them to the better business bureau and take the settlement they get you.

I don't disagree. Thankfully that manager doesn't work anymore, and a lot of things are attempting to be improved. A company recently bought the property from an independent owner, so they're going to put proper funding into it.

You still did it. You're an awful human being. Quit. Get out of the industry. Seriously, I'm not joking.

Get gud. Pretty sure a manager here somewhere agreed, though.

I'm a manager, and I don't agree. Any manager that would agree with ANYTHING you said is also a shitty human being. Literally you're not just a shitty employee, you're a shitty person.

get gud? Notice how they were being thrown out anyway due to harassment. lol

Have you been asked to provide illegal things to guests (drugs, hookers)? What was the craziest request?

Yes, many times. I've seen a lot as well, as much as we try to not sell to them. Apparently, the side walk way from the parking lot to the lobby was used as an apparent hot spot for drug dealing for two years and we had no idea. My craziest request would be involving my male co-worker. We had this guy come in, and he only wanted the room for a few hours. As trashy as all this sounds, the rooms were expensive since it's actually close to the water. We try to not bother anyone, but actually approached both of us once my co-worker and I were changing shifts. He requested us both to actually go "spend some time" with him in his room, and maybe find a good seller around the area. I of course declined, but my co-worker however did not. Afterwards he tried tipping me in wine, just like half a bottle. I've been tipped some weird stuff.

I of course declined, but my co-worker however did not

they smash?

Yeah. My male co-worker was totally down for that, and let everyone know. He got tipped in drugs a lot apparently, but I never saw it. He told me about how he smoked some, and had a really bad trip and went to the hospital. Meanwhile I'm thinking.... This is kiiinda what you get for smoking something someone TIPPED YOU.

he smoked some, and had a really bad trip

Some what? Trip? Huh? Sounds like he had a panic attack from good weed.

That was probably it. He told me a guy like, really creepily slid him a bag of weed as a tip...? And he ended up smoking it and crying to his mother. He thinks it was laced with something, but I know nothing of drugs. Never taken any, so I don't know what does what. He just told me that's what happened and he ended up just going to the hospital.

How often do you give out condoms?

Whats your best kick out story?

We actually don't provide Condoms. I've heard of hotels that do, but we don't We TRY to be a sort of "resort", but try is a very strong word. Honestly the Hotel is losing more money than it's making because it's so close to the water. But that's just what my manager tells me. Really, everything is so half-assed in a Hotel, you have no idea.

As far as kick out stories, this one is one of my favorites. At our hotel, I think for 20,000 dollars or so? You can rent the entire place for two days. This includes our "Garden Rooftop" which has a Jacuzzi and firepit overlooking the sunset. People usually do that for weddings, considering it's cheaper to do that when you total all the family and location expenses. Well, this particular Bride was insane. No, really. She planned the date 3 years in advance, and would come around every couple of months to see how our flowers bloomed. We don't pay particular attention to our garden, it grows on its own. Anyway, the closer to the date it got, the more she would come by and demand more answers. Like who was working, if we would match their color theme, what was the exact size of the rooms, when all this information was already written up in the contract. No one at all wanted to work this shift, so I volunteered since I needed the money. Oh. My. God. It was absolute Hell. Drag everyone's bags up three flights of stairs, only to get a "Oh I don't want this room. Show me another." I was losing my temper ever so slowly, but I can understand since it was a wedding. Finally, the ceremony started so I could go back to my desk and answer phones or do some paperwork. About 30 minuets in I hear a scream, and I run up to the rooftop. I'm thinking someone is hurt or has fallen or something, but only to see that it's the bride. Her eyes are swollen and red from crying apparently, and she starts going off on me about how the sun is setting a half an hour early. I just stand there, not really knowing what to do since that was quite possibly one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. She threw her flowers down and told everyone to get the fuck out of the ceremony (her family) and started ripping off ribbons. She demanded a refund of the entire 20,000, which is not possible because the contract is non-refundable. I informed her of such, and if she was going to damage property, then I would have to call the police. I didn't want to, but these people seriously will go off about the sun setting 30 minutes before usual. I apologized to the family, but they seemed almost as mad as she was so I let them know they could leave to another hotel if they wanted. About an hour or so later, I eventually ask my manager on her Cell what to do, which was a big "Idk, good luck!! LoL" Helpful. Long story short, I had the police escort them all out, including her kicking and screaming. She hit the cop in the face, so I'm not sure if they arrested her. I know she broke quite a few glass tables though.

