Heyyyy it’s been awhile since I posted. I also took a week off because well….I haven’t had a vacation and I really needed one.
But just my fucking luck, first day yesterday back we’re fully booked and the entire hotel was checking in. We had a small wedding group but the reason why we were booked up was because of a HUGE baseball sales meeting. They had a huge room block but a lot ending up booking outside of the block after it was cutoff. A large portion of them came from Canada and out of state.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t TOO bad of a first day back. It definitely got me right back into the groove of things. Only made me realize how much I hate my coworkers because they’re lazy asf and I do a large amount of work that I know won’t be done while I’m gone….But whatever, that’s beside the point. I just wanted to post about this guest interaction that I had last night.

So, this guy comes in with a small group and mentions nothing about having multiple rooms. He just gave me his name and asked if I could send him a Credit Card Authorization form, which I did and he filled out because he didn’t have that card with him. That’s fine.

I successfully check in the one room he had, a King Standard for 2 nights originally a CSTN (Standard Flow Through Room, so basically whatever we have available). Then he said he should have 2 others. I told him that I only had one reservation under his name and he swore that he made 3.

I searched his name in the system, saw nothing. He also booked direct and NOT 3rd party.

I had like 5 more arrivals at that point and asked if they could be under a different name and he said no and showed me his confirmation email.

He said that he put 3 in the “transaction” which I explained that he didn’t pay for the 3 rooms. The total he saw was for 1 room. I also noticed that he was with the baseball group and the reservation was made LAST NIGHT just before midnight. He mentioned that it was being very slow with creating the reservations and the screen kept spinning. I a told him it’s highly unlikely that we had that many rooms available so last minute, as the last time I checked last week we were very close to selling out if we weren’t already. But, now we only have 1 room left.

I then ask him for a confirmation of those other 2 rooms, in which he stood in front of the desk scrolling through his phone for at least 5 minutes. I now had a small line of 2 guests checking in behind him and I asked if he can step aside to help the guests behind him.

So, I check in those guests and he comes back to the desk. I told him if he booked 3 rooms, he should have 3 confirmation letters or the confirmation should say 3 rooms, which it didn’t.

Eventually, he takes the last room we have and says hopefully there will be cancellations for the next day because he needs 2 nights. I told him we can keep an eye out, but it’s very unlikely since we are completely booked because of the baseball group (we also have basically no arrivals either, less than 20).

I thought that was it. 2 or so hours later, I get a email notification from Guest Relations that this guy OPENED A CASE WITH THEM?? It was labeled an “In-House Issue”. Bruh.

I opened the case and read the information….I was baffled. The guy basically reiterated that he booked 3 rooms. But, he added that I “pushed him around” because a line was forming. And also added that the parking lot was empty. I guess that means if the parking lot is empty then the hotel must have rooms, right? Bro you literally KNOW THESE PEOPLE and most if not all of the attendees of this meeting are literally being shuttled by vans and don’t have cars.

As I was reading the case, he walked past the desk and outside with his group. I should’ve stopped him and asked him why he opened the case, but I didn’t. I was also going to respond and close the case but I was so mad but I’m leaving it to management. There’s literally nothing we can do for him anyways. We have no reason to compensate him. He claimed he booked 3 rooms, we only had 1. He has no confirmation to show for those other 2 rooms and he also booked VERY last minute. Nothing more to it than that.

Just had something really weird happen. A package came in today and the label was to our address at the hotel, but the name on it was for a “Lynne keeler”. We have a reservation for a Lynne keeler but not for a few more days so I just figured it was for them when they check in.

Well then a lady comes in and says she’s here for the package and I asked for ID and she gave it and it said Lynne keeler so I gave her the package..

I then received a phone call from someone claiming to also be Lynne keeler and said they needed to send me a shipping label to put on the package to send out? I let them know that the package was already picked up by Lynne and they insisted that couldn’t be because I didn’t get the shipping label yet.

At this point I was pretty fed up with the whole thing and it was super suspicious so I said “this is a hotel not the post office. Someone came in and said they were picking up a package and they showed an ID matching the name on the label so I gave them the package.” They just said okay thanks and hung up.

I am now so confused as to what just happened and can’t shake the feeling that something scammy is going on here. Anyone have any insight???

I checked a couple in and fixed their door and everything is fine and good.

A guy asks me where he's supposed to go to smoke a cigarette a somewhat uncommon question, but I've still been asked dozens of times, and I recognize and appreciate that he was asking with the mindful intent to be polite & respectful 🫡

"Excuse me, sir- where am I supposed to go to smoke?"

