r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk

I'm a 30F and I was working the night shift last week this guy walks in he seemed nice, he went passed the front desk but I didn't recognize him so I figured he was with a regular who said he was waiting for someone but the guy walks down 4 mins later and asks "Why can't I get into my room" I said "Do you have keys to your room" he said "No because I thought you just walk into the room" I said "No sir you have to check in and get keys...." After about a minute of him staring at me like im a stupid idiot he said "Get me your manager!" I said "Sir I can't because he isn't here he won't be here until 7:30am but you can talk to him when he gets here" The guy huffs and says "Check me in then" I said "Okay sir I need a credit card and ID" He puts in on the counter sighing like I was the problem I finish checking him in handing him his keys and his room number on a sticky note he starts walking to his room but then throws the keys at my head it hits me I hit the button under the computer that calls security and demand him to back up and he says yelling repeatedly "YOUR A B#ITCH" "YOUR A B#TCH" "YOUR A B#TCH" "YOUR A B#TCH" But eventually security comes waiting for police and arrests him for harassment and assault

Definitely not my favorite moment. 🙁🙁

Hello everyone, I just graduated high school and tomorrow is my first day working at a hotel as a front desk associate. I’m super excited, but also really nervous because all of my previous jobs have been in customer service like a coffee shop, and a boutique. This feels like my first “real” business job, so it’s definitely outside my comfort zone.

I’m majoring in Business, so I’m really excited because I feel like this could be a great stepping stone toward my career. At the same time, I’m worried about making mistakes or freezing up since everything will be so new.

What should I expect during my first few days? What are some things you wish someone had told you before starting at the front desk? Any tips for calming first-day nerves or learning everything faster?

I went out and bought some business casual clothes because I wanted to make a good first impression. 😅

I’d love to hear any advice or stories from people who have worked hotel front desk before. Thanks so much!

The more I stay at this job the more I realize how people feel entittled to receiving anything they ask for even if it's not 100% guaranteed.

This weekend we have sports teams and a long holiday weekend. The worst combo possible.

On Friday night had a sports guest upset because i told him and his group to please go back to their rooms as it was past quiet time, during this time all communal areas are closed but guest are welcome to continue in their rooms. This is something i am required to do as our 'curfew' is 10PM. It was already 1AM. Guest was upset saying how in their 17 years staying here they never had to do this, we been under a new management for the past 2 years, new rules, there's also signs posted everywhere so i kindly pointed at the sign right in front of their noses. After a lot of back and forth, they finally left.

Then, unfortunately, I am required to report to work on Saturday night to Sunday morning, following the Fourth of July, and after a significant lack of sleep. It's been an interesting night, several requests, last minute bookings, and some weird phon ecalls that kinda sounded like someone was doing something perverted on the other line...

It's been a night but I am pushing through, until Mr. Facebook shows up at 4:30 AM requesting a late check-out. Our late check-out is noon, which is pretty generous if you ask me, but he wants to stay even longer. I can't let him, though. We have too many people leaving, and a bunch of folks are staying over. On the 4th, we were short on housekeepers and only cleaned rooms by request, so a lot of the stayovers haven't had their rooms done in a day or so. For the sake of our housekeeping staff, I can't give him anything else.

Of course, he gets upset. I say late check-out is up to availability, I can't grant it, is putting too much stress on housekeepers. He is still upset. Follows up with -

'I am talking to your manager tomorrow' - " No one is here until Tuesday."

I am a shiny member! - "ok". He is at the lowest tire, and even then I wouldn't grant it.

'I am a government rate!' - "ok, i see that."

'I work for Facebook' - "ok??"

During this entire interaction his wife is calling for him from the elevator so i just kindly told him his wife was waiting for him and he should go, check out is at noon.

He finally leaves. Now, I don't understand people, if you know your check out is tomorrow and you have not been officially granted a late check-out prior to going out, why show up drunk at 4AM?? That is a personal choice. Also if the guest had been officially given a late check-out, my peers would have updated the reservation, so most likely he was told it was up to availability.

So about a year ago, these two big friendly German shepherd dogs ran over here and kept trying to get in the building. The boss didn’t want them here, they were spooking guests because they’re big and would greet everyone that they saw. The police came and took them to the local shelter.