Holy cow! That is insane. You can look up sunrise and sunset times in advance. Stupid and crazy is no way to go through life.

For example the sunset in London on May 3, 2025 will be 8:27 PM.

That is unacceptable. I'll have your job for this.

That's a half hour a year too early as well!

I wonder if they ended up getting married or not. Or if she went to jail.

I think she called it off when the groom said yes 0.2 seconds too late.

That 0.2 seconds showed hesitation. Hesitation is weakness. He is an unsuitable mate.

My hotel provides condoms in the rooms haha. Hello fellow front desk agent! I'm behind the desk killing time right now :D cheers

I salute you, my good man/woman. What shift you got?

Currently night audit because I left the hotel and came back so I got stuck with the worst shift. I hope to move back to day soon!

Oh I feel you, man. I've worked all shifts, but used to be strictly morning shift (7-3) but went onto be Evening/Audit. Got any cool or funny Audit stories? Wanna swap the best tactics to stay awake?

The sun is going down half an hour early . . .My minds still stuck on the utter apocalyptic stupidity of that statement

Believe it or not I get it a lot. I've had people, 100% seriously ask me for a FULL REFUND because it was raining when they were here.

Can I have a foam pillow please?

Of course Sir/Madame, I would be more than happy to provide that for you.

I work for Expedia as a customer service agent , is it true that you hate the guts out of us?

Some FDAs yeah. Here's a better explanation.

I've had, some AMAZING customer service people with Expedia. They've really worked with me, and were just absolutely amazing. However Expedia gets a bad rap for a few reasons: 1. Managers have told us about Expedia's cut and how it is "ruining sales", so they try to get direct reservations as most as possible. 2. I've had multiple times where we've unintentionally had to Walk someone. The system OPERA should automatically just pop up reservations into the system, but a lot of the time Expedia just doesn't send the information or forgets to. It happens, there are mess ups. But what that does, is we become overbooked without knowing it. So when we contact Expedia, they still make us pay for the guest's needed Walk when it was their mistake. Double to triple times the amount.

So I've had some really awesome Expedia Pals (I just call the same ones now/ask by first name) but unfortunately most of the time it ends up us having to pay for one thing or another. On the plus side: I think a lot what my hotels do is ridiculous. Lower the rate to match the season! So I tell guests a lot of time to just book through Expedia. It's not fair to charge summer prices for winter quality.

How do you feel about TripAdvisor?

I like it! I think people should use it more often, especially since owners and higher ups look at it. Being #1 in an area is seriously important to them.

What is the best way to get a room upgrade?

You can do a few things: Be SUPER nice to the front Desk. Ask them how their day is, really just treat them like a human being as well as pull the old Expedia Trick.

Expedia is the lowest rates you'll probably get for a Hotel. The bad thing is, is that Expedia takes a portion of the percentage of profits for their "service" and the Hotel actually gets a really low portion. If you book through Expedia, they'll give you a crappy room for sure since you're on low priority. At the same time, a lot of FDAs try to overcharge or upsale you. What you need to do, is to book with the Hotel and ask them if they can match their Expedia Rate. 100% of the time this will work, because they'd rather take the whole cut than give some to Expedia. Then, ask them how much would it be to upgrade. They'll usually say something like 20 or 50 dollars, just something off the top of their head. But let them know how long you're going to be staying (multiple days will totally get you an upgrade, especially if you book through them and not the online engines) or if it's just one day, that it's like a wedding night or something special. Just bullshit the sugar coating. The FDA controls all the prices, so the more you try to get on their good side/haggle the more they'll cave.

All else fails, tell them that they charged you double or something, and make a really big deal out of it. They'll scramble and won't know what to do, and threaten to leave. They'd rather upgrade you than lose you. :)

Maybe Its just because of different properties and hotel types but I work front desk and I'm iron willed. No one gets free stuff for pulling any of this on me. The only thing that works is being a decent and rational human being and me having the ability to accommodate without putting anyone else out. Other times when guests try to haggle and negotiate with me I conclude it in a way where they think they got a deal but in reality I got the value I needed.

