If you’re nice to the hotel staff, they are incredibly nice to you. And like you point out about perks given to friendly travelers, I play a game with myself called “will I get an upgrade?” It’s amazing how many times my room is upgraded just because I approached the front desk at check-in with a big smile and something nice to say.

This obviously doesn’t include the guests that have a real issue and give us the opportunity to fix the problem. Being empowered to do whatever you can to make sure the guest leaves happy and excited to return is the most rewarding part of being at the front desk (at least for me!)

I think Manda Panda hit the nail on the head when it comes to rude people. I will never give attitude back but from that point forward, that guest is getting the absolute bare minimum of service from me. I can’t tell you how much I’ve bent over backward for people who are kind. While we will adjust charges for a “screamer,” we do it begrudgingly and will give MUCH more to the people that treat us like human beings. I would hate to walk into a hotel and know that the staff detests me but is obligated to still be civil. Doesn’t that bother people?!

The list is pretty accurate but I think there was one that was failed to be mentioned. Ms. I Don’t Want To Be Here. This is the guest that wanted to stay somewhere else and will document EVERY problem to report to her boss that booked the room with us and she will never tell us what is wrong so that we can fix it. Later we get an irate phone call from the boss filled with problems and says that the employee tried talking to the staff. People like this really make me want to reach over the counter and slap someone!

I’ve worked every job in this hotel from standing in as manager all the way down to cleaning the rooms. If people were to realize that we are here because we enjoy our jobs and that we arent the enemy everything would work so much better. If someone is nice to me I offer to type up directions, call a cab, set extra wake up calls, clean your bathtub myself :), or even take your package to the post office to be mailed.

If you are rude, I can promise that while you will be allowed to stay again, you won’t get our best room. Nor will we bother to personally come up and try to get your computer to accept our internet service or any other thing that you may be having problems with. We won’t be rude, but we won’t go that extra mile.

I consider myself firmly in #6 with the hotels I frequent, and I make it a point not to accept management’s generosity if I can help it – I’m not looking for freebies, and the feeling of cameraderie with the staff is priceless.

You just have to be firm and state your case calmly and do not back off at the first “no”. Things go wrong as a matter of course. How a company responds is the true measure of who you’re dealing with.

Regardless of the stiuation, there is never a need to become irate. Even if it’s a problem that’s occuring over and over again., becoming irate won’t stop the problem. Again, the person you’re becoming irate with most likely is not the cause of the problem. They may have alerted housekeeping about your dirty bathtub, but if housekeeping fails to clean it correctly, it’s not the front desk agent’s fault. Plus, an agent is more likely to upgrade you or go above and beyond the call of duty (perhaps cleaning the tub themselves) if you present the situation in a calm, friendly manner.

In closing, it’s also improtant to remember that the service industry is not a glamorous or high paid industry to be in. Just because you’re paying $350 a night does not mean the staff is being paid anything more than minimum wage. Most of the staff is there because they love what they do. Don’t ruin this love for service by complaining. There’s nothing worse than hearing a once excited young front desk agent say that they want to leave the industry because the aspect of the job they once found attracting—-servinging and getting to know people—has actually become their least favorite part.

We were given a room where the window actually did not look to the outside but to a stone wall high up in the lobby! No light came through it. The room was tiny and 85 degrees and the Air conditioner was not working. Only one light bulb in the room worked, the other three were missing. So it was very dark. The carpet was dirty and the whole place smelled like stale beer.

I propped open the door because of the stench and noticed three gentlemen in suits coming down the hall – all wearing names tags and conversing very quietly.

When they came near, one of them noticed that I was just standing in the doorway with tears running down my face. They were management (lucky me!) and asked what was wrong – I invited them in and asked if this was their idea of a getaway weekend.

We were immediately whisked away to an upper floor into a nice room that had windows that opened and was probably more expensive than what we had paid for.

I’m just saying – sometimes it pays to cry if you feel mistreated!

K.C.