Well, they came back tonight, spooked because of the fireworks. They gave my boss the runaround trying to get them out, freaked out a lady so much that she demanded her money back AS WE WERE ACTIVELY TRYING TO GET THE DOGS OUT, and made 2 employees (me and my coworker) cry from stress.

The police wouldn’t take the pups because the shelter is full, so we had to lock the doors and keep them out. The angry lady is upset at us because despite keeping them out of the building, we can’t keep them from being outside. They eventually wandered off and I haven’t heard anything else, but I’m very concerned they’re going to come back. The boss went to sleep and I am a small, cat loving lady. I cannot wrangle two large scared dogs on my own. Worse, boss decided it was fine to unlock the door before leaving, and I am too short to reach the device to lock it again if I need to.

I feel so bad for those big babies though. They’re just scared and seeking shelter from the noise. If it were up to me they’d be asleep behind the front desk with me until morning, but it is not up to me. I hope they get home. I posted on the local Facebook page as well, so I hope someone knows them.

Last month on a VERY slow Sunday morning, a guest called and asked if he could check in early. He was here for a funeral and needed to get ready. I obliged because we had the rooms and grief sucks. That afternoon he asked if some of his family could come swim in the pool even though they weren't staying with us. Again. We were dead as all hell. And grief SUCKS, so i said yes. They were all incredibly kind. The kids had such a fantastic time (they told me all about it. One girl even hugged me before she left because she loved getting to see her cousins) and they were out of the pool and gone by the time it closed! They cleaned up after themselves so nicely too!

Well, that guest was checking in again today. He remembered me, thanked me repeatedly, and tipped me $20.00 for my kindness.

Not something i ever expected. I truly was just happy making their day suck a little less. But i am so grateful to have had my kindness acknowledged and returned!

I know it's easy to get jaded working in any form of customer service. But i also know that not everyone visiting a hotel is there because of something positive or joyous. I try to keep that in mind.

Just wanted to share something positive before we head into a busy weekend!

Edit: literally so many typos. Sorry y'all. I'm tired

As soon as I clocked in, I was already expecting chaos because it was only an hour away from July 4th. Someone was requesting a rate change to match their previous visits, which were compensated by an employee whom I do not recall. They kept going back and forth with me while other guests who wanted to check in started dialing away at their phones, enraged that a hotel would only allow one person at the desk.

Then one of the elder folks who accompanied said guest, who kept trying to negotiate, tried to pull a joke out of his ass to add more annoyance on top of my duties. The phone won't stop ringing of course, because everyone in a 10-mile radius expects us to have occupancy around the holiday and there have been multiple in-house guest requesting multiple changes to their reservations back-to-back.

Now the parking app is being weird and not allowing the guests to put in their information, bringing more paranoia to the check-in process. I am over it already, but I'm happier that there isn't anything too serious to deal with. (Trying not to jinx it)

Am I wrong in thinking that just because the internet or satellite/cable isn't working guests deserve compensation?

Dish is out at my hotel and people want a free night. One lady said the reason she booked with us was for the satellite TV. Im calling BS on that but really you want a free night because you can't watch America's Got Talent.

I feel the main things that require compensation is dirty room, no water, wrong room type, or pass poor customer service. Other than that that be grateful you have a rood over your head, a bed under your body and hot/cold running water and toilet.

Your TV and internet not working because of the service provider is not out fault and therefore shouldn't be compensated. Or am I the only one that thinks that. I try to be a minimalist so I'm happy with a bed, shower and toilet.

Other than that wish all my FDA/NA family good luck and Happy 4th of July!

In my 2 and a half years in working at my hotel, I have NEVER had as many people opening up the back office door in the past few months.

I’ve had 3 different experiences and each time I am left baffled. The door is hard to close and lock and majority of my coworkers (myself included) leave it unlocked. But we keep the housekeeping door locked.

I now have to get into the habit of locking it because of the amount of people that feel entitled enough to open the goddamn door simply because someone isn’t just sitting at the front desk. But, we’re not that concerned with safety and we’re overall a safe hotel and our area isn’t too bad.

