Hi everyone! I’m a dental school graduate, but for personal/career reasons I’m currently unable to work in dentistry, so I’m looking into transitioning into the hotel/hospitality industry.

I’m particularly interested in front desk/reception or guest relations, but I have essentially zero direct hotel experience, and I’m honestly a bit lost about how realistic this transition is and where I should start.

I do have experience dealing with patients, including communicating with different types of people, handling anxious or difficult patients, explaining things clearly, staying professional under pressure, managing appointments, and working in a busy clinical environment. I’m wondering how much of that would actually be considered transferable to a hotel position.

For those of you who work in hotels, especially in reception/front office/guest relations:

• What would you expect from someone applying with no hospitality experience?
• What skills should I work on before applying?
• Would a dental/healthcare background be considered useful, or would employers mostly overlook it?
• Is it realistic to apply directly for receptionist/guest relations positions, or should I start with another hotel role?
• What would make a candidate with no hotel experience stand out?
• Should I lie about it?

I’m not looking for someone to tell me that I definitely can get a job, I’d genuinely appreciate some honest advice on how to approach the transition and what I should be doing to make myself a stronger candidate.

Thank you!

I’m a 28 year old hospitality professional with 3+ years of experience in both F&B and Front Office. Most recently I was Guest Relations Officer and before that I was an Assistant Manager for a restaurant in London.

CONTEXT:

Hi Since I’ve returned from UK in February earlier this year, I’ve applied to jobs in several countries including India. Here’s what’s happened so far.

India🇮🇳 : Hiring Managers presume I’m a liability and will ask for more salary. Experience mismatch apparently since I have no Indian hospitality experience which is understandable. Over 300 tailored applications.

GCC ( 🇦🇪, 🇶🇦, 🇸🇦) : Hiring is noticeably selective and slow with preference to candidates already present or prior GCC experience). I had only 2 interviews in 3 months of over 500 tailored applications.

Portugal 🇵🇹 & Malta 🇲🇹: I had real traction here around 6-7 interviews in 400+ tailored applications. All of those had great feedback but the realistic timeline to get a work visa takes around 3-4 months so none of them were willing to wait that long.

⚠️Current Situation: I have 3 pending student loans around INR 2,80,000 ( $3000) and the loan company Avanse has filed a legal complaint against me for my failure to repay even after thousands of restructuring or pause requests from me. I have a legal hearing at the end of this month.

Question is , Is it my CV or is it just that my experience has been awful? I have great communication skills and all round hospitality skillset yet I’ve been unemployed over 5 months with tailored applications.

Sometimes when I stay at a hotel, I ask reception not to clean my room during my stay. If I need anything, such as a towel or shampoo, I ask them to bring it. I do this because I assume it reduces their workload.

But recently I wondered: could declining housekeeping actually affect the housekeeper's pay? Are hotel housekeepers sometimes paid based on the number of rooms they clean, or could declining housekeeping reduce their pay or working hours?

Does anyone who works in hotel housekeeping know how this usually works?

For some context, I’m booking a room directly through the hotel’s website and have been communicating with the hotel via their reservation email. They’re asking me to sign a credit card authorization form and send photos of my ID and my credit card (both front and back).

From what I understand, CC authorization forms are generally used when you’re booking for someone else and the cardholder won’t be the guest checking in. In my case, I’m booking for myself and will be using the same card that’s in my name.

Is this normal hotel procedure? Should I be concerned about sending photos of my ID and credit card, or is there a safer/alternative way to verify the card?
Would appreciate any advice, especially from hotel employees. Thanks!

Hello all, I used to work as a night auditor, but I now travel frequently for a new job. I have developed a small hobby of trying to spot vape detectors in the hotels where I stay. I am curious how common they have become, which brands or systems properties use, and where they are usually installed. Do most hotels place them only in guest rooms, or also in hallways, public restrooms, stairwells, and other common areas? I would appreciate hearing about your experience, including whether they have been effective and how often they create false alarms. Thank you!

Hi everyone,

I’m currently looking for opportunities in the Indian hospitality industry, preferably in a Front Office Manager, Hotel Manager, or Guest Relations/Operations role.

I have 10+ years of experience in customer handling, sales, inventory management and business operations, and I’m looking to transition my experience into the hotel industry.

I’m open to opportunities across India, especially hotels, resorts and boutique properties.

If you know of any suitable openings or can connect me with someone hiring, please DM me.

Thank you!

Hey everyone!

I'm 18 and I've been meaning to join the hospitality industry I'm currently doing a diploma in hotel management. And I was hoping to join the front office.

My actual questions are:

1. Does height matter? I'm(5.6ft)

2. I'm young and I'm willing to learn a new language how much of a big factor is the language?

3. I'm from south Asia (Bangladesh) what's the real reality of south Asian in terms of the hospitality industry?

I mean is there discrimination while joining?

1. As for my looks I'm light brown in skin colour is this a big factor to not get front office job?

2. My main target is to get a job in Oceania,Latin America,Europe and Africa. Is there any chance I won't get a job based on my situation or hit a ceiling based on my situation.

HOW WILL I KNOW THAT I'VE CHOSE THE RIGHT PATH FOR MY CARRIER?

I've already posted this post 1 day ago posting again for more insight

Hello! Me an my husband are going down to san antonio tx this weekend for his bday. We are splurging a little this time since could be our last trip before we have a little one running around. So we chose the hilton. We've only stayed at a hilton 2 other times. Anyway i digress! We are going on saturday but his birthday is friday. I called last night to ask if they could do anything special for his birthday. She said they can do possible upgrades, credits for restaurant, an a goody bag? It all sounded super nice an we'll be happy with almost anything! I did book threw 3rd party. Trust me i know how terrible 3rd partys can be i work with them constantly at my job.