It probably varies from location to location. The specific one I am talking about is a Boutique owned by a family/corp. that owns other sort of Cookie Cutter hotess (Hampton, Holiday Inn, and so on). Because of it's sort of uniqueness, it struggles during some seasons considering they won't lower the price (300+ dollars for a no view room during the dead of winter in Southern California). At the same time, management rides you for/blames usually the staff for the lack of turn out, so it has been drilled into our heads that every single sale is needed. Thus the working with people. 2/3 Hotels I've worked at operate this way.

Then I feel for you. Management sounds like a bunch of do nothing blamers.

Can't make people call. As many problems as we have, our highest rated feature is Customer Service at least. I wish they'd put the money into this place. :( It has such great potential.

I concur. I was an FDA for the 11pm-7am shift in a golf town. The prices we charged during the summer were $100 more than the off season and not one customer argued because vacancies were scarce in season

Yeah vacancies rule everything. We're a smaller Hotel but in a pretty prime spot near the ocean, so a lousy room can be charged 300+ because of how close we are.

FDA?

Front Desk Agent. It's the people who check you in, make your reservations, answer the phones from your room and so on.

Hey, do you have an android charger?

I sure do, here you are sir.

Iswearifyoudon'tbringthatbackIwillhuntyoudown.

Thanks for not shuffling the functions of the holes in my face!

Welcome ;D

Hello ma'am, I stayed here last night and lost my phone charger. Is there a chance housekeeping dropped an iPhone charger in the lost and found?

What type? We have a lot. A lot. So, many chargers...

Where can I find a good place to eat around here?

Go up the street, for about three minuets and then take a left. There's this hippy grocery store that makes some pretty good fish tacos. If you don't like fish you're screwed out of options around here.

Can I have more towels sent to room 1408, please?

Of course Sir and/or Madame. It would be my absolute pleasure, will you be requiring anything else this evening?

.....Wait.

Yeah...get me the fuck out of this room.

Your quick Check Out is here, sir.

Noose falls

Ropes take too long. Would you happen to have a gun behind the counter?

No, but at my second hotel we have two steel pipes. Not kidding. We have panic buttons, but they felt a little extra "oomph" would help in case we were in a dangerous situation.

Can you confirm or deny my theory that if you accidentally leave something in your hotel room, even if you contact the front desk immediately you will never ever see it again? It's happened to me twice.

Sadly it's pretty true. It's avoidable, but it is true. Most of the time it's due to laziness of the hotel staff not wanting to put you on hold, get up and actually go down and look at the Lost and Found. Sometimes it is because Housekeeping hasn't contacted the desk, etc. But most of the time it is due to "I don't waaaant to go looook... ugh..." It's actually happened to me too at another Hotel. I stayed for 2 days, got really sick and never left the room. I left my laptop mouse in the room, and after about a minuet of "looking" there was no mouse to be found. Right.

Anyway, I personally try to return things to people, since it makes them pretty happy and give good reviews on Trip Advisor (if you want to get to a hotel, rate them on Trip. Their corp. looks at it and nothing else. No Yelp, nothing. Only Trip.) But I've seen it a lot with my co-workers. If they straight up don't like you, then they will do the same thing.

Also a FDA here. And wasting time between checkout time and check in time. I've worked in some VERY large hotels/resorts and some smaller ones. I'm currently at a smaller 88 room property in a Canadian provincial capital. So we are pretty busy most of the time.

I've got a few big pet peeves from doing this for so long and I was wondering what yours are? One of my big ones is taking a reservation on the phone and the person on the phone doesn't have any of the information I need, like their credit card for example, so I have to wait for 5 minutes until they dig it out of their purse. Anyway I was wondering what little things like that consistently annoy you?

Absolutely this, yes. But I think what bothers me more usually is if they say it too FAST. I can type pretty fast and I've learned to keep up really quick (as obviously as you do) but some people genuinely just go lightening fast. CC Info Speeds and complaints about lack of variety at the free breakfast. As well as Weather Refund Complaints (people actually ask for refunds here due to the weather not being 100% sunny and not meeting expectations.)

Oh yes! That's bad. And when I have to ask you to say your credit card number for the third time maybe you should slow the hell down. And when they wait after every 4 numbers for me to say something... like I don't need you to go that slow either! I've just had my 4th person today ask me where the restaurant is, just once I'd love to say, "You see this 6 foot sign right next to where I'm standing with the squiggly lines all over it. Well follow the arrow that says restaurant and you'll probably find it. Failing that you could also turn around, it's directly behind you."