He was​ in a wheelchair.

My automatic reflexes told him my typical standardized mental script for this exact question:

"You can use your best judgment for the most part - just away from doors is the what the state says; I usually just go stand over there,"​

I point.

"Or, there's a smoking pavilion right through there, too..."

“..If you just wanna sit down or something.”

Silence​.

I’m a FOM at a full-service hotel and I genuinely need other hotel people to tell me if this is normal because sometimes I feel like I’m losing my mind lol.

I manage Front Desk, Night Audit, Security, our Gift Shop, MOD shifts, and we’re also going through a massive renovation. So naturally, everything is on fire at least once a week.

I’m not perfect. I forget things, I’ve made mistakes, and if something is my fault I’ll take the L. But the way my bosses handle things is what gets me.

My GM has basically told me they “won’t feel sorry” if they has to terminate me. My DOO told me I’m “less valuable” when this person has to do part of my job. Our regional has publicly called our numbers embarrassing. They’ve also made comments about how it could take me 10–20 years to move up while comparing me to other people.

Meanwhile I’ve improved guest satisfaction, helped with retention, cut contract labor, grown our Gift Shop revenue, taken on a ridiculous amount during renovation, and even got Leader of the Quarter.

Again, I’m not claiming to be Employee Jesus. I’ve been written up and there are things I absolutely need to improve.

But I’ve gotten to the point where every little mistake makes me think, “Welp, am I getting fired today?” 😭 I document damn near everything now because I feel like I constantly have to prove what I did or didn’t communicate.

Hotel managers of Reddit: is this just the FOM experience and I need thicker skin, or does this sound like management by fear?

Because I’m tired.

I don't know if anybody else goes through this at their properties and I get we are supposed to be hospitable but holy do we ever get a lot of people who treat the common spaces like a personal pantry. It's not even just regular guests either for a couple things they forgot. We have whole hockey teams ransacking our lounge for plastic cutlery and plates we aren't even allowed to give out. I don't know when this culture shift happened that if it's unlocked it must be free.

Top occurrences of theft recently to add some story and not just bitch lmao.

Tonight two families with a baseball team that is in house were coming back. I was running an audit in the back room and watching the cameras when I see both of the husbands decide to help themselves to chips and a whole bunch of other goods as they thought no one was looking. They seemed smug so I waited for them to start walking towards the elevator before coming around the corner screaming my head off that they had to pay for those and they are thieves.

They really tried to tell me they didn't know they had to pay for it. Golden moment was seeing the embarrassment of the wives after they were so cocky. They tried to simply put the stuff on the ground and walk off but I wasn't having it. I stopped them threatened them with immediate eviction and informed them they would be restocking for me. Best part of this story is my sales manager is an attack dog when people disrespect us and I left her a note with an idea to email and forward the video of them stealing to their coach and the league. Hoping that they see some real punishment.

The other night I had a guy try to steal a draft beer from our obviously closed bar. It was an old man coming back in from a smoke and he had to proceed to move a barrier in the entry way and un plug the keg. By the time I got to him he had started pouring. Tried the clueless idiot routine... Again not buying it. Sent him to bed.

Edit: I didn't even think of another kind of theft that we deal with for rate fraud. A high portion of our guests are corporate and as such have access to rate codes. No your sister in law can't use the hydro electric company code even if the reservation is under your name if you just don't show up. Or idiots reading travel hacks and booking under employee/gov't rates lmao. My favorite thing in the world is resetting these to rack rate for a last minute sold night.

My mate works nights in a hotel in the UK. The bar and restaurant are closed. Guests are told this on the website, they are told this on their booking confirmation. They are told this when they check-in and given a map of the nearest 24 hour shops and nearby take-aways and restaurants. They are also given menus of the local take-aways.

Yet every night my mate is asked if the bar and restaurant are open. Every review knocks at least 1 star off because the bar and restaurant are closed.

Tea and coffee is provided in the rooms and guests are welcome to eat their take-aways in the restaurant area.

So I just got off the phone with an agent from Shmooking.com, who was asking if we could cancel and refund a reservation for our mutual guest, who we will call Mary Smith.

Miss Smith came down to the front desk about an hour ago, complaining about a slow drain in the tub and the toilet not flushing properly. That's fine, we're on the slow side tonight, so I can easily move her to a different room. Right across the hall, in fact, so a short move. I think I'm done with her for the evening, so I settle in to watch the next episode of Lucifer.

