r/askhotels

I’m with a great company that has a lot of different hotels that I love.. but it seems like everyone at my current property is failing up..? You do poorly at one position then they just promote you. I’m doing well and it seems like my boss is challenging my accomplishments and stifling opportunities to humble me. Please tell me there’s a management company out there with better culture. I’ve worked for 4 other management groups but none of them have the caliber of hotels this one has and the SOPs are always shaky. If there’s nothing out there better, I fear I’ll have to leave the industry I love and have been apart of for my entire career (15 years) permanently.

Hi everyone, I need advice on what is the best career path that leads to revenue management. I’ve spent 3 years at front desk but I’ve also left the industry for the same amount of time so I’m aware that I’ll have to get back into the swing of things but I’m not worried to about that, I have my AS and going for my Bach in hospitality to open more doors as well. I’m really just asking how do I get my foot in the door to revenue roles and ultimately manager.

Hi everyone! I’m a dental school graduate, but for personal/career reasons I’m currently unable to work in dentistry, so I’m looking into transitioning into the hotel/hospitality industry.

I’m particularly interested in front desk/reception or guest relations, but I have essentially zero direct hotel experience, and I’m honestly a bit lost about how realistic this transition is and where I should start.

I do have experience dealing with patients, including communicating with different types of people, handling anxious or difficult patients, explaining things clearly, staying professional under pressure, managing appointments, and working in a busy clinical environment. I’m wondering how much of that would actually be considered transferable to a hotel position.

For those of you who work in hotels, especially in reception/front office/guest relations:

• What would you expect from someone applying with no hospitality experience?
• What skills should I work on before applying?
• Would a dental/healthcare background be considered useful, or would employers mostly overlook it?
• Is it realistic to apply directly for receptionist/guest relations positions, or should I start with another hotel role?
• What would make a candidate with no hotel experience stand out?
• Should I lie about it?

I’m not looking for someone to tell me that I definitely can get a job, I’d genuinely appreciate some honest advice on how to approach the transition and what I should be doing to make myself a stronger candidate.

Thank you!

Sometimes when I stay at a hotel, I ask reception not to clean my room during my stay. If I need anything, such as a towel or shampoo, I ask them to bring it. I do this because I assume it reduces their workload.

But recently I wondered: could declining housekeeping actually affect the housekeeper's pay? Are hotel housekeepers sometimes paid based on the number of rooms they clean, or could declining housekeeping reduce their pay or working hours?

Does anyone who works in hotel housekeeping know how this usually works?

Hello all, I used to work as a night auditor, but I now travel frequently for a new job. I have developed a small hobby of trying to spot vape detectors in the hotels where I stay. I am curious how common they have become, which brands or systems properties use, and where they are usually installed. Do most hotels place them only in guest rooms, or also in hallways, public restrooms, stairwells, and other common areas? I would appreciate hearing about your experience, including whether they have been effective and how often they create false alarms. Thank you!

For some context, I’m booking a room directly through the hotel’s website and have been communicating with the hotel via their reservation email. They’re asking me to sign a credit card authorization form and send photos of my ID and my credit card (both front and back).

From what I understand, CC authorization forms are generally used when you’re booking for someone else and the cardholder won’t be the guest checking in. In my case, I’m booking for myself and will be using the same card that’s in my name.

Is this normal hotel procedure? Should I be concerned about sending photos of my ID and credit card, or is there a safer/alternative way to verify the card?
Would appreciate any advice, especially from hotel employees. Thanks!

I’m the Head Housekeeper. Check-out time is at noon; if a room doesn't have a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door, at what time is it appropriate to knock? Or should we not knock at all until noon? I was cal my attention because a housekeeper knocked on a door at 9:30 a.m.—the guest was still inside but didn't have the sign up—and then she came back and knocked again after 11:00 a.m. When the sign is displayed, we don't knock until after 12:00 p.m. And my boss was really angry about that, even though all my cleaning reviews are always perfect 10s; he told me I wasn't doing my job right just because one of my crew member knock a door.

Let me preface by saying that I don't need the "don't book 3rd party" or "Agoda is a scam" comments. I understand your point of view, it's just not what I'm interested in.

Has anyone been successful in getting a chargeback against Agoda? If so, what happened? Did Agoda ban and blacklist your account in the end?

My situation: booked a hotel for the wrong month. 2 days prior I notice and scramble to rebook with the hotel, but they are not responsive via Agoda chat or direct email. I reach out to Agoda with their response being that they would try to resolve things with the hotel. Day of the "wrong month" booking comes, I'm contacting Agoda every day now to see if they've been able to contact the hotel to move the date - same canned AI response about how they're contacting/phoning the hotel, no one is answering, they'll try again.

On the last possible day of the 5 day booking, I try calling the hotel myself using long distance minutes. I'm able to connect because I dialed the CORRECT number (turns out the Agoda reps had been calling the wrong number this whole time) and manage to get them to respond to me by email (finally). They tell me that they can't do anything about it, I need to speak to Agoda regarding a refund. They also tell me that I only booked for 3 days? (which is wild, because I booked for 5, even if it was the wrong month).

