Hotel Front Desk
Los Angeles, CA
Male, 27
For the past two years I've worked the front desk at a boutique luxury beachfront hotel in Southern California. My job can range from simply checking guests in & out to many other duties, including: pretending I work in different departments so that behind-the-scenes chaos is never seen by a guest, shielding guests from stalkers that come looking for them, and picking up used drug paraphernalia from a trashed room. Ask me anything.
People definitely do carry an air of entitlement with them if they have accomplished a certain feat in life. But I have seen both extremes, and one fact holds true: the people who have REALLY made something of themselves, and are actually worthy of praise and great treatment, KNOW it, and don't have to speak it out loud. The guests who are barely there and are desperate, or worse, might have once been to a certain level and are now a has-been, are the worst people to deal with because they are bickering over every little detail, yet have very little to offer to their professional peers, much less society. These are the hardest guests to deal with, but after about 6 months on the job they can be spotted a mile away and my emotional and mental guard are already up before they hit the desk. Real accomplishment, ethics, and honor are worn on someone's shoulder, and don't need to be mentioned out loud. I have had firefighters, cops, soldiers, working class and other honest people stay with us and I have gone over and above to help them with anything they need, because they almost always NEVER ask for anything out of line. It doesn't bother me, however, if I do get one of the people who is obnoxious and entitled, because I have always felt that if I let it get to me, I wouldn't be any better than that person.
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There are times when the hotel has many of its lowest-priced rooms to sell, and suites that often are more likely to stay vacant at the end of the night due to price. In order to allow more of the suites to be filled, so there are more lower-priced rooms available, which are easier to sell, a revenue or general manager may instruct the front desk to push "up selling," which is offering a suite for an additional small cost per night. At some hotels (rental car companies are always offering this), the agents receive a commission on every up sell, so beware if the agent pushes too hard, because if they are, it's not because the room is right for you, it's because they get a commission on it. All complimentary upgrades fall into the same process as to how to give them to a guest. Like most perks, the closer to sold out the hotel is, the harder it is to offer anything extra to a guest that hasn't arranged it in advance. When a hotel has many rooms to sell, often it's easier to sell the lower-priced rooms, so placing the person who has a special occasion, OR, who happened to have slipped you a $20 ostensibly to be nice (or was the solitary nice person that day - I've stuck my neck out to give someone an awesome room because they were super nice and we were super slow), in an upgraded room, benefits you the guest, but also leaves the hotel with lower-priced rooms open which sell faster and help fill up the hotel.
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I would think it's not necessarily your husband's fault, and nothing suspicious may be going on. What probably happened is that when each hotel's property management system (the program the clerks are using to check him in and out) loads the room type he is staying in (I'm presuming he's on business), their system likely reflects double-occupancy (2), which is probably the smallest guest count that most hotel systems allow in a room, think: most hotel rooms allow at least 2 guests at minimum. This default may just be a matter of course for most systems and properties, and the clerks aren't intending to get people in hot water when they are checking them in and out. Now, if for some reason there's an area on the bill that states an additional guest was added, say a second different name, or an extra charge for an amenity (food for two/beverage/movie charge) that doesn't make sense, then your husband should have some explaining to do!
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Hotels are usually populated by very social employees, because one has to be social to be good at interacting with guests, but don't feel bad if you like to leave when your shift is over and go back to your home life once your work day is done. There are some employees for whom the hotel is their life, and that's fine, but don't worry if you are not always going out with co-workers after work or very involved in their personal chatter during down time. Just make it clear to co-workers that you are very into your home life and they'll probably understand why you may not be as into what's happening in social circles within the employee ranks.
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Sure, it's their job, but what they are paid as a base wage is typically factoring in that they are going to offset that wage by receiving gratuity. Room service attendants, door and bellmen (and women) can make a decent amount in gratuity if their hotel is busy and/or consistently frequented by affluent guests. However, just as many people on average do NOT tip as do, it's very hard to predict. My thought process is, if you tip, you will often see a return the NEXT time you call. Remember, if you are super-cheap AND a jerk, the staff will talk amongst themselves and you likely will not get speedy service the next time you ask for it. If you just so happen to not have cash on you, no problem, it's just $2-ish, we understand, just offset THAT by being nice and thanking for good service instead.
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You could be a super-sleuth and actually ask each nearby hotel what type of key system they use, but you could also be stone-walled because these post 9/11 days most hotels are not going to give that information out to a stranger without a valid reason. However, you could also hang in the lobby acting like you're going to check in and see what the keys look like that are given to guests. Creepy, but it would probably tell you which hotel the key came from.
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I agree it could be a real special request gone answered. I love that kind of humor coming from a prospective guest, and if the room is booked out enough in advance it becomes a personal challenge and team-building activity among the front desk to out-do one another in how close we come to meeting that guest's request. Of course if it's a ridiculous or snobby request, that is just asserting a guest's power prior to check-in, that person will get a stiff official-sounding answer as to why we can't fulfill it. Whimsical and creative and honest wins, in this case.
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