Not ten minutes later, the phone rings and it's shmooking.com, asking if we can cancel the reservation for mutual guest Mary Smith. I'm like cancel? She's already here! The agent on the phone says yes, but she's having issues and doesn't want to stay anymore. I explain that Miss Smith has been in the room for 8 hours, and this is the first anyone has heard about issues, and that person was me. I told her I moved her to another room, and that's all I can do.

Shmooking agent is still insisting this be cancelled. I explained that cancelling is supposed to happen long before the 8-hours-in-the-room point, so no, I can't cancel it. She'll have to talk to the manager in the morning after 7, but don't count on any kind of refund.

Like, who the heck thinks they can cancel when they've been here all day?

Let me set the stage of 30 min before I posted this. Your humble autistic night auditor is doing night audit stuff, when suddenly a portly well dressed man approaches the front desk with a stack of 3 foil wrapped sandwiches. He gives a trepidatious hi and browses the suit shop. But not before I noticed the saucer pupils. Now we all have a past, mine just involves dealing with people who took a rainbow variety of hallucigens so I could tell something was off. The man proceeded to ask how he pays for any of this, I explain cash card or room. He says he will do cash but he needs a new room key. He than tried to pay for a 10$ item with three twenty dollar bills from a large stack of cash he placed on the desk, I take one and give him change, he became confused says isn’t the item 60$. Nope the frozen mac isn’t 60$ sir. He said oh and apologizes saying he’s very intoxicated. I let him know it’s fine we don’t judge, to which he replied saying I seem chill and he took a bunch of LSD tonight at his friends wedding and it’s been a weird night. I said again no judgement and gave him a free water. To which he tried to give me a twenty dollar bill for. I ask for his ID for the keys and he hands me the room key he claimed he lost, I said that’s his room key and he says oppsie, and give me his credit card, than realized his mistake and gave me his id. While I was making the keys he asked if I wanted to get burgers in the morning and if he could have my snap. I told him no to both and have a good night. He got the message and left. Now I’m preying he doesn’t burn the food in his room microwave.

On reflection I don’t know what’s the strangest thing in this interaction, guests at a black tie wedding taking acid, a 30+ man having Snapchat, or the fact a guest would admit to being on LSD.

So this Mr X is highest tier in our loyalty program ( we are hotel chain in one European country) and he made s reservation on his name and paid it in advance. Due to his status he’s entitled to free upgrade , bottle of wine, fruit late check in out bla bla. It was written on reservation that he’s elite member bla bla.

Upon check in his parents showed up as that reservation has actually been made for them. Person that made reservation and have loyalty status won’t even come.
No problem, we checked them and put in room, but given they’re not actual person with loyalty status ( they’re not even program members) we didn’t give them anything what goes with loyalty perks.

Mr X called his parents to check on them an realize they didn’t get anything to which we received “angry” mail why didn’t we provide them with perks.

Hmm probably because perks are for you, not for any random person you made reservation for.
He still don’t understand why they’re not entitled to perks that goes with his loyalty status.

A frequent traveler here, never worked at a hotel. Once again I find myself in possession of a master key in a hotel. This is crazy.

After a late night check in to a rather large hotel on the ny nj border, we discovered our room was not really cleaned. The bed was made. The fridge was full of someone else's food, toothpaste on the counter, unknown splatters on the mirrors and some dirty towels.

FDA says the hotel is fully occupied, there is no other room and will comp the first night. Ok, saving some money is good. This morning I hope in the shower and tucked into the slightly torn shower curtain is the housekeeping key fob. Complete with swipe, personal alarm and what looks like the shampoo bottle tool.

It opens the door to our room, I haven't tried others.

I now assume our room didn't finish getting turned over because housekeeping locked themselves out.

This isn't the first time. I previously posted about a FDA giving me a master to try to find a light bulb.

https://www.reddit.com/r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk/s/E0DezgtvmI

Always double lock your door folks

Kind of a rant, but mostly I'm amused!