An hour ago I had this lady knocking on the door. I turn to look at her and she goes to step inside. I’m like??? “Can you go around?”
Yes, I admit I forgot to leave the bell out. (But then again I’ve had people ignore both the bell AND sign and still call out for someone that’s not there at the moment)
She has her phone in her hand and she asks if we have rooms.
Already, I’m pissed off and I tell her no, we’re sold out and her opening that door was completely unnecessary.
She’s like “well, I didn’t know”
And I straight up told her “You could’ve called out instead of opening a door you know you’re not allowed to open. It’s completely inappropriate!”
At the last sentence, she’s already walking away in shock and saying it was “terrible” and “disrespectful”.

Jesus Christ, lady. Wanna bet if she already had her browser open and saw we were sold out and still decided to come in instead?
What if I was in the bathroom or genuinely had a guest issue to attend to?
Would she have just walked in where we have full access to the entire office and housekeeping? Absolutely not.

A month ago I had some guy knock on and open the door, wanting to know where the ice machine was. At that time, I had the bell out.

A month prior to that, I was in the bathroom for maybe 5-10 minutes. I come out from the back and see this tall older guy was standing in the doorway with the door wide open. I get scared and I tell him to close the door and to never do that again because it’s inappropriate and scary.

I had a few people in the lobby and I was not cordial with him, just did the bare minimum.

Would anyone else get upset if this happened to you?? Part of me feels like I’m overreacting but the other part of me feels justified because who tf opens a door to somewhere that’s NOT their own room or part of their amenities?

Just a short rant. Why are so many people so uhm not smart? 😭

At night we lock our front doors for security reasons. It’s a small hotel with only one person working at night. Guests can still get in with their room key, and if they forgot it or need to check in, we buzz them in.
The amount of people who hear the buzz and still don’t open the door is INSANE.
Instead, they call us, knock on the door, wave through the glass, or even start yelling. Everything basically besides opening the frickin door. Like what do they even think buzz means?

The sound is actually REALLY loud, yet people still make me walk all the way from the lobby just because they won’t even try the door.

This will be long.

I've worked at my hotel for about 11 years, 9 on audit. There's been plenty of times that I've had to call the police, but I did it through the non-emergency number. The times in the past that I had to dial 911 was regarding for other people's safety/care. This is the only time I needed to call 911 for myself.

So, my hotel is a beachfront property in the Florida Panhandle.

I had a lady (lets call her Sally) try to check-in around 1am following her date of arrival. She immediately tells me that she has a service animal. There are two things that we are allowed to ask. Is this animal ADA? What tasks does it perform?

She said that it wasn't ADA, and that it was only a "service" animal. Curious, I asked if she were referring to ESA. She said no. She was having an attitude and telling me that it was illegal to ask those questions and mentioned about suing us because of that. Obviously, I'm not bothered by something like that. The other issue is that I could tell that this lady was a problem and frankly had very bad feelings about her. I mentioned that we would be unable to accommodate her with this type of animal. This is a prepaid reservation, but I was more than willing to refund them. She got very angry.

A gentlemen that was with her, let's call him Carl, walked in and she told him the news. This man.......went off in a way I never saw a person go off about in anything in my 43 years, excluding online videos of strangers.

Immediately, he started yelling and screaming calling me so many names. When I tried to tell him that I was only doing my job he cut me off to yell at me that I'm a C@@@. He got up to the front desk and acted like he was going to spit on me.....you know that sound like somebody trying to work up a good spit from the throat? Yeah, like that. Sally told him to stop but he kept doing it while looking like he was aiming for me. I backed up near the wall to try and avoid it if he really did it.

He then said much that suggested he was willing to beat me up. I honestly was concerned he was going to hop over the counter. He and Sally wanted me to call upper management. However, I refused to do it. There's no way I was going to wake them up for this craziness with an unhinged man. I called security and Carl loudly mocked me for doing it while saying "You think he can take me?"

While waiting for Dean he was still yelling and cussing me out while insinuating he was a physical danger to me.

As soon as Dean walked through the front doors, without saying anything, Carl loudly said "We got a problem?" with a confrontational stance.

Dean was taken back and tried to calm him down, but Carl made fun of Dean's accent and told him to go back to Jamaica (he is from an island down south).

Carl then started saying things suggesting he hoped I died and that I also got Covid.

He took out his phone to record me, but I refused to look at him or say anything.

