Tales from a Front Desk Agent

By Marcayla Kitch

Tales from a Front Desk Agent entails the stories of guests that I have experienced as a front desk agent at hotels and resorts over the years. Some guests were amazing and left me hopeful there are still amazing people out there. Some guests were weird, leaving me wondering if the interaction really happened and questioning the intelligence of mankind. And some guests were way out there and/or extremely rude. All of them left some kind of lasting mark on me, no matter how good or bad the mark was. I also explain some information I would like to pass along to guests who are traveling, whether they are new travelers or well-seasoned travelers. The story also goes over the different kinds of time-shares, as not everyone is familiar with them, even those who have bought into the time-share business. I really hope that you enjoy this book as much as I loved writing it! I also hope you learn some things from reading it, especially if you may be a guest like any of the ones explained in this book! Everything from this book is based on my memory of events and my perception. In no way it is meant to hurt anyone's feelings, nor it is representing my coworkers or the properties I worked for. Some information may have been left out for the privacy or protection of some of the people written about in this book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 24, 2024
• ISBN: 9798893082586

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title

Copyright

Preface and Knowledge for Guests

Levels 1 Guests: Part 1

Levels 1 Guests: Part 2

Levels 1 Guests: Part 3

Levels 1 Guests: Part 4

Levels 1 Guests: Part 5

Levels 1 Guests: Part 6

Level 2 Guests

Level 3 Guests

About the Author

cover.jpg

Tales from a Front Desk Agent

Marcayla Kitch

Copyright © 2024 Marcayla Kitch

All rights reserved

First Edition

NEWMAN SPRINGS PUBLISHING

320 Broad Street

Red Bank, NJ 07701

Originally published by Newman Springs Publishing 2024

ISBN 979-8-89308-257-9 (Paperback)

ISBN 979-8-89308-258-6 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Preface and Knowledge for Guests

I have worked for a few different resorts in the town where I live. This will be a story of some of the people I have encountered throughout the years in the hospitality industry. Some will be funny, some obscure, some happy, and others will leave you saying, What the fuck? Get ready for some stories! Before I dive into the stories about guest interactions, I want to explain a few things about hotel etiquette and some descriptions of things so that I am not constantly explaining the same things throughout this book. First and foremost, I would like to mention that this book is about my perspective and some of the changes I would like to see in guests. In no way am I trying to be mean or bring anyone down. I am also not speaking for the resorts I have worked for, currently work for, or other employees. Though I know some of my coworkers do agree with some of the things I will be mentioning, and I am sure other resort staff will understand tremendously!

The first order of business I would like to go over is doing your research. Especially if you are going to be staying at a property you have never been to and/or if you booked your room online (more specifically, if you booked through a third party). I cannot tell you how many times people have not done their research or have not called the hotel to confirm the details of their reservations and blame the front desk for something being wrong upon arriving. Out of all the properties I have worked for, most of them have had a reservation department, and the front desk does not handle much with booking the reservation, modifying it, or canceling it or only makes them if they are not busy (even then, that is far and few between).

If you are not catching my drift, the majority of the time, the front desk is not responsible for any mistakes with your reservation. I also want to add that at least a good 90 percent of the time, when there is a mistake with a reservation, it is usually either the guest's fault or the third party they booked through. Even on the rare occasion, it is the resort's fault for a mistake, people do make mistakes. Out of all the properties I have worked for, there have only been two incidents that I can think of where an employee at the hotel made a mistake with a reservation. One of which was still the reservations department, not the front desk agent's fault.

Nevertheless, even if there are mistakes with the reservation, it is very unlikely that the mistake came from the front desk agent you are checking in with. There is no need to berate the agent for something they more than likely did not do. Also, please make sure you read! I cannot tell you how many times people either do not read their confirmation or only read parts of it and misinterpret it because they do not fully read it and then become mad with the front desk agents. Another thing is, do not reserve the cheapest room and expect the highest-end room on the property. That is like going to a dealership to buy a base model of a Ford with no bells and whistles and expecting the dealership to give you a Mercedes with all the bells and whistles. Another analogy is going to a restaurant and ordering something with ground beef and expecting a T-bone steak. I cannot tell you how many times guests have booked the cheapest room and are mad at us or blame us for making a mistake on their reservation because the guest is being cheap.

The next thing I want to talk about is check-in and checkout. In all of the properties I have worked at, guaranteed check-in time has always been 4:00 p.m. or later, and checkout has always been 11:00 a.m. or prior. To answer the question if you can have a discount for checking in hours after check-in time starts or checking out of the room a couple of hours later than checkout time for arriving a couple of hours after check-in time starts: no, I am not giving you a discount for that, and I am not tacking on a couple of hours to the end of your reservation because you arrive at 7:00 p.m. on your arrival date.

Every time I have stayed at hotels, check-in time has almost, if not always, started between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m., so do not tell me 4:00 p.m. is too late of a check-in time. Same with checkout time. Every time I have stayed at a property, checkout time has been between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. So do not tell me 11:00 a.m. is too early of a checkout time. I cannot stand when people expect or demand early check-ins or late checkouts. That is not your call. Some properties do not offer either. Some only offer one or the other. Some offer them complimentary, and some offer for a charge. Once again, do not berate the front desk when they either are unable to provide an early check-in or late checkout, or they explain there will be a fee associated with either. And do not try to say, I have a red-eye flight, or ask us what you are supposed to do for a certain amount of time before you go to the airport. That is not the hotel's problem. We do not have control over plane times nor did we book your flight for you.

The next subject I want to talk about is to please listen and please let me explain everything before bombarding me with questions. There are so many times I have to repeat myself because people are not listening, talk over me, or bombard me with questions before I have the chance to explain things to them. It does not matter if I am talking to someone on the phone or in person with this matter. It is super frustrating when I am being bombarded with questions about what room the guest is going to be in, where amenities are on the property, hours of operation, and other things before I can get an ID card, a form of payment, and the guest to fill out the registration card. Like, let us first go through that information. Then I will explain where the room is and where key amenities are on the property. That way, I am not repeating myself, and usually by then, I can answer most, if not every, question without having to repeat myself.

If there are questions after that, then I am more than happy to answer them. Along this line, someone will call the hotel and I will say my greeting that includes the name of the property they are calling. The first question out of many mouths is, Is this the [insert hotel name] here? Or I am giving directions, and the guest flat out asks me to repeat myself or asks me if they need to go the complete opposite direction of what I told them. I sometimes have trouble understanding directions myself, so I understand to an extent. Something else that frustrates me when people do not listen is when I ask for their room number, and they give me a phone number or name. Or just anything in general. I understand some people are hard of hearing, but those people generally mention it right away.

The third subject I want to explain is that the front desk is just going by the rules of the resort when it comes to giving you extra time in the room. A lot of factors go into it. Housekeeping and maintenance need to go through the room and do their work. Please do not use excuses like, Well, I paid a lot of money for this room, so I should be able to get the extra time. You paid to be in the room from check-in time on check-in day to the time of checkout on your day of departure. Nothing more. And no, you cannot have a discount if you checked in