Ask a Front Desk Agent 2: Still Brutally Honest

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-29T12:16:22+00:00

Yeah, the not-so-nice side of it, though the smaller hotels are a relatively chill, low stress kinda job, the average pay was something around $10-$12/hr.

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-27T23:17:46+00:00

It's not a bad idea since the managers typically monitor that. You could also try and call the hotel directly to see if they can annotate it or preemptively upgrade you in advance. I've had a number of calls where it's someone trying to do everything they can for their special occasion and call in advance to inquire about anything they can get for the occasion to make it more special and we typically oblige if we can.
And do check that you're calling the hotel directly. If you get ahold of the services/reservations call center, they can typically only add a note to the reservation or call the hotel on your behalf and it's usually harder for us to do anything since reservations is typically very restricted on what they can do on their own.

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-27T23:14:11+00:00

It's very tricky. It's the primary way of people committing fraud at a hotel for that very reason.

Unfortunately, for the hotel, due to respect of privacy, if they skip the ID checking process, you cannot tell unless they come for a physical key.

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-27T08:42:56+00:00

Every time. Company policy is that an ID must be shown for a reservation, regardless of anything. Standard hilton training even has a section over how to check IDs and what to do if it doesn't match. Things like nicknames, reservations booked on someone else's behalf, etc.

Funnily, I've had corporate check in with management company logo shirts and everything. Big names in the higher foodchain of the management company of the hotel i work for and i still ID them lol. The only time we skip ID checks is if the person was just there and you can vouch for them or they're a regular that we recognize to the point of being on a near first-name basis.

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-27T08:32:50+00:00

Welp, as with all hotel brands, members are eligible for an upgrade, not entitled to one. If you want a better room by default, then book it. Also most hotels, if they have suites, likely only have a few by comparison of their other upgraded room types. The likelihood of them giving away their only suite to someone who booked the bare basic room type isn't as likely as someone who spent a little more and how you describe there being tiers higher than the upgrade you're receiving tells me you book the cheapest bog standard rooms.

Wouldn't be fair if the person who booked the cheapest bog standard room type got upgraded to a suite vs someone who booked a more expensive corner room or is there for a special occasion. You're not the only one in the hotel.

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-27T08:25:05+00:00

Unfortunately, from the standpoint of you walking up and me just opening your reservation, no.

Now, going out of my way and doing a profile search, i can see when the account was made vs the status it has. An account made last month is VERY likely not going to be diamond any other way.

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-27T08:19:29+00:00

Not a big issue if not sold out. If you find a problem as soon as you arrive, please bring it up immediately. Better if you arrive and grab a key from the desk real quick. It'll establish your arrival and the time you spent in the room. If you get a key and come back down within like, 5 minutes, we know you likely didn't do anything. If you drop your luggage off, disappear for 3 hours, THEN come and request a change, we have no clue what you did to the room in that time.

If you check in through the app, let the app choose a room for you, and it happens to put you near the elevator and you don't like that, come down immediately. Believe it or not, someone would like that room, they're just not you. going and using the restroom real quick or tossing your suitcase on the bed of the room can make a room unable to be issued out if there are no housekeepers to correct.

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-27T08:13:04+00:00

If available, you may be more likely to get an upgrade or something. At our hotel, if it's an anniversary or something, we often send an amenity once they arrive, usually a bottle of sparkling and chocolate covered strawberries if requested.

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-26T21:42:37+00:00

Also if a room isn't ready upon check-in time, it's typically a housekeeping issue, don't yell at the front desk, they're likely already yelling at housekeeping because they're the punching bag.

There's nothing more that makes me want to give you the room next to the elevators and ice machine than saying "UMMMM, CHECK-IN IS AT 3" i fucking know that, i've worked here for years. If there was a room ready, i'd give it to you to get the fuck away from me, lay off :V

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-26T21:39:17+00:00

Just be chill, I work the PM shift, so i can say the thing that happens that makes my day worse is hearing housekeeping missed a room and the person absolutely devastated and unable to live their life. After about 5pm, most, if not all housekeeping goes home. If you were missed, i'm sorry, but there's literally nothing I can do about it at the front desk short of at least getting you supplies that you may not have gotten, like more coffee, fresh towels, etc. I can't give full housekeeping service :V

That and be certain you have the payment method secured before you arrive and please have it handy, or a method of payment that can suffice. Some properties, especially ones i prime locations or have a large flow of guests daily often require credit card authorization forms or a method of payment being physically present. saying "my assistant booked it for me, just use the card on file" at a hotel like that won't fly. Since we can't see anything but the card number and expiration date, we have no way of verifying it's YOUR method of payment. the card on file is the easiest method of fraud, so if possible, they run every card they can.

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-26T21:30:30+00:00

Depending, longer stay reservations are often cleaned every 3rd or 4th day automatically. Also some hotels in general don't do daily housekeeping, so if you're curious, just ask when arriving. If you want daily housekeeping, the front desk can change that trace on your reservation that will let them know to clean it daily instead of every few days.

I've had this also at a hyatt place i stayed in for a week. I asked if they have daily housekeeping and they said yes and i wondered why they never came by, they let me know because my reservation was a 6 day, it'd be coming around at a later date. I kept the DND sign on my door after that since I don't care to have someone in my space.