At this point it was clear that the non-emergency line was not going to fast enough so I called 911 on my cellphone.

As we were waiting, Carl mocked me about the police. The police only took about 5 minutes but during the wait Carl was making claims that the police didn't want to come and help me.

When the cops came, Carl was as meek as a kitten. I explained the situation with the cop the back office and had him trespassed. I should note, there were several guests in the lobby who were witnessing all of this go down, and who gave me sympathetic looks as I took care of whatever they needed.

I

I need to know if this is happening to any other front desk people. Small story time: I’ve just gotten my second phone call from a man asking about amenities. While on the phone he was moaning, his voice was breathy, and he kept saying things like, can you look ___ up for me baby? The first time this happened it sounded like an older man, same sort of scenario, moaning, breathy voice, weird questions to keep me talking. I thought it was a one off but now it’s happened again. Is this some new perverted scam? Please tell me this isn’t only happening to me

People who don’t understand how hotels operate really get under my skin.

The guest checks into one of our king rooms. A couple of hours later, he calls the front desk.

Guest: “I want to switch my room to a double queen room?”

So I ask:
“Why? Is something wrong with your room?”

He responds:
“No, but I just need double queen room. I originally wanted to book double queen”

I explain that, unfortunately, it’s already after housekeeping hours. We’re a small boutique hotel, and housekeeping only works during the day. Once a room has been occupied, I can’t simply move a guest into another room unless they’re paying for the additional room.

He immediately gets upset.
Guest: “But why? I didn’t even use the room! I only used the towels!”

I explain that it doesn’t matter. Once a room has been occupied, we can’t assign it to another guest without it being cleaned and inspected first. Since housekeeping has already gone home, putting someone else into that room would violate health and sanitation standards.

He still doesn’t understand why I won’t “just switch” him into a double queen for free.
I honestly don’t know what he expected. If I move him, I now have two occupied rooms that both have to be cleaned, and one of them can’t be resold that night.

Eventually, after a lot of back and forth, he seemed to finally understand why it’s not that simple and agreed to pay a fee to switch him to the double queen room.

ill never forget my first look at PEP, i thought "am i working at a hotel, or am hosting at Applebees?" id been complaining about the limitations and road blocks id run into with OnQ for years, but i thought, hey, could be worse, could be using Fosse. but after using PEP for a couple years... idk anymore, maybe Fosse isnt so bad, sure it feels weird to be using DOS Format, but its a conversation starter, that you use a system older than the person you are talking to.

but at least you dont feel like you should actually be a coder to understand when something goes wrong. i think my favorite thing about PEP is when you get an error message that doesnt tell you whats wrong or how to fix it, but instead contains unintelligible code, random letters, numbers, and punctuation. that helps me do my job at 2am with some angry, tired, Karen staring holes into the top of my head. admittedly PEP is better about this now, but only better in comparison to how it launched, when EVERY error message was just code.

which reminds me how it was launched globally, in what was obviously an Alpha state, congratulations Front Desk Employees and Night Auditors, while you thought you were only doing your job, but you were actually also doing free labor as a tester! id put that on your Resume.

ok i lied, my actual favorite part of using PEP is that it times out. i love signing in every time i have to use it, especially with my new password that requires 12 characters! so fun!, not annoying at all!

i could literally go on forever about all the little inconveniences but suffice to say, i miss OnQ so much, OnQ is "the one that got away" when i think about it, i hear Poison in my head.

In summer 2023 I started working as a night auditor in a 5* in Paris, and since that period of time, people used to call to book for the Olympics (2024...in one year), we just explain that we're not yet opening that period for reservations...etc

I finished my 4 months contract in September 2023....and for the next year (2024!!!!) I was offered for the same job...same hotel...they liked me.

One day during the Olympics when starting my shift (at 11pm) my colleague explained that he got a weird situation...I client with no reservation saying he has a room (he did not...we were full..no booking under his name)

Since we do have more time during the night...I went deep inspecting that story...what I found was hilarious...There WAS a booking for that person !!! But 2023...and the booking was made through our department of reservations...so..by phone...and what happened actually is the person from our department mixed up the years...2023 and 2024...for him it was obvious you can't book more than one year in advance...and made the booking for the same date 2023 not 2024....and I did handle the no-show and night audit that day in 2023...My name was on the booking lol

He showed up one year later.

