r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk

Recently, I had a couple tell me during checkout that both sinks in their room would not drain. I wondered why they did not tell anyone before checkout. I apologized and told them I would have maintenance check it out. I let my manager know, and he asked me to go to the room to see if the sinks were really clogged. Both sinks were full of water. I stuck my gloved hand in the kitchen sink and pulled out the sink stopper; the water instantly drained. I then went to the bathroom and discovered the stopper was in the closed position. I pulled up the stopper, and the sink instantly drained. I ran water in both sinks to make sure there was not a clog. It was just guests who did not know how sinks operate and did not want to investigate the issue.

TL;DR: Guests claimed their sinks were clogged, but it was user error.

I need to rant. Here's a compilation of things that are becoming really old, really quick.

Guests arrive unprepared - they come to the desk and give their name to check in. When asked for cc and photo ID, they sign impatiently, grumble that they have to go get it from the car. Why are you impatient and grumbling?? You can't tell me you didn't know we would ask for them, so why did you leave them in the car?

Trying to use someone else's credit card - it's either "just use the one in the reservation", or actually handing us a card with someone else's name on it. Then getting angry when we say we have to send a cc auth form or the cardholder has be be present, making rude comments, swearing, saying they've never heard of this before, saying they do it all the time (yeah right), just throwing an adult temper tantrum and acting like it's OUR fault.

Guests acting like we're beneath them, or inconveniencing them by trying to do our job - I've had soooo many guests lately who walk up to the desk and either just toss their photo ID on the desk and not even give their name, not say hello or anything, or just spit out their name in an impatient tone without even looking at me. Then proceed to barely speak or look at me while I check them in. We are people, you know. You could at least say hello when you arrive at our front desk.

Guests who don't listen - we ask for cc and photo ID and they only hand us one. Ask for the other one and they act surprised and sometimes annoyed. Or ask them to fill out the registration card and they just stand there looking around. Ask them again and they act surprised or annoyed. "Oh, you want me to to fill this out?" I know I'm talking loud enough so it's not just that they didn't hear me.

Guests apparently having better things to do with their time while we try to check them in - after giving their cc and photo ID, walking away to check out the snack shop, or going to look for a washroom, or walking away to talk to someone else, or talking on their phone while trying to check in. Recent guest hands over card and walks to the other end of the desk, I ask them to come back to sign the reg card, they do and then walk away again, I ask them to come back to insert their card in the machine, they do then walk away again. Guests behind them have an amused look on their faces. I now refuse to check in guests who are on their phone. I have questions to ask, they have steps to follow. When they hang up and seem annoyed, I "apologize" and say I didn't want to interrupt their call.

And still one of my personal favorites - their name isn't on the reservation and they get angry at us because "we" have to keep them waiting while we contact the guest whose name IS on the reservation to get permission. Most recent example is two men checking into a woman's reservation. Guy who was the one trying to check in then says it's the other guy's wife name on the reservation (so why are you even the one trying to check in?? and I should just take your word for it?), and starts swearing saying its BS service. Right. You thought I could just check you into someone's reservation when your name isn't even on it? Like at all?

People are exhausting.

I have plenty more examples, but this post would be waay too long.

*Edit to add a sentence I forgot.

I work at the front desk in a hotel in Tokyo. We get endless emails about wanting free nights in exchange for some tiktok and Instagram videos. Our marketing team always ignores them.

The other day, I got a phone call from saying they were an influencer.

"I'm calling to talk to your marketing manager for a collaboration and stay tonight."

"I'm sorry, there's no internal number to transfer you to."

'So what are we gonna do?"

"Please send us an email."

"I already did!"

"Please send another one and I'll forward it."

"Whatever!" *hangs up.

I can't stand these entitled people and the fact that they think they'll get a couple of free nights in exchange for some videos. Is it also just me or do they all copy and paste the same email template? "I came across your hotel and was immediately drawn by your ____"

Hello all this is a bit of a rant post lolll. I am a front desk worker at a smaller hotel and I have been here a year now but I’m still the newest employee. Anyways we have these guests who have stayed long term and I mean I think they first checked in shortly after I started here. Anyways they ended up a couple of days behind on payments and because they have been here so long, management decided to give them some leniency for a couple of days. Well a couple of days turned into a week behind on payments to us. So I’m working this weekend and was told that they needed to pay by Thursday morning before checkout time…. This woman called me and claimed she was stuck in traffic and would show up a bit later then expected she told me she would be in by noon to pay the full balance. Next thing you know it’s 6:30 PM my shift is ending and she claimed she was STILL stuck in traffic. I’m not stupid lady you weren’t in traffic for over six hours and I especially know this because my partner takes the same highway home she claimed to be stuck on and it was completely clear. Anyways management gave them till Friday. Friday rolls around and now she’s claiming she was in a car accident during that “traffic” and is in the hospital. My manager literally offered to drive to the hospital and pick up the cash she supposedly had but she panicked and said NO so they gave her till today. She promised to pay the full balance this morning before checkout time. Of course lo and behold checkout time comes and goes and she still hasn’t paid. I get the managers can do whatever they’d like as it’s his property and money but omfg it was exhausting chasing this woman around for money for three days straight. Thank god I am off the next couple of days 🤣🤣