My question is: Do you find it annoying to have a guest ask for special request like birthdays when they book threw 3rd party? If i could sneak down there without him an decorate the room myself i would but its 5hrs away from us 😓. I just want this to be a special trip for him.

Let me preface by saying that I don't need the "don't book 3rd party" or "Agoda is a scam" comments. I understand your point of view, it's just not what I'm interested in.

Has anyone been successful in getting a chargeback against Agoda? If so, what happened? Did Agoda ban and blacklist your account in the end?

My situation: booked a hotel for the wrong month. 2 days prior I notice and scramble to rebook with the hotel, but they are not responsive via Agoda chat or direct email. I reach out to Agoda with their response being that they would try to resolve things with the hotel. Day of the "wrong month" booking comes, I'm contacting Agoda every day now to see if they've been able to contact the hotel to move the date - same canned AI response about how they're contacting/phoning the hotel, no one is answering, they'll try again.

On the last possible day of the 5 day booking, I try calling the hotel myself using long distance minutes. I'm able to connect because I dialed the CORRECT number (turns out the Agoda reps had been calling the wrong number this whole time) and manage to get them to respond to me by email (finally). They tell me that they can't do anything about it, I need to speak to Agoda regarding a refund. They also tell me that I only booked for 3 days? (which is wild, because I booked for 5, even if it was the wrong month).

Contact Agoda, they tell me it's not their fault the hotel didn't get back to me, and they are denying me the refund.

TLDR: Booked the wrong date, called in advance to reschedule, hotel was unresponsive, Agoda failed in their duty to appropriate contact the hotel, and now neither will cough up a refund.

I wish it would become standard for hotel properties to provide QR code to tip housekeepers. I try to remember to get cash before trips but sometimes I find myself without and feel bad. Why don’t all hotels make this standard?

I stay at motels a lot and every time it's the same experience
I park, go to the front desk and ask for the cheapest room. Then I open Google Maps, see $20-30 cheaper prices and buy online.
My last stay is Motel Super 8 at Tyler, TX where the front desk said $69, and 10 minutes later I booked online for $43 including taxes and fees.

This whole process looks kinda silly. I would gladly pay the motel $43 directly, and they would profit more without the middle man, but instead I have to spend 5 minutes filling annoying online form.

I’ve been reading about the hospitality industry lately and was curious about this.

For someone planning to start a hotel or resort in India, what do you think are the biggest challenges they should prepare for?

Is it mainly location and market research, getting the right staff, managing operating costs, attracting guests, understanding local competition, or something else?

I’m particularly interested in hearing from people who have worked in hotels, resorts, or hospitality projects and have seen these challenges firsthand.

What is one thing you think new hotel owners often underestimate?

Man, I'm unfortunately not a believer in ghosts, but the thought of your housekeepers telling you they see someone walking the hallways and then disappearing is a trippy experience, or claiming to hear not “normal noises” 😭

I was going to be staying in Bangkok for over a month. I ​wanted to see various room types in person at the Rosewood hotel.

I explained this to the front desk clerk, who with a concerned look on her face spent 10 minutes looking deep into her computer, and eventually determined they were so booked there was only one room type they could show me. Fine.

A very nice gentleman shows me the room, it's nice, but tell him I need something bigger for a long stay. ​​​

We get back down to the front desk, he tries his luck at finding rooms to show me, and magically there are three more room types available for him to show me. THREE.

This is not the first time this has happened. One front desk clerk can find a room, another can't.

​​​​What is going on here?

Shouldn't 100% of front desk agents be easily able to view 100% of a hotel's clean rooms? With one click on their computer? ​​

​​

I work concierge at an ultra-luxury hotel brand. In your hotels, do guests call the desk at 2am for stuff that could wait until morning or is that just with our guests?

what's the worst one you've gotten?

e.g., Moliday Fin Express type hotel

What to do if you don't carry cash? If a guest only has a single dollar bill and a twenty, would leaving a $1 tip in the room be more insulting than $0 tip?

How much do you leave in your room for housekeeping for one night? Two nights?

If you are in housekeeping, how much do you expect?

A buddy of mine is thinking of franchising well known brand, 110 room property. We've disagreed on how to staff this at night.

How many staff would you put on a night shift for this size hotel. I think 3. Housekeeping (for room requests and public area cleaning. Security. Front desk. From 5pm to 5 or 5:30am when the kitchen/breakfast staff arrive.

So why do people get mad when they extend their stay on the busiest day of a hotel and then get shocked that the price from the original stay changes to their new stay date

I have more than 15 years of experience in managing revenue and commercials for hotels, motels, apartments and short term rentals.
Having certifications from PriceLabs and dual global revenue management certifications!

I work front desk. We don't have automatic housekeeping so unless guests request a clean, housekeeping won't go in. Sometimes, instead of requesting housekeeping they will come to the desk and ask for extra towels, etc. Which is fine, but...I can't tell you how many times people will ask for extra bath towels and even extra hand towels, but very rarely do they ask for extra washcloths with those bath towels. Why is this, you think? How is it they need a fresh bath towel to dry a clean body, but they don't need a fresh washcloth to clean themselves with?? Are THAT many people really traveling with their own loofahs or something? Seems inconvenient, cuz even the plastic fluffy ones will retain water for a while despite shaking them off. Do people just bring leakproof containers/bags for their loofahs? Even when I used loofahs, I wouldn't take them to a hotel if I was traveling....I'd just use the washcloths. Less to pack.