"Squiggly lines". It's sad because I use this verbiage too. My small hotel is TINY. TIIINY. Only has three floors, so everything is pretty close by. Here's another thing: when people forget how to read. It's not their fault, but I find it really funny when someone asks me "Is this regular or decaf" when there's a huge giant BOLD label on the top and front of both of them. I kinda just wanna say "Oh they're both regular." Hehe, nah I kid. But forgetting how to read, how to turn on a TV or how to swipe a card with instructions on the card.

What's the best way to get a deal on a hotel room?

As I said before, best would be to ask them to match their Expedia online rate. They always, always will. Don't book through the Engine, those are the crappy rooms. Yes, we have crappy rooms and we know it. We give them to people who are mean or pay super cheap. Yes, we know the heater isn't working. No, we won't send someone to fix it.

Anyway, call the hotel and ask them their prices for the day and room type you're looking for. Then say "Oh I see you have a different rate online through Expedia. Can you match it?" They absolutely will, which Expedia usually has the lowest rates and you won't get a crappy room. Also, if you have AAA or Military, Government, anything-- Usually you can have a discount on top of that. If you want to stay multiple days, ask them what percentage you can get off for a multi-day stay. They'll be handing you over anything at that point, the haggling is pretty much won at that point.I know because I too have used this when booking my hotels >:)

I work front desk at a hotel too and we don't match Expedia rates. Specific directions from my manager not to. The sales manager gets angry if we mess with the rates. I'll try to find the lowest rate possible but if nothing satisfactory comes up I'd tell them to book it through Expedia.

Ah yeah I've heard that some people can get in trouble with Expedia if they find out, but I mean that's only really if they find out/if you have certain Rate Plans. What system do you operate on? I've used OPERA for the most part, which you can just do whatever to. But also Wyndham and Rezo.

How many times people lost their goods? Which kind has been most at lost and what was most weirdest and memorable lost goods during your job?

You'll get at least 3-4 rooms losing things a day at my location, and the cool thing about it is if they don't claim it you can pretty much keep whatever you want after a certain amount of time. It just sits in lost in found until it's thrown away. I personally got an iPhone 5 (service was turned off eventually), headphones, and almost a laptop. People leave their cards, and so on. But you'd be hilariously surprised by how many people LEAVE THEIR SEX TOYS. People, PLEASE: IF YOU ARE GOING TO BRING IT, TAKE IT BACK WITH YOU. So many times, there's dildos, stap ons, buttplugs-- everything. Just laying on the ground, and whoever is on job has to collect it AND has the totally awesome duty of calling whoever owns it and letting them know that their huge Dong n Balls was left behind. :) So from Beats by Dre to Dong n Balls, there's a lot of it.

Notice

We don't just take things from lost and found. We try several times to contact them, but a lot of the time people don't leave phone numbers, and just email. Even then if we do get in touch with someone, they don't want to pay for the shipping to send it back.

Isn't not calling someone when you find an item of value and you know who it belongs to stealing?

I clarified. The nudge thing was a joke, but it should work that way. I've personally left plenty of items at hotels and don't get a single call about it being found. I have NEVER been called about a found item. My wallet, purse, and phone were left in a hotel room and not contacted at all. I even called them twice and there was "nothing like that" in the Lost and Found. It wasn't until I went in PERSON and asked again that they actually looked. Surprise surprise. Anyway, as I said a lot of time people either don't want to pay for shipping, don't leave info or don't call back. But of course there's still people that want their things back, obviously. I'm talking about we're allowed to keep it 6-9 MONTHS after we've tried to contact someone for it. A lot of the time it just gets thrown away. Yes, perfectly good electronics will get thrown away.

How many keys can I theoretically get?

I've accumulated 4 already in a week from just forgetting my key in my room and getting a new one.

Two at the time of check in, but like I said this specific hotel has REAL keys. There's a 50$ Lost Key Fee charge for each key lost. Not because it costs that much to make them, but because we really hate having to go out and get them done each time. The company that owns this Boutique Hotel keeps pushing back the dates for remodel, so we have to do a lot of things by hand. At the same time, it is a smaller Hotel so there's usually only one person on shift. But if we gave you all keys for a room including back up ones, probably 5.