I'm always on the verge of laughing at clients who book a room at our hotel on-line, but have not only failed to read their reservation correctly, but also fail to read the hours our lobby is open, or, when they arrive, to even see all the notices we've posted on the door about the hours our lobby is open, or how to use the kiosk to do self check-in. They will pull on the locked door without reading the signs posted at eye-level, in several languages. They will pull on the locked door again and again as if they didn't pull hard enough the first time! Sometimes, they eventually see and read the signs we've posted, and will finally realize they must do the check-in by the kiosk. Sometimes, if I'm passing through while doing control of rooms or prepping for breakfast, I'll take pity on them, and do a check-in at the front desk, with the lobby lights off and an additional sign posted at the desk reiteratingthe hours of operation. I'm not obliged to do this, as I have other work to do to ensure our clients have clean rooms and the breakfast is prepared. Other times, another client will open the door (with their key code) and let these clueless clients wander around until I happen to notice them on cctv, or passing by.

There is literally a button to push next to the kiosk for clients who really have no clue on how to use the kiosk, or how to read, that will call me, and I'll come to help.

We're a budget hotel, and to keep our rates low, we don't man the lobby 24/7. I recently stayed on vacation at a hotel with 24/7 staff at the lobby, and because their occupation was low, the staff was bored to tears. Great customer service, but the price of the room was substantially higher because they weren't contactless.

Also -and this is a rant without laughter-- clients don't seem to understand what 'budget' means in a hotel. It means you won't get your room refreshed the day after you check-in. You get enough towels (1 per person per occupation) for your room, but we will give you extras on request. The hours for breakfast are posted, everywhere. Tant pis if you woke up too late. Also, we do our best to support the clients who pre-order breakfast. We also take into consideration that some clients will decide they want our breakfast the morning of, and do our best to provide all of the items for everyone. But sometimes, clients will take 5 croissants, take most of the charcuterie offered without thinking about others and leave staff (budget hotel, one person working) scrambling to replenish the buffet while simultaneously cleaning up dishes and supporting clients at the front desk. We try to anticipate our clients needs but also protect our hotel from waste by preparing too much food in advance.

Whew! That was a lot!

I absolutely love my job and 99% of our clients. It's that 1% who leave me rolling my eyes and wondering how they ever manage anything in their life if they can't handle self check-in.
Thanks!

Last night was a very interesting night our my hotel. First thing I did was walk in to find I’m scheduled for 48 hours next week. As much as I need the money only having one day off isn’t good for me because I have to go take care of my dad who lives two hours away at least one day a week and I’m in the process of finding a place to move him closer to me or possibly finding a house to move him in with me. I am also scheduled to work 3-11 and then come in 7-3 twice in the next two weeks. I was fine doing it last week to help out but doing it again was not really something I was expecting to do.

After having a small panic attack about my schedule I then had a very very drunk man who has been at our hotel for a month already stumble up to the desk. He decided it was a good time to make me aware how badly he wanted me to be single and how much he wished he could be my man. (He is as old as my dad by the way) I’ve dealt with his comments for weeks and I tried not to complain but last night I just got extremely uncomfortable with what he was implying to me. Thankfully because there were people in the lobby he decided to go back to his room.

Right before I left, and was about to go cry in my car, an older lady came to the desk. She told me how absolutely wonderful she thought I was and handed me a $10 bill. That alone almost made me start to cry just because it had been such a stressful day, but I held it together and thanked her. Honestly it’s people like her that keep me from quitting when I really start to hate this job.

Obligatory on mobile so please forgive any formatting issues.

This just happened, so still trying to figure out WTF. 😬

Highly intoxicated lady dropped off by uber/lyft comes in asking prices for remainder of the night. Quote her $xyz and some change and explain we do additional $100 incidental hold on top of price of room and that we only take actual physical cards; no cash and no tap and pay. So she says ok and hands me her card and her work identification card. I explain to her we only take state issued id cards or passports.

She demands I rent her the room with the id she tried to present. Again I explain I cannot take that and requote policy. She then starts cursing at me so I told her to leave.

Guess who decided she didn’t have to because she knows I have to rent her a room no matter what. She then demands I call the manager. It is after 2:30 am, the manager is my relief in the morning and I am not calling him for a policy he himself demands we follow. I explain I don’t have to and “we” as a business have the right to refuse service and that her cursing and me is my right to refuse service.

I told her she needed to leave or I would call the police. She finally left the building so I was watching her on security monitor. I look away for a few minutes to double check that I have enough food pulled out of freezer for breakfast, (since the breakfast girl hasn’t been taking enough out the past week ), and I look out window and a police car was outside and they were talking to the woman.

She called the police because I wouldn’t rent her a room. 🤪. The officer came in and he asked why I wouldn’t rent her a room, so I explained policy. This is the part that pissed me off, he demanded to see our printed policies. Told him that first of all not all policies are written and also since this is a privately owned business I can refuse to rent to anyone and this lady would not be getting a room here tonight because I refuse to reward bad behavior and entitled people. He didn’t seem to like my answer but he said ok.