For people saying you have an email you can't miss the date error...We all know people PRINTING their airplane tickets and getting there the wrong date...so if you don't even think about the Year being false...you're cooked

I worked with a woman (desk clerk) who was stealing money from the till. She didn't hesitate for a moment to try to blame the shortages on just about anyone. There was a mentally challenged guy who emptied the garbage.. a sweet and honest fella- she repeatedly accused him of stealing the money. (He had no access to the front desk so it was really outrageous. She'd accuse the maids, etc.

The bosses had their suspicions but they hadn't yet fired her. She was pocketing every cash transaction, etc. I worked the evening shift. She worked the overnight shift. (she was to relieve me) She was always late and really flippant about it.

One night she didn't show up for work. I had a day job also so, this was not going down well with me.. Hours into her shift I was so mad- I called her house and her husband answered-telling me she was at work. I responded "No she is not"

To make a long story short...The husband came into the motel and was hanging around the front desk with me. (He was in serious denial and not the sharpest guy). The wife was sleeping with some guy in one of the rooms. While the husband was right there in the front lobby, she came staggering down, hanging all over some guy (doing the kissy face thing). The look on her face when she saw her husband was priceless! The guy walked out. The husband and the wife left together. I was mad because I didn't get to say anything to her.

I got my revenge because she got fired after this. She applied at another hotel in the area -I was friends with the management of this other hotel. I gave them the heads up that she was a thief and she was using the position for hook ups. ("EW")

At place i am currently at, we have around 7 spots for cars. We can increase it up to 9, but that is really difficult for guests to move out of that, so we generally do 7, ocasionally 8 spots if necessary.

I have been working as a receptionist for couple of years, and most numerous " stories " were in regards to parking.

If your hotel is in a center of the city, you will have limited parking spaces. Nothing you can do about it.

It´s logical and obvious, right? WRONG!

It seems like it´s something incomprehensible to many guests. (+ Edit: Its in Czech. In Historical center of city. Unlike USA, not everyone has a car,hence hotels do not have that much free parking slots since not everyone has a car. Hell,not even i have one: ))

When our garrage is full and a guest asks for parking, they are often confused and can´t understand that our garrage is full.

We tell them that is why they were asked upon making reservation, if they want to reserve a parking. Often times, they don´t do it and do it during a check-in. Of course it´s usually full then, and they get mad.

This is even funnier if there is like some event and all the " suits " check in, and - most of them have their own car.

Well, if we have capacity of 40 rooms, do you think we also have garrage big enough for 40 cars,in a Center of a city?

It´s also "nice" if someone liked that saw the garrage and they say " There are empty spots, i want to park there " ... " Unfortunately, those are already reserved " and they often become confused.

And if it´s full and they see it, we had a guy saying " There is enough space, it´s no problem for me to park there". And you know what? Yeah. He can get there. But then others will have hard time getting Out. Nobody likes that, and it´s easy way to get bad reviews - pass on that. " It´s full ".

So since we have limited garrage, it´s sometimes not just the guests that are the problem. It can be owners/bosses. I have seen that happen ocasionally, and it can be rather annoying.

It´s when one of the big bois will talk to his friend who made a reservation, and if the friend asks about parking, they will tell them that of course, that is not a problem!

And if we have a full garrage? " Oh come on, you can get one more car in. That´s your job, and it´s more money !" --- and best is if it´s for two friends. Two more cars over the " limit " means it will be rather difficult for guests to get in, and we might have to look for parking outside because it´s just not feasible.

Yet the " big bois " can´t comprehend that if the parking is full to the brim and it is difficult to get out, guests do not appreciate it at all.

Once, i remember ther owner was helping guest to drive out from a particularly bad spot, and it took like 15 minutes.

Owner is then happy that we got few more euros for parking, but he doesnt realise that it is the biggest factor why people then give low or bad reviews.

Maybe, once we get 0 score review for that, he will stop doing that. Even though it rarely happens, it is rather stresfull for front desk, as everyone is unhappy then.

One interesting story i recall is that we had some scheduled repairs, so we open the garage for the repair guys to park there and do their stuff. Classic stuff. The colleague is checking cameras, and the bozos .. hit her car a bit.