There's not too much to this story but its something else. So I am a manager at a high end boutique hotel, we are busy almost every weekend due to also being a wedding venue. So this guest checks in and about an hour goes by and they called and said their ac was busted. We send our on duty maintenance man up there and he isn't able to fix the issue. We called our head of maintenance and he is going to come in on his day off to fix it, we assure the guest that we are going to get this issue fixed right away. The guest decided to take it upon themselves to pack up all their belongings and come down to the front desk because they claim i told them we were going to move them to a new room. Mind you i did not tell them this and we are completely sold out for the night. The guest keeps on insisting we check them into another room and even after repeatedly telling them we have nothing else available. We offered to refund them the cost of their stay and assist them in finding another place to stay for this evening. The guy becomes so vulgar screaming fuck in everyway different way you can say this telling me " you fucking told me you were going to move me to a different room, if you weren't going to move me then why did i waste my time packing all of our shit and come down here. I apologize to him and explained to him that i offered to help me find a room at a different hotel. He proceeds to then tell me to fuck off that i clearly dont know how hotels work and that we clearly have other rooms to put him in. I informed him that all guests were already checked in and he could wait until the ac is fixed or we could find him another room at a different hotel. He just was not having this continue to swear in the lobby which is full of people who are here to attend the wedding. By happenstance someone calls and cancels their room for the evening so we are able to put him in another room. But this is what happens when mommy and daddy never tell their kids no and then they have temper tantrums in the hotel lobby. Also i forgot to add the heat works its just the AC thats busted and its currently 47 degrees where i am at.

Hello again, my forced confidants! It's another fun-packed series of fun little bits and bobs for the past couple of weeks! So find a comfortable sitting position, relax with your favorite beverage, and enjoy the nonsense I've put up with recently:

* One of the front desk computers shut down partially and wouldn't print anything. I explain this to a guest who approaches me for a check out wanting a receipt. I offer to email it, but they insist on a printed copy. I head over to log into the other computer which is taking ages to open. Finally, when the last screen pops up for me to get their receipt, they say, "It's ok if you need to email it."

* A guest was wanting a comp room or a hefty discount for - and I wish I were joking - a cricket in their room.

* Another guest was checking out and asked if a discount had been applied to their room. Confused, I see that they were under a rate for members, but no other discounts, and I see no notes as to why they would even need one. I did tell them, "I do see that you received your member discount..." and that seemed to work. I was still left very confused.

* A guest asked for a different room because their water was too hot. They changed their mind after we reminded them that they could, in fact, turn on the cold water at the same time.

* A super shiny member was upset that they couldn't just park their car in our lot for an entire week without paying the daily parking fee, which would be around $3 per day.

* Guest asked if we had any ice on the first floor. I let them know they would have to go to another floor. After a brief pause and a buffering wheel, they asked me, "So...is there anywhere I could get ice?"

* I told a guest that they were all checked out and that since it went through a third party, they won't be getting a copy of the receipt unless through said third party. They continued to stand at the desk and stare at me until I repeated that they were all good and checked out (apparently in more ways than one).

* Someone called to ask the minimum check in age. I tell them 21. They pause then ask, "So the minimum age to check in is 21?" I confirm this, and they huff and hang up on me.

* An upcoming guest asks a few days ahead of time if they can have an early check in. I let them know that while I can make the request, I can't make any guarantee until the day of. They proceed to ask me again if they can have an early check in every day before and the day of their arrival.

* Potential guest calls in to ask about rates and asks about late check out availability a week before arrival. I explain policy and they continue to cut me off to the point I have to hold the phone away from me for a moment or I would scream.

* Another guest calls to ask for a late check out for the next day. I explain I can only put requests in the morning of departure. They get upset and say that doesn't make sense, which I agree with but state I'm just following the hotel policy. They hang up on me.

* Guest complains about the high cost of water, stating that they could get a whole case for the cost, and they could easily get a bottle of water for $1.50 from the gas station. I apologized and told them I don't make the prices, but if they would prefer, there actually was a gas station a block away from here. The declined and paid for the bottle.

* Guest complained about us trying to attempt an authorization, stating this has never happened before. Previous notes and stay history prove that this has, in fact, happened at least two other times. After they proceeded to yell and curse at another FDA, they were swiftly placed on DNR.

* A guest called asking for towels. Normal request, easy to fulfill. Housekeeping reports they've been smoking in the room when delivering said towels, so I proceed to pop a smoking fee onto their folio.

* Long story short, a guest lied to get a discount on an expensive night. I offer them the lowest I can go, but they refuse to leave the desk until they speak with a manager to get THEIR discount...which is a non-refundable rate only $10 less than what I quoted them.