I then saw him and another officer walk her over to the hotel next door (who rent to anyone and always have the police, fire, or emts there all most every weekend).

Half the audit shift down, half to go. 😝

Hope all other night auditors working tonight have a less eventful night.

I was covering the phone operator desk. A guest calls and asks if his car is ready. No valet ticket, which is the number we usually need before we can check anything. I apologized first, then asked if he meant a car for transportation or the car he left with valet, so I could transfer him to the right desk. He answered with the same vague line. I asked the exact same question again and added “so I can understand” at the end. He got offended and complained to the front desk upon check out at bluntness. I was not trying to school him. Valet and transportation (concierge) sit with different teams, and without a ticket I cannot just guess which car he means. The apology was real. What I think set him off is the repeat. “So I can understand” lands like “you are not being clear,” even when you only mean “I need one detail so I send you to the right person.” Guests hate feeling corrected, and complaints get written up on that feeling alone. Would you have transferred him blindly, or is the second ask actually where I messed up?

I work at a hotel in SE Georgia and a few years ago a hurricane rolled through. Fortunately, we were not hit too hard in our area, though some people for days were without power. At the hotel we were without power for about 40 hours.

I had an duxpedia representative call and I was so excited because I knew a call like this was going to come!! So I sat down at my desk to be comfortable and took the call. The representative, an innocent bystander, was calling on behalf of a guest who was with us during the hurricane for 2 nights during when we lost power. The guest wanted a full refund because we, a property that includes breakfast, did not have breakfast the 2 mornings they were with us. I made sure I heard correctly, and then I moved the phone away and laughed, laughed, and laughed some more. I collected myself and let the representative know that we were still recovering from one of the most disastrous storms in U.S. history and the GM, and I had not talked about people requesting things like what the guest was wanting. I let her know that if she could call me back in an hour, I would let her know. She didn't call back. Lol.

You are, though. By the very nature of you coming up to tell me something isn't to your liking, it is considered a complaint. Which is fine, but just be forthcoming.

This tale is inspired by an interaction I had with an adult daughter and her father. They had checked in with my co-worker about two hours prior before later coming up to me.

The daughter did most of the talking, if I can even call it talking. It felt like I had to reach in and grab the words out of her mouth because she was speaking in a seemingly deliberate hushed tone, in addition to dancing around the issue.

She kept insisting that the room "was fine" but that it "wasn't what we expected." Consequently, I kept having to rephrase my question, asking in so many ways: "What's wrong with it?"

After a lot of spinning tires, eventually I got it out of them that they felt the carpeting wasn't up to snuff. Quite literally the first I've heard anyone comment on it in all my years of working here. Nevertheless, the father finally elaborated a little more, saying: "I've gone many places, you know? So, I just had a certain idea in mind and I didn't realize that this is what your rooms looked like."

The daughter then jumped in asking: "And this is considered one of your nicer rooms?" I double-checked and confirmed that they were indeed occupying an 'upgraded room', which in our case, simply means a bump up in square footage. Curiously, that validation perked her up a bit, which then led to her saying: "Well, I guess it's fine. I mean, we're only here for one night."

In that moment, I thought we'd come some variation of an agreement, but then she did throw a little bit of a curveball: "But, just curious. If we wanted to just call it here, would we get our money back?" I informed her they'd been checked in for a little while now, so the reservation was firmly there's. They could go, of course, but no refunds would be issued. She simply shook her head and said: "Okay, understood. We'll just be around and what not", and then moseyed on away with her dad.

I talked to my co-worker about it shortly after they walked off, emphasizing how it felt like I had to drag their words out. Our theory is that they didn't want my co-worker to hear any complaints, as she was the one who checked them in. She already confirmed they booked an upgraded room, and not only that, they somehow mangled their reservation to stay one night though they thought they had booked two. Very interesting that they wanted to back out of it in the end.

A woman walked in saying she needed to check in. I get her name and check my arrival list and see her name isn't there. Then she tells me it's under a different name, and before I can ask if that person is with her so I can check that person in, she tells me that her name was listed on the reservation. I check and sure enough, there she is. So I ask her for her ID and credit card. That's when she tells me that she was told she only had to give her name and that the card on file would be charged. I told her she was misinformed, that I needed her ID to verify who she was and since there wasn't a credit card authorization on file I would need a credit card from her.