She was not happy at all, came to garrage and and was like " wtf is this, are you kidding me ? " and the driver said that her car was already bumped before. They were not aware we had cameras there. Now that´s some excelent conduct, and it was a new car :D

There is also something that ocasionally happens, and it´s if we open the entrance to the garrage, sometimes someone else snucks in while its opened. Often it´s another guest and if garrage isn´t full, it ´s not a problem - but if it is, we sure have to show them out, and they are often not happy about it all.

What´s even worse outcome that can happen, if someone else, totally unfiliated with the hotel, comes into garrage while it´s opened ( can happen if it´s too busy), and he just parks there and leave. That happened once to colleague, and if it´s full - it´s not pleasant situation at all. Then the guy came later and was like " Uh, i thought i was at the right place " - yeah, you werent.

And that reminded me another stresfull thing. If someone parks at the Entrance to the garrage. The issue is, people often do that - and they just quickly grab something from a shop. That´s not a problem, but - we donť know if it´s someone who is there to park for few minutes, or if it´s some bozo who is gonna be there for a long time.

Ocasionally someone parks in front of the entrance, and goes gamble or something and comes after couple hours or longer. It happened sometimes at night, and it can be stresfull - since you don´t know when they will leave, and if some guest might need to go out.

Something like that happened to me i think this year. Car just parks right at the entrance, and it´s close to evening. I check upcoming check-ins and it´s only one person left.

So i think " Alright, if it´s that last check-in guest, sure. If not, he hopefully goes to shop - either way, i will know it´s not guest".

Well, he did not come for check-in and left. The car was there for there for over an hour. I call the police ( that´s what u do if someone parks at bad spot, in my country), if they can tow him - as this guy is parking where it´s not allowed, and other guests couldn´t leave the garrag (at least not very easily).

Police take their time. Like a lot. More than an hour. Even the tow truck thingie comes in, and guess what? The guy comes there at that time. He talks with the police, and they let him go without any fine etc.

Few minutes later, a guy comes to check-in. Yep, it´s the same guy with the car. He probably thought it would be an excelent idea to park in front of the entrance to the garrage, do not check-in, and go for chat and a dinner with his friend(who also parked NEXT to him, which also slightly blocked the entrance(not too badly though)).

He was like " i didn´t realise i cant park there " --- well, what do you think, with a yellow colour, in front of the entrance, and warnings around it?

One more funny thing i recall is when some guests arrived on bycicles, and they asking where they can keep them. Sure, garrage works, for free - since it´s just two bycicles. They ask if it´s safe. I say that yes. They don´t believe me. I tell them that it´s a private garrage, under cameras, and nobody can enter unless i opened the entrance.

While i am telling it to them, another guest is arriving, and i did the unthinkable. I have opened the entrance so the guest can come in with his car. Then the bycicle guests, after i am explaining to them that it´s safe, they came to look at garrage - and they see the entrance is opened, and they are mad and complain how can it be safe if it´s opened ?! Well yeah, i just opened it for the guests for a minute, so the guest can enter :D

At least they stopped arguing and kept the bycicles there.

How´s you and your experience with parking at your places?

The parking at this place was probably the most stresfull thing when i was starting - which i guess is rather funny.

I don't work the front desk, but I am a lobby attendant. I straightened up a guest room this evening, and I left the door latched open. The guests went to their room, and found it open. Nothing was taken, but they were pissed. This is my first hotel job, I don't know what is going to happen. Am I going to be fired? I am so unbelievably upset with myself, and I can't fix it now. The front desk agent acted like I am going to lose my job. I'm just asking you guys if you have any experience with this kind of problem. I don't know who else to ask.

Hello y'all!

I work the night shift at my hotel and something very strange just happened that I need to note down cause its makin me second guess myself hard. These guests booked a reservation with us over the phone and then showed up about an hour later.

I did the normal process of checking their id and ask for a card cause they didn't present it. They asked if they could pay with tap to pay which I said they couldn't cause I needed the card in house physically for ya know fraud purposes and all. They then pulled the card out to show me but still told me they needed to use tap to pay which this might've been my mistake in the whole exchange where I looked at the card, cross matched its details on tap to pay and saw it was matching so I said sure they could do that.

