In my reception years I came across some of the most interesting people, everything from the president to artists and athletes. Most of the time however, it was the common people who left a special memory behind, the good and bad ones. I witnessed cheating, prostitution, fights, losses and break ups. Fortunately more often I got to witness proposals, anniversaries, birthdays, promotions, finding out about pregnancy and people having the time of their lives. I met some of the most challenging people, ordered flowers to a businessman’s wife in California in a middle of a night, learned about different cultures, rescued a sleep walker who ended up naked in the elevator, practiced plumbing and received oxygen with a thank you card from a guest. The best part was to share my knowledge in order to help people to have a great stay. I loved getting to know the longterm- and frequent guests.
Behind all good service stands an actual person. People work the same; eye for an eye and all that. Therefore, the next time you step into a hotel, make the effort and be nice to the receptionist standing behind the desk. It’ll pay off.
A hotel never sleeps, and nor does the staff. When you work in a hotel, you loose the sense of time, hours are long and there is no such things as weekends off. You work irregular shifts and times, the hotel becomes your second home and your colleagues your family. You dedicate your time to the guests and the busier it gets, the less s h i t the staff tolerates.This is why I advise you to behave your best;
1) A hotel always has rooms that have a different level in quality. Act rude at the desk and you’ll soon find yourself from the worst room of the hotel. And vice versa. If a hotel is fully booked, someone always gets the suite, even if no one booked it. 2) The receptionist knows everything, but is not obligated to tell you anything. 3) Complimentary. Receptionists are allowed to give complimentary drinks/snacks/coupons to good guests. Who doesn’t love free stuff? 4) The housekeepers work under the orders from the reception, needless to say more here. 5) Everything goes in your record. These days, the most used hotel systems have an extensive memory capacity and they allow users to make endless amounts of notes that’ll stay in the records for years. Once a bad customer, always a bad customer.
Remember the British TV -series Hotel Babylon? Watch and learn. Although in real life the whole staff wouldn’t be chilling in the canteen together for hours I still find it quite realistic. And it tells you all I didn’t dare to write down here.