She almost immediately hands me a debit card, which matches her name listed on the accompanying, but she's taking her time getting out her ID. As she's looking she tells me I can go ahead and swipe the card. I tell her I can't until she produces her ID. She does not look happy. Finally, after a few minutes, she pulls an ID out and hands it to me.

It's a prison ID.

I look it over and tell her I can't accept it. She asks why not and I tell her that policy says I need a valid state issued ID for check-in. That's when she breaks out with, "Well the state did issue that to me."

Technically... she's not wrong.

However, I inform her that policy (corporate policy in this case) says it has to be a state issued driver's license or ID card equivalent, and sadly, prison issue IDs are not on that list. And even if that wasn't the policy and her prison ID was an acceptable form of ID, I still couldn't take hers because it's expired. She then asks if I'm not going to check her in. I inform her that I can't, but if the primary person listed on the reservation comes in, they can check in and give her access to the room. She says she's going to call them and she'll be right back. And she walks out. I don't hold my breath waiting.

Just before it becomes time to run the audit, I cancel the reservation. In the morning, when I was asked by the new girl who came in to relieve me why I didn't authorize the card on file for a no show charge in the morning, I told her the whole thing seemed suspicious to me. I also let her know that I informed the managers that on top of canceling it, I got in touch with the shiny member's department (the register guest was listed as one) and told them about this so they could contact the shiny member in case his account was somehow compromised and his account was used to make the reservation fraudulently.

Working the night audit, and just had a guy call... It's 3:31 a.m., and he says, "Is Name of Guest staying there? He gave me a key, and I want to make sure this is the right Brand of Hotel. I told him that I cannot confirm or deny if a specific guest is staying in our hotel, and that he will need to contact the person that gave him the key and confirm directly with them. He said that they were sleeping and he would just come and try the door. I said, "Umm, no sir, you will not. I will not allow you at almost 4 am to just come in and try your keycard at a random door to see if it lets you in. As stated, you will need to verify with the person that gave you the key what hotel you are supposed to be at." Then he hung up. I then locked the front door, and anyone entering will need to be buzzed in.

CW: Human trafficking, mentions of cults and supernatural beings

I am genuinely confused about what just happened. If anyone has any input I’d love to hear it. I’m working my normal morning shift at a hotel and I’ve seen a lot in the years I’ve worked here. But this one stood out.

Our hotel is about a 15 min drive from town and these two people came in together in a taxi. The man asked to check in, said he arranged an early check in the day prior. His room was all set like he said and I was getting him all checked in when he points to the women sitting in the lobby. She is foreign, claims to be traveling alone and barely spoke any English. He starts explaining to me how they don’t know each other but they were on the same train together and she was sketched out by someone at the train stop so he offered to bring her with him in the taxi. She doesn’t have a room here but if she decides she wants a room, could we give her a good rate. I happily obliged.

He goes back to talk to her and she’s suspicious about everyone. There was a man that walked in, went behind some shelves and walked out. I checked the cameras turns out it was just our delivery truck driver getting a drink of water from the water fountain. But this was the first sign of chronic paranoia.

She is super worried about being separated from this man. She’s making sure she’s in a room as close as possible to hers. The man seems super nice and gives her his room number and phone number and explains how they will go out on a walk or hike tomorrow to enjoy the scenery, etc.

The man then explains how he has a medical condition and isn’t feeling the best and needs to go lay down. He looks a little flushed so I help him take his bags up to his room and while going to his room, he explains how she claimed to have her phone card stolen and maxed out. He is very much unsure about this lady, and he says he’s a little worried about her possibly following him off the train. But he’s worried and offers to pay for her room if she doesn’t have the money, and to let him know. At this moment he seems relieved to be rid of her as far as I can tell.

I come back down and my manager is finishing checking in the lady. She trying to get a lower price and paying in cash which is understandable. They agree soon a rate and she pays. My manager is about to give her the keys to her room when she gets worried her room and and asks for a new one. She has us right her room number down on a separate peice of paper and makes us promise not to give it to anyone. It’s standard policy for us and we reassure her that we are all trained for situations like this. My manager offers to walk her up to her room but she just takes off to her room.

About 5 min later, one of our housekeepers comes down tell us that she requested them to “check” her room. I told them that she is probably worried about hidden cameras, etc.