I handed the card back to the guest as he left to go outside and another used tap to pay and when it showed up on our systems, I noticed the last few numbers on the card was different from the card I viewed earlier. I told the guests I needed to see the card again and they started getting very defensive about it saying they didn't have the card and when I asked the individual who i gave the card to, they said they put it back in their car (they had gone outside after I handed them back their id and card). Though I feel like I did see them pull out the card when they were trying to show me their id again but it could've just been a similar card. Then they turned it back around on me and started getting angry at me for wasting their time when they were tired and that they paid for the room but wont be able to get into it, which whatever I don't really care I've had that same thing be used on me before, doesn't work.

Eventually one of them relented and said they'd pay with cash which they did and they went onto their room. It set off major major major red flags to me but technically they didn't do anything wrong so its not like I can tell them to turn around and leave though I wish I could. Also I just got back from a short vacation so I do need to get back into the grove of things which is my excuse for letting the tap to pay thing by.

The one thing I know for certain is that the card they showed me is not the same card they tapped with. I'm 90% sure nothing will come of it cause I've had more nerve-racking things happen at the hotel and nothing came out of them but ya never know

The hotel that I work at as FOM had a decently sized fire last week. No major structural damage at the moment, no injuries, and thank god it was in the early afternoon, so most people staying were out and about for the day already. At the end of the initial ordeal, Fire Marshal sticks the scary red paper on the door and tells us that the building is temporarily condemned. No one is allowed to stay on site, and we aren't open for business until we get everything fixed and reinspected. Fairly standard fare.

First of all, the incident happened on a Thursday, and the building owner (guess his name -.- ) wants to have us open by the next day. Everyone on site tells him, in more professional words "you're crazy, shut up". Obviously the building is closed, so he set up a plan where the salaried workers will monitor the building and redirect guests to nearby hotels. Not a massive deal, just a few old people who don't understand that shit happens.

Fast forward to yesterday, and we all get an update from the building owner telling us that we have to open for business by Wednesday. Obviously, this is a terrible idea, and hopefully illegal, but no one in higher management gave him any sort of push back on the matter. I suppose rolling over and letting people in the wet-smelling, half-powered, declared-unsafe building is a better idea than risking their positions. I won't say I don't understand, but what I won't do is stand for it.

So many of our facilities are non-functional or in an uncertain status. Our bar/kitchen is non-operational, as we have to restock all our food items and deep clean the area. Multiple floors are unusable, and the stench of waterlogged carpet is on every floor. The lobby is humid and damp, and we might not even have power to elevators, even when building gets energized.

I was told to take a few days off because I had already worked 5 days straight babysitting the property, and it was well known that I'll likely rip the owner/VP apart if I see them. I also made it clear that I will not honor guests reservations for as long as that sign is on the door, as I value the safety of my team and clients over revenue.

At the moment, I'm drafting my Letter of Resignation. I don't think I'll ever understand how someone can be so up their own ass as to disregard all instructions and try to get money out of people by putting them in a condemned building. The disconnect and greed sickens me.

UPDATE: I suspect someone on the team said something, because we've closed down again for a few more days. Not that it necessarily fixes any problems, and the core issue still remains, but at least things can get done in the meantime.

This just in: I was waiting to drop off (not a room) key at the reception of a 5* hotel, and overheard an exchange of the type more people are in dire need of experiencing :).

A younger man from a (not USA) country, guests from which are a bit notorious for demanding wagyu treatment on a sausage budget, bargaining, and a genetic incapability of understanding the concept of 'no', was in the process of asking to be moved to an inner yard (vs street) facing room on the 2nd floor. The FDA was telling him that there are no such free rooms. He (obviously) kept interrupting her by listing specific room numbers, while she kept repeating there are guests in those rooms. He literally wouldn't listen, talking over her, trying to cast his spell.

So she waited till he ran out of room numbers, looked at him like at the annoying toddler that he was being, and straight up said: "Sir, there are already guests in ALL yard facing rooms. Do you want me to go tell them to move out so that you can have their room?"

That seemed to finally get through to his awareness. Boss FDA - both for checking the entitled dude, and not murdering for the disrespectful way he kept legit talking over her as if she didn't exist 💪