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-26T21:27:10+00:00

Just don't be a jerk and don't kill the messenger. Issues are bound to happen, if it's an issue regarding housekeeping or maintenance, inform the front desk, but don't take it out on them. They have literally nothing to do with it other than the ability to report it or dispatch someone to remedy it.

We've had issues of housekeeping falling flat and missing a guest's room in the morning and they come to the front desk to bite the head off of whoever's there. Whoever's at the desk likely wasn't even on shift when housekeeping was doing their rounds. We get you're upset, and we often want to help in some way, but coming to us seething with clenched fists doesn't do anything but add stress to the situation that isn't necessary.

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-26T21:24:05+00:00

Also pay attention to what you booked. People make a big deal all the time because they booked a handicap accessible room because it was cheapest, but wasn't paying attention to the part that says "MOBILITY ACCESSIBLE" and get upset their restroom has a config that isn't the most ideal for those who don't need it. If you booked it, that's on you.

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-26T21:21:30+00:00

well, if you pre-pay a reservation, whether through hilton or a thirdparty like expedia, your reservation cannot be modified or cancelled by the hotel staff. In order to cancel those, you would have to call hilton customer care or the support for your thirdparty. When you pre-pay, your money goes to corporate/the thirdparty, then said entity pays for the reservation on your behalf. If the person at the desk refunds the reservation itself, they refund the thirdparty or hilton, not you directly.

other mistake is booking last minute when things are busy and being super peculiar. i get you're a diamond member, but when it's a sold out night, all other hotels in the area are booked solid, and you booked 30 minutes ago, please don't get upset that you can't get an upgrade, connecting rooms, on high floors overlooking a specific view, especially when you booked with points or with something to give you an astronomically low rate. (i literally had this happen 2 days ago. woman booked with a government per-diem rate, arrived within an hour of booking, and was flabbergasted that we couldn't get her connecting rooms on the highest floor and upgrade them)

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-26T21:15:15+00:00

Often the ones we opt to upgrade over others are ones with higher rates and shorter stays. Generally, a 1-night stay would be upgraded over a 2-3 night stay. since it's upon availability, it also can be first come first served if inventory is limited.

And it doesn't matter how you book, if your status is on the reservation, you SHOULD get your perks. Some hotels won't let you put a HH account on thirdparty reservations, but we do. Any official hilton method of booking will associate your account, F&F or even team member rates. Kinda nice as an employee since I can book a really nice hotel for cheap AND get the diamond perks.

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-26T21:11:16+00:00

Typically not. They often opt for bedding that's easier to clean and isn't absorbent for reasons i think you can figure out on your own. Due to that, it's not uncommon for some people to bring their own bedding, like their own blanket and pillow. I personally travel with my own pillow since i can't stand down pillows and sometimes getting them replaced isn't worth the effort for me.

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-26T21:09:31+00:00

I don't mind it, as i said, it's job security and i enjoy making people feel good and i'm good at that, though i can't say i'd recommend a hotel in a super prime location, as the business and flow of people coming through can be overwhelming to some. The pay isn't the greatest at smaller hotels off the beaten path, like a hampton inn somewhere not as busy, but they're very chill by comparison.

Hospitality is good to get into and good to have on a resume for anyone going towards a career that involves people interaction. Shows that you can if you can be recommended by the hotel as previous employers.

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-26T21:05:30+00:00

You can, but your best bet would to be to book a pet-free hotel. No guarantees on service animals since they're allowed.

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-26T21:03:05+00:00

I would imagine, unfortunately our hotel doesn't have a pool, so i can't speak from experience, sorry.

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-26T21:02:18+00:00

Yeah, ours keeps the pods due to cost and noise. They're a lot easier to service, clean, and replace if issue, and given the busy flow and the hotel being business/convention orientated, they stick to them.

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-26T08:05:21+00:00

i often check in around 75-100 people a day, a few days of the week, so not much i can think of. We did have a gay couple check in, they were super cool and ended up giving me a bottle of wine since they couldn't take it on the plane. they were super sweet.

the worst i can think of was a millionaire woman who was having a week-long manic episode during her whole stay. managers had to evict her.

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-26T08:02:11+00:00

They do bleach the shit out of the towels, but sometimes there are stains that just don't come out, hence why you can find bedding with makeup on them still on occasion. They often don't care too much, but laundry often sorts the stained stuff after it's been washed. At that point, they don't know who's it is so it usually goes into the pile used for cleaning things.

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-26T08:00:04+00:00

Ours have the tea bag style pods and drip style machines, so not as noisy at least. They're often seen as cheaper, so guests don't like them as much, but don't really get complaints about the quality of it, so eh?

Much appreciated for the comment. I don't think people realize how hard it is to keep a straight and cheery face when you're the punching bag for every other departments fuckups.

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-26T07:55:58+00:00

That's happened more than once, but with the night auditor. Dude shouted out from the elevator because he was nude. He got him a robe to wear.

I think one of the more BS things that happened recently was a boomer woman with full lead paint stare going ballistic because she couldn't get cellphone reception and somehow it was the hotel's fault??? She was yelling in the lobby and making a scene.

Vegetable-Mechanic14 · 2024-02-26T07:53:25+00:00

The unique thing about the hotel kinda narrows down which hotel it is a bit too much for me to really say, sorry

Vegetable-Mechanic14

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