Have any confrontations with guests ever gotten violent? If so,please share

Actually yeah. A few times. Now, I'm a pretty young girl and we have no security. So I've had this one 40 year old woman try to lunge over the counter and pull my hair while she and her 70 year old mother cursed at me in Spanish, but the one I remember the most I wasn't actually too involved in. I was around, but it didn't happen to me. Our lounge rooftop closes at 10 PM, and there was this guy who was drunk and sneaking up a lot of girls up there. My manager (second manager) in a very confrontational manner told them they were to leave or the police would escort them. He began pounding his chest like an ape yelling "YOU WANT TO FIGHT ME, MAN? HUH LITTLE MAN?" This manager is a bit shorter, and it was like his third week on the job. It was getting to him so he sort of snapped. This tiny little man, like beats on his chest too saying "I tried to respect you my friend, but I can't because you do not respect me." And some other gibberish like that. Apparently they started ramming at each other and trying to tip the other over. He got a black eye and his sweater vest a little messed up but other than that was fine. He's on the blacklist, and we changed the locks (all of them) in the hotel because he stole his Master Key during the fight.

Wow. I cracked up when you said about the man beating his chest

I think that was as close to "fite me irl" as I will ever get actually in real life. "You wanna fight me little maaaan?!?!" Face all red.

If I was at a hotel, visiting from another country. If i ask u for hook up for drugs, is that appropiate?

Not at all. I think some lower places may like, level with you and tell you where dealers are or whatever near the area (like my old co-worker did) when off the clock, but those sorts of things were off the table and would usually get you kicked out if discovered.

My mini fridge is being loud as fuck I stuffed a towel at the bottom of it to muffle to sound, How soon can I get it replaced?

Odds are it's not going to. A lot of people genuinely forget about these kinds of complaints. But at my location we actually have backups of TVs and Mini Fridges in storage, so I wouldn't mind getting it for you and replacing it, even with the lack of elevators :)

Does your hotel use fake guests and credit cards that the managers are in possession of to defraud corporate? I worked at a Hilton Hotel where the management kept coercing me to check in obviously fake guests who never showed up using card numbers they handed me on written paper. There were just enough every night to bump up the rate that corporate would pay them per room.

My hotel has never really done this, but I have heard of hotels who do it. I've never worked at a Hilton, so I am not sure if this is common for them but like I said we never have. I'm not sure if that's violating something or not, but it could be to meet occupancy demand. Poor Managers get really hardcore lashings from corporate from what I've seen.

how can I bribe you to give me a free room for a few hours ?

Usually friends and family can get it from a few of us for free for a day or so. Just ask on the slower days (ex. Sunday)

wrong answer. let me rephrase

"how can stranger bribe you to give a free room for a few hours ?"

Eh, I don't think I ever would considering there's a lot of consequences with that. However if you wanted just a DAY USE (which is the correct hotel-esque term for a few hours) that shouldn't be too much. It's like half the price of a normal stay, so probably around that.

Can I get some extra towels and pillows to room 243?

No problem Sir. What kind of towels? Body, face or hand?

How many hookers work in your hotel on average?

Never seen any actually work in the Hotel, but I've seen dudes try to sneak them in a lot in the Bigger hotel. So, on average maybe 2-3 every two weeks? At least attempted anyway.

is my room ready?

I know its 5 hours before the check in time, but im here now...so yeah

Oh god. I'm not even working right now and that gave me PTSD. Really, my heart just sank a little. I've had people try to check in at 8 AM on a sold out night. Housekeeping doesn't show up until around 8:30 here, and trying to explain that to them apologetically really pisses them off most of the time. "THIS TOTALLY RUINS OUR PLANS, WE HAVE A PROBLEM" And usually just sit out in the lobby literally for hours until the room is ready.

sorry man, i would never do this in real life if it helps

I know, but I just busted up laughing, thank you for it, really. My face just went pale white, mind completely losing the rational information that I am nowhere near work.

If i book through hotels.com or Orbitz or some other 3rd party site rather than direct through the hotel am i really considered 2nd class. Any difference how you handle those people?

I can't speak on behalf on ALL hotels, but the hotels I've worked for have said the same thing based on the topic:

If you book through a third party, you're in lower priority because Online Engines take a share of it. So you're not paying as much to the hotel. All of my managers have told me that Online Bookings get lower priority rooms, and direct booking get higher priority. However as I suggested, you can call the hotel and ask if they will match the Orbitz/Expedia/Hotels Tonight/Whatever rate. Most of the time they do, so that's a way of paying the same price as Online Engines but getting better priority. :)

Appreciate the answer and didn't think of that. Last time i did that it was like 50 bucks cheaper a night gotta do what you gotta do. Thanks for answering so quickly.