* Someone complained about a lack of free water and how it was only offered to higher-tier members at check in. I look forward to that review.

* I contacted an incoming guest about their reservations, and remembered that they were supposed to only have one from a conversation the week prior that they never called to confirm. When I called, they confirmed they only needed the one reservation, so I waived a cancellation fee based solely on the fact that I remembered the conversation we had. I also made sure I had the correct room type, verified twice. Cut to the next day, and apparently they were furious that we gave them the wrong room type.

* Someone called asking about room availability, specifically 2 beds. I let them know I only have a handful of single beds left. They then proceeded to ask me what I had available again, so I repeated myself.

I don't know about y'all, but I'm getting kind of disenchanted with hospitality. Not that I don't love doing this job, but the entitlement and incompetence is getting a little out of control. Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

I work at a hotel in a popular tourist area. Today while I was doing a routine check in (and of course while the boss left me with a trainee) the man filling out the check in form decides mid-way he doesn't want to fill it out. He starts to ask me why we need the information, and I tell him well it's just in case anything happens and we need to contact him. He replies that he will just call us and starts crossing out info. I tell him he needs to fill it out and ask why he has a problem with it, he says he just doesn't want us to have his info, and then asks why I was being so rude about it.

Uh excuse me?

I immediately feel fight or flight kick in because I do everything I can to never be rude. I also am panicking at this point because I dont want to get in trouble for not doing my job. I tell him it's policy, and then he pushes back again saying other hotels don't make him do that which I know is a complete lie.

I say fine and smack the keys down in front of him and he finally realizes he's upset me big time and starts to backtrack. I tell him I need a minute and run to the back to calm down because I was about to lose my composure completely. My face is so hot it feels like it's on fire and I'm mortified for feeling upset in front of a new employee not to mention another guest waiting to check in.

Finally he fills the form out and sort of apologizes. But man I was so triggered. Just do what you are asked to do. My knee jerk judgement of him was he was a man child. T-shirt, hat backwards, but at least 33 years old. Then I see he has a wife and 5 kids and I feel so annoyed. Immediately made me think he was the weaponized incompetent type. I can't stand men like that.

I asked my boss about it and she said next time I could tell the guest they didn't need to stay at the hotel. I was glad she backed me up and luckily the girl with me also was reassuring I handled it okay. I just hate feeling angry and feeling like I'm going to blow.

Anyone else had this problem of people not wanting to fill out reg cards?

So recently we had some bright guests who seemed to be a bit worried about leaving their wallet in the room. All the rooms have safes and they are free and easy enough to use, however this couple apparently didn't trust them and decided to leave their wallet in a safer place, the rubbish bin. However the cleaners had been in and emptied the rubbish, they then came down to reception to complain that they had their wallet taken (I wasn't there to see the look on their faces and deal with them unfortunately) the husband had left the wallet in the bin and it had €500 in it, the wife was apparently furious. Since we didn't want anyone rummaging around in the bins in case something happens, we just said the bin lorries had been already and that it was lost forever. Let that be a lesson to everyone, no leaving valuables in the bin lol. Some people learn common sense the hard way.

Let me start by saying I work in a hotel, and it’s in the medium to higher range, especially for the area. $80-$130 a night.

The first thing, our hotel is straight up just covered in mold. I seen them paint over mold and leaks instead of repairing. Some rooms are much worse than others. Some rooms are “newly renovated,” so I usually do those and even those have mold.

The other rooms that still have carpet have mold growing on the bottom of furniture too, and the tubs are full of rust and damage. I’m glad I get to do the “better” ones tbh because I would force them to seal and paint the tubs if I have to look at it all day.

So keep in mind the rooms I usually clean are “nice” and cost the most.

My first month working there, I kept finding sheets with period blood on it. At first I thought they were just accidents or like period sex mishaps… nope. Not all of them. There was multiple women using the pillows and sheets as their personal pads. There was 2 times in two different rooms in one day that I found some crazy period blood everywhere, someone had used a towel, and had an extra towel on the bedside table for their next go around. Like rancid ass behavior.

Then I had a room someone peed all over the bed, and a few doors down the hall on the same exact day, someone had smoked meth, inside a whole ass HOTEL, absolutely just trashed the place with spilled food and weird yellow residue over a damp pile of towels. I have to think the two rooms of people were all just having a meth party or something and were connected.

The one I just found yesterday was almost the grossest, I seen a yellow brown towel in the shower. My eyes told me it wasn’t dirt. It was POOP. Chunks of poop. And the shower was used, so the wash cloth was dripping wet, in a yellow brown puddle of poop waterrrr 😭😭😭😭😭😭

They have these dumb showers where you have this metal screen over the drain and stuff you have to pick up and clean under. Really annoying because it collects the entire contents of someone’s shower, hair, soap scum, snot, nasty stuff like dookie puddles.

I am just in disbelief tbh. I don’t know if it’s just because of the location or what…. I don’t know. I want to try another hotel