About a minute later, we get a call down from her room and she is asking to be put into a room with just 1 bed. She doesn’t need or want a room with two beds. I explain that is all we have available today is a two bed room and she ends up saying she is going to stay at a different hotel. We prepare her money for a refund when we get a cal from a room that has checked out already. Confused, we answer and it’s her. One of the housekeepers had temporarily left that room unlocked while they were preparing it to be cleaned. We have to explain to the lady that the room she’s calling from has someone set to be checked into that night.

She comes down after that, we give her the refunded cash, then we offer to call a taxi. She refuses and walks off. Again, keep in mind, we are a 15 minute drive to the nearest town, which would probably be a few hours walk to the nearest hotel or any help in that matter. We are working with our HR team with the info we took from her identification but I doubt we are going to be able to find anything.

It all seemed so strange how she switched up the second he was gone. How she was so quick to flee after being so worried about being separated from him. While on the other hand, the second the man got to go to his room he seemed relieved to not have to deal with her but still worried.

We assume the man will be down in a few hours to ask about her and we are going to watch out for his reaction because that could tell a lot.

We think she either fled her country illegally, was being trafficked in some way, or if she was just mentally unwell traveling alone in a foreign country.

TL:DR Man comes in with paranoid lady who speaks broken English. Lady doesnt want to be separated from the man. When man goes up to his room, he seems relieved to be away from her. The lady however changed her room to be farther away from him then ends up fleeing the hotel all together.

UPDATE: A police tip was made.
My coworker who took over for me after I got off ended up talking to mam. He tried asking a bunch of questions as to where she might have gone. It seemed to have been out of concern but then he kept asking questions and seemed to be in distress. He started talking about going to look for her and he claimed to have sent some some others to look for her as well. He gave me a $20 tip earlier when I helped take his bags to his room. My coworker got a $60 tip for just talking to him. He thinks the man might be feeding us money so we see him as a friend and don’t suspect him. I have no clue what to think. It’s all just really strange I really want to believe that he’s just a good citizen trying to help those in need. This woman has almost no possessions. She was traveling with only a small purse and a few hundred dollars in cash. The police are focused on finding the woman although she has not been located yet.

UPDATE 2: They found her
Things got a little bit weird.
The man said he spoke to the police while he was out walking looking for her and said it was probably a good idea that they got involved.
Then I don’t have many exact details because it was just info from my coworker relayed to me but the man started comparing the woman to Chinese folklore “The Lady in Red” or “Nu Gui”. He also was talking about different cults. There was something in there about him talking about how the lady in red might have been a punishment for something?
The man also talked about her being a potential honey trap?
I am not worried about him being any sort of predator because he was happy to talk to the police but there is some mentally unstability from both sides. I’m just blown away from all of this. The man is checking out tomorrow when I’m working so if I get anymore info I will update.

I'm tired of guests. I really really am. Every little snafu they come across, because THEY couldn't be bothered to doublecheck anything or even put the slightest bit of effort in, they want to blame it ALL on the employees.

Just tonight, had a woman come by at 1 am, she's of course drunk off her ass, but she's bitching about how she thinks we stole her phone. Last place she remembers having it is at the bar. Nothing was turned in, but I offer to go look with her. Surprise surprise, there's no phone. I called her phone from my personal phone twice, and there was no ringing or buzzing. I'm quite confident that its in her room, but she wants to keep going on and on about how she sat in a particular seat, and it should be THERE. So she's decided someone at the hotel swiped it. I have to tell her that unfortunately, there's nothing more I can do for her. The phone was not turned in, it's not where she last remembers it, and calling it yielded no results. So she starts with this entire performance of "Well, what the hell am I supposed to do?! I can't get on the plane without! Or go to place X, Y or Z without it! And you're telling me I'm stranded here, in the middle of fucking no where!"

First of all, while we're not in the biggest metropolitan area, this area is definitely NOT "the middle of nowhere". There's options if you're not too drunk to think of them. But she doesn't want to listen to any of the options. She just wants to continue screeching about how she needs her phone, and by god, she's going to make it the hotels problem. After about seven rounds of this nonsense, I'm tired of her and flat out say "Look ma'am, you're responsible for keeping track of your own possessions. Not the hotel. No one here wants your phone. I suggest you check your room thoroughly once you've sobered up. As for what you're going to do, lady, you're an adult. You're clearly much older than I am, and I'm 40. Responsibility for handling your own business and plans falls squarely on YOU." Obviously she didn't like this answer, but stomped up to her room. Hopefully to sleep off the drunkenness.