No problem, and a lot of people don't. It can make a 225$ room turn into a 150$

Will do from now on. Definitely leaving a tip if i find my way to your front desk.

Bless your soul! :D

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Usually whoever is talking about Early Check ins/ Late Check outs doesn't normally have the 100 percent okay. It's based on occupancy. If the room you are going into has someone checking into it the day you're leaving, you have no chance of getting a late check out especially if they've requested an early check in. So your best bet is to make a reservation as far in advance as possible, so there won't be as many people "beating you to it". It's also usually one or the other, but this always usually works: Make the reservation as far into the future as you can, and then ask the possibility of a late check out around the second day you're there or upon check in. That's your best chances.

As far as the overbooking policy, this is the sad truth of it: Expedia really, REALLY screws over hotels. Not only do Expedia reservations give a very small portion of profit to the hotels, they also have a really messed up cancellation policy. Say your hotel is overbooked. And we have to choose between cancelling with you or cancelling with an Expedia reservation. Unfortunately we will cancel with you. Why? Because Expedia's policy is that if we have to "inconvenience a customer", we have foot the bill of Walking them (Walking means sending them to another Hotel). And usually Expedia likes to look really good, so they'll send them to a really nice Hotel, for however long they want. So Expedia gets to keep their portion, their customer loyalty and we have to pay for it. I remember we had to pay 800$ for a 200$ reservation. Now when you cancel on someone who has booked through the Hotel, all you'll get is a loss of profit/an angry customer. It's nothing personal against you, it's just the Manager looking at the numbers. The point of making a reservation is that it does really save you and the FDA headache, and so you just really have to pick your poison. If you book through an Online Engine, most of the time you won't be cancelled on. Though, you probably won't be getting too amazing of a room/view. Could book through the Hotel at their prices and earn some brownie points, maybe be given a discount and so on or you could book through them with Expedia's rate. All you have to do is ask them to match it and they will, but that doesn't really ensure the risk of not being cancelled on during an overbooking. :(

This thread is incredibly insightful

Why thank you! I have a lot of fun and creepy stories, too.

Weird, I was a front desk agent with Kimpton for years and we'd always walk the 3rd party booking engine guests first.

I was always told that we'd pay way more than usual due to the fact that our location has insanely priced hotels around it.

You have given some great answers and stories. Did you know that it is spelled minute? A minuet is a dance, I believe. Anyway, sorry if that is a dick thing. It was driving me a bit nutty.

Do you have any other crazy bride/wedding stories?

xD Thank you for correcting me. I don't go back and re-read as much as I should, so thanks for catching it for me. I do, I'm pretty sure that nearly every Wedding Event I've been on shift for has been worth telling about. Another one that I can remember was this crazy dog lady. It was a small ceremony, but she had like ten dogs stay with her. We have a pet fee of 35$, and she was determined to have the dogs actually with her when she got married, as well as have their own little seats. She got really offended when was referred to the dogs as dogs, and not as "guests". I told her that because they may damage the rooms, 35$ per per dog was required. "Do you have human fees?" Was her retort, which I replied "That is what the room charge is, Ma'am." She didn't like the attitude, so she took it upon herself to the next day take all the breakfast items (toaster, tongs, as much as she could carry) into her room. She apparently held them ransom for the Dog fees, which we just threatened to charge her more for. She had more photography and salon work done on the dogs than herself, and wanted us to be in charge of their "doggy diaper disposal". (yes this is a real thing). But it's just funny imagining this crazy dog diaper lady holding up in her room threatening the safety of a toaster.

This might be a strange question, and I don't mean to be rude, but why do you think people would have questions for you? Is it because your job is very unique and particular and filled with good stories, or is it because AMA shouldn't be limited and people from all walks of life should share information about their lives, or some other reason? Once again, not trying to be rude.

No I totally understand, and to be honest I would've agreed if I hadn't worked at some of these places. At first, it sounds kind of boring and dull, but there have been so many crazy instances that I've told family and friends about that my boyfriend actually told me about Reddit's AMA and thought I'd share. I have some pretty good stories about two of the locations. Stalkers, Bridezillas, and even a Homeless Man who called every day, from 2-6 times a day asking when his reservation was ready, claiming he was part of the CIA. I just honestly think some of this is too crazy to make up, so I thought I'd share. :)