Confessions from the Front Desk.

in blog •  7 years ago  (edited)

Hotel life


I work as a Front Desk Receptionist at a hotel at nighttime. It is a nice hotel, but not very big (50 rooms), and privately owned. As a result, my job description is all over the place, in addition to doing reception, I also do some housekeeping, laundry, bellhop (porter) and, even the occasional maintenance work. When working with the general public there is rarely a dull moment. I figured it would be a little informative and hopefully somewhat entertaining to share some of these moments/situations with you.


Confessions from the Front Desk

1. We (the staff) have found some of the strangest things

  • Some of the housekeepers found cocaine in a room once, luckily it was only a small amount, who leaves illegal drugs in a hotel room?!?!
  • I once found seven used disposable razors and, a brush you might scrub a car with in a trash can in the locker room. I was instantly perplexed and I am still not sure what was going on there. I am not entirely convinced that some sort of crime did not take place.
  • Our lost and found is full of things that are likely important that are never retrieved (safety deposit keys, keepsakes, and even a wallet), also a ridiculous amount of phone chargers.
  • Unfortunately, some of this is body fluids in places you would not expect
    (I won't elaborate here)

2. Just stop doing this, Thanks in advance

  • If you request a wake up call, do not ignore it. I have to come check on you if you do not answer, neither of us want me to knock on your door at 4am. You have an alarm clock in there, or just be like a normal human and set an alarm on your phone.
  • Do not send tiny humans downstairs to get breakfast alone, hello, stranger danger. Also they could easily walk right out the front door.
  • No, I am not giving you the key to somebody else's room. Stop asking.
  • Stop lying (Yes...you are). I often wonder if guests think I do not talk to my co-workers/boss, No one told you that, stop lying.

I am only still providing you with an audience, because it is part of my job.

I do not want to......

  • Date you.
  • Join your religion.
  • Sign up under you for any type of pyramid scheme (yes, it is).
  • Discuss politics with you
  • See naked pictures of your wife (or you or your best friend, in case that needed to be clarified)
  • Listen to you monologue about anything.
  • Be your facebook friend.

*So there it is, a little glimpse inside the mind of a receptionist. All of these scenarios have actually occurred in the year and a half I have worked here. A couple quick tips: Booking direct will almost always save you money, ask about discounts (AARP, AAA, Military, Funeral, Wedding, Gov. Rate), I'm not suppose to offer them up).

Thanks for stopping by!
Much Love,

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"Unfortunately, some of this is body fluids in places you would not expect"
Personally, and I'm sure i'm not alone, I wish you would elaborate! (Upvotes you all, if you agree) ^^

Ha! If you get some upvotes I will divulge.

What would be the criteria? One share for every 5 upvotes? Yeah, I can't help myself either. It's because I don't want to know that I do want to know, just so I can know how much I didn't want to know it...you know? ;)

I am gonna come and stay in your hotel sometime and hang out with you all night. Doing all those things. BAHAHA wait I don't have little people anymore, wonder if my daughter will let me borrow the grandkids. LOL I know you know I am joking but for others reading this I am joking LOL

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

So funny @krazykrista, we own a little BnB here in Durban, South Africa, the scenarios you describe are very familiar :)
We have a wide range of cell phone chargers in our lost & found, sunglasses, socks without a mate, etc etc and the least favourite are those bodily fluids we have to dispose of! Then the lies when we have no shows, often citing death in the family as an excuse but clearly lying! Then my icy responses to the enquiries on whether we have hourly rates! We've had some chuckles with some of our guests, one lady who lives right by the sea, ran away from her own house because of pesky distant family who visit each year only to mess up her home, told them she was off to a church conference, locked up her home and came here to enjoy peace & tranquility!
I've done some posts on the joys of hosting, our guests bless us time and time again, have a little display of gifts from all over the world, such a nice reminder of the people who have touched our lives.

Managing front desk is not an easy job but when done with sincerity then it would never pose a problem to others; instead, it leads you further on your career path. All - in - all, we must be prepared to face out of the box situations as are the cases that you have illustrated in the article above.

After all, a confident you can create wonders in a short span of time, of course by working hard plus smart @krazykrista.

Yes, many random situations, it really validates the expression "think on your feet"

haha oh god I worked in hotels for 5 years ( often being duty manager ) and you really are exposed to the strangest things.

I guess people go to hotels to do stuff they wouldn't do at home.. well some of them

Hahaha.
This is a Quirky One.
What did you do with the cocaine?😝

Well being that the housekeepers that found it were minors, I did the adult duty and called law enforcement....im about 70% certain they (LE) snorted it though.

Did we inspire his in whaleshares the other day? This needs to be a series

You guys did, thanks for being inspiring <3

Thank you for giving us a glimpse of your work. I'll try to be more polite next time I show up at a front desk of a hotel.

Wonderful, hilarious, and informative post! It must be a real box of chocolate feeling everytime you open a hotel door. Serious question : do you guys call the police when you notice some illegal activity like mentioned above? Also, please elaborate on the unexpected fluids 😁

It took me like five minutes to realize that 'tiny humans' referred to babies.

Hahaha yeah babies, toddlers and kid under 10 years old really.

hahaha I see the hotel stories really got to you :D

OMGosh! What a great post!

The entire time I was reading I was trying to picture how I would react to such instances!

haha nice

God bless you for having to work with the general public. Your bullshit meter must be highly tuned :-)

Oh my... crazy people are all around us..
but working as a receptionist has also its advantages. I hope so

I can swim in the pool for free and I wrote this post while at work because lots of downtime in the winter....shrug...ive had worse jobs for sure

It's quite risking working as a receptionist in a hotel.
You really had seen a lot during your experience as a receptionist.

Not very risky, ive only been truly scared a couple times....

yes sir,good rule and best info

Not a sir, dont leave shit comments ay?

wow Very interesting Really beautiful work, ThankS you for sharing

Not sure there is anything beautiful about this...