Contact Agoda, they tell me it's not their fault the hotel didn't get back to me, and they are denying me the refund.

TLDR: Booked the wrong date, called in advance to reschedule, hotel was unresponsive, Agoda failed in their duty to appropriate contact the hotel, and now neither will cough up a refund.

I was going to be staying in Bangkok for over a month. I ​wanted to see various room types in person at the Rosewood hotel.

I explained this to the front desk clerk, who with a concerned look on her face spent 10 minutes looking deep into her computer, and eventually determined they were so booked there was only one room type they could show me. Fine.

A very nice gentleman shows me the room, it's nice, but tell him I need something bigger for a long stay. ​​​

We get back down to the front desk, he tries his luck at finding rooms to show me, and magically there are three more room types available for him to show me. THREE.

This is not the first time this has happened. One front desk clerk can find a room, another can't.

​​​​What is going on here?

Shouldn't 100% of front desk agents be easily able to view 100% of a hotel's clean rooms? With one click on their computer? ​​

​​

Hello! I am bringing gifts for hotel employees at a five star resort I am staying at in September for my birthday. I am looking for opinions. Yes I know cash is king, but I am looking at beyond that. I want the gifts to be meaningful; I am wrapping them up too.

So I have two questions:

1. If a guest brought, say, 20 identical gifts to distribute to employees - what would your hotel's policy be for the employee to receive it? (I am bringing more but this is a ballpark of what is realistic for others who may also find this post useful.)

2. What would you recommend for the gift to include?

I am looking at self-care items, my favourite energy drink, and maybe a bar from my favourite small chocolatier local to where I live.

Hello! Me an my husband are going down to san antonio tx this weekend for his bday. We are splurging a little this time since could be our last trip before we have a little one running around. So we chose the hilton. We've only stayed at a hilton 2 other times. Anyway i digress! We are going on saturday but his birthday is friday. I called last night to ask if they could do anything special for his birthday. She said they can do possible upgrades, credits for restaurant, an a goody bag? It all sounded super nice an we'll be happy with almost anything! I did book threw 3rd party. Trust me i know how terrible 3rd partys can be i work with them constantly at my job.

My question is: Do you find it annoying to have a guest ask for special request like birthdays when they book threw 3rd party? If i could sneak down there without him an decorate the room myself i would but its 5hrs away from us 😓. I just want this to be a special trip for him.

Hey everyone!

I'm 18 and I've been meaning to join the hospitality industry I'm currently doing a diploma in hotel management. And I was hoping to join the front office.

My actual questions are:

1. Does height matter? I'm(5.6ft)

2. I'm young and I'm willing to learn a new language how much of a big factor is the language?

3. I'm from south Asia (Bangladesh) what's the real reality of south Asian in terms of the hospitality industry?

I mean is there discrimination while joining?

4. As for my looks I'm light brown in skin colour is this a big factor to not get front office job?

5. My main target is to get a job in Oceania,Latin America,Europe and Africa. Is there any chance I won't get a job based on my situation or hit a ceiling based on my situation.

HOW WILL I KNOW THAT I'VE CHOSE THE RIGHT PATH FOR MY CARRIER?

I've already posted this post 1 day ago posting again for more insight

I wish it would become standard for hotel properties to provide QR code to tip housekeepers. I try to remember to get cash before trips but sometimes I find myself without and feel bad. Why don’t all hotels make this standard?

I work concierge at an ultra-luxury hotel brand. In your hotels, do guests call the desk at 2am for stuff that could wait until morning or is that just with our guests?

what's the worst one you've gotten?

I stay at motels a lot and every time it's the same experience
I park, go to the front desk and ask for the cheapest room. Then I open Google Maps, see $20-30 cheaper prices and buy online.
My last stay is Motel Super 8 at Tyler, TX where the front desk said $69, and 10 minutes later I booked online for $43 including taxes and fees.

This whole process looks kinda silly. I would gladly pay the motel $43 directly, and they would profit more without the middle man, but instead I have to spend 5 minutes filling annoying online form.

Man, I'm unfortunately not a believer in ghosts, but the thought of your housekeepers telling you they see someone walking the hallways and then disappearing is a trippy experience, or claiming to hear not “normal noises” 😭

I’m (20) going to visit my boyfriend (22) on military leave and I want to pay for a room for us, but I’m not sure if this hotel will let me do that considering my age. The last time we stayed at a different hotel (marriott) , the front desk worker just said she would put the room in his name but all i had to do was confirm i was the cardholder. I’ve tried to call the hotel (hilton) directly since i know policies may differ, but it just goes to an automated bot that wont send me to an actual worker. Should i just bite the bullet and pay for it and see what happens when i arrive?

A buddy of mine is thinking of franchising well known brand, 110 room property. We've disagreed on how to staff this at night.

How many staff would you put on a night shift for this size hotel. I think 3. Housekeeping (for room requests and public area cleaning. Security. Front desk. From 5pm to 5 or 5:30am when the kitchen/breakfast staff arrive.