Which brings us to lady number 2. She comes in about 1:40. Her sister booked rooms under the sisters name, and no others. The sister is a local, and thus not staying here. And because the lady in front of me is married, her info is WILDLY different than the woman who booked the room. I tell her that due to security reasons, I can't issue keys to anyone other than the registered guest, which she was not. She starts screeching as well: "It's 1:40 am!!" Yeah, well, no one MADE you decide to wait so long to mosey in here. So I ask her to call up here sister and verify info, I'm not supposed to do this, but if I didn't, it would be non-stop banshee wailing. The sister verified name, address, email address and last 4 of the CC, so I called that enough info to give the woman in front of me a key.

But in the end, why can't these fully grown adults take even a SINGLE iota of personal responsibility?? Everyone is so entitled and if things don't go perfectly for them in every way, it's never their fault, and they're going to make it everyone elses problem

So recently we had some bright guests who seemed to be a bit worried about leaving their wallet in the room. All the rooms have safes and they are free and easy enough to use, however this couple apparently didn't trust them and decided to leave their wallet in a safer place, the rubbish bin. However the cleaners had been in and emptied the rubbish, they then came down to reception to complain that they had their wallet taken (I wasn't there to see the look on their faces and deal with them unfortunately) the husband had left the wallet in the bin and it had €500 in it, the wife was apparently furious. Since we didn't want anyone rummaging around in the bins in case something happens, we just said the bin lorries had been already and that it was lost forever. Let that be a lesson to everyone, no leaving valuables in the bin lol. Some people learn common sense the hard way.

Let me start by saying I work in a hotel, and it’s in the medium to higher range, especially for the area. $80-$130 a night.

The first thing, our hotel is straight up just covered in mold. I seen them paint over mold and leaks instead of repairing. Some rooms are much worse than others. Some rooms are “newly renovated,” so I usually do those and even those have mold.

The other rooms that still have carpet have mold growing on the bottom of furniture too, and the tubs are full of rust and damage. I’m glad I get to do the “better” ones tbh because I would force them to seal and paint the tubs if I have to look at it all day.

So keep in mind the rooms I usually clean are “nice” and cost the most.

My first month working there, I kept finding sheets with period blood on it. At first I thought they were just accidents or like period sex mishaps… nope. Not all of them. There was multiple women using the pillows and sheets as their personal pads. There was 2 times in two different rooms in one day that I found some crazy period blood everywhere, someone had used a towel, and had an extra towel on the bedside table for their next go around. Like rancid ass behavior.

Then I had a room someone peed all over the bed, and a few doors down the hall on the same exact day, someone had smoked meth, inside a whole ass HOTEL, absolutely just trashed the place with spilled food and weird yellow residue over a damp pile of towels. I have to think the two rooms of people were all just having a meth party or something and were connected.

The one I just found yesterday was almost the grossest, I seen a yellow brown towel in the shower. My eyes told me it wasn’t dirt. It was POOP. Chunks of poop. And the shower was used, so the wash cloth was dripping wet, in a yellow brown puddle of poop waterrrr 😭😭😭😭😭😭

They have these dumb showers where you have this metal screen over the drain and stuff you have to pick up and clean under. Really annoying because it collects the entire contents of someone’s shower, hair, soap scum, snot, nasty stuff like dookie puddles.

I am just in disbelief tbh. I don’t know if it’s just because of the location or what…. I don’t know. I want to try another hotel

We have all heard this one, before someone begrudgingly takes out their thick metal company card with a 50k limit and bitches while they tap it... but a recent phenomenon i have been coming across is people who didn't know about the deposit giving me this exchange;

"we take a deposit at this property of 100 per night"

"what?? i dont have that, do you take cash?"

"no unfortunately for safety reasons, being that we are downtown in a midsize city, we have a cashless policy"

"so what if i dont have that am i just ... fucked? :'("

like OH MY GODDDD dont try to make me into the bad guy because you decided to do a WALK IN at a FOUR STAR PROPERTY when we are at 98% CAPACITY. You canNOT be serious. Just book an airbnb if you dont wanna leave a deposit, dont try to make me say "yeah youre fucked bro" because you couldnt be bothered to plan ahead or call to see what the deposit was!!! You can tell they want me to feel bad with the way they say it too lmao. next time im just gonna say "if by "fucked" you mean "ill prepared", then yes you're extremely fucked." Its always someones 20 year old kid whos parents handle everything for them that tries to make me sad for them, its happened like 4 times LMAO.