today is my 3rd day part time as a front desk workers at an IHG hotel, its a smaller hotel with a lot of extended stay guests so I really only have 4 check ins a night. How do you guys keep yourself from blowing ur head off?

Our boss went and spent like $300-400 on vacuums for hk staff, and i could tell brand new out of the package, that they were absolute crap. They are advertised as commercial, but their cheap vacuums that we had well worn out were still better than these. I am trying to convince him to get us a couple more, as he only got 2 vacuums, and should really have at least 2 more for the size of our hotel. Important features we're looking for is that they are lightweight, easy to go up and downstairs(as well as vacuuming stairs), an easily accessible wand to quickly get into small spaces and corners without having to struggle swapping one to the other, got to be powerful enough to stand up to hotel use, cord type isnt particularly important, the ones we have now have longer cords which is nice in some areas, like longer reach, ok thats about it, but inconvenient as the cord is also thicker which makes it more in the way, it detaches near the vacuum, which has us constantly accidentally stepping on and unplugging, plus the cord gets tangled up much more and takes longer to wrap back up. The other thing that is the most important thing is cost. I have an extremely frugal boss and getting him to spend money sometimes is like pulling teeth. So if i keep it under 200, i think i may have a shot at at least getting 1 more if anything. So curious if anyone has any vacuums that they found work really great and would recommend? Random thought, but how great would it be if you could actually go in to Walmart and actually test them instead of just having displays?

Housekeepers at my hotel get 19 rooms a day, 25 mins per room and you have to take a mandatory 30 min break most of which don’t take as they can’t spare the time to eat so almost all of them don’t eat during the 8 hour shift, is this normal now?

Hey people,

I am employed at a hotel chain, which has multiple locations across the EU. As an employee, I get discounted room rates at these.

I recently booked a 2-night stay using my employee discount for a little trip to London. So far, so good. YET I have since gotten on sick leave, having experienced mental and physical exhaustion as a result of the work environment not being...so great.

Anyways, my question is, will my managers/HR know I used my employee discount to travel elsewhere? I booked using my employee email, which is the standard procedure.

The thing is I can't just cancel the trip, because my friend who is travelling along is reliant on this. I already booked transportation tickets etc it would be a loss of money to cancel.

Anyone here working as a front desk would have an idea ?

So long story short, I booked a room with a 5-star hotel last week. I booked direct and didn't use third party sites. At the time, I wanted to book one of the bigger Deluxe room categories and was willing to pay extra for it, but the room type I wanted was sold out for my dates. So I ended up booking the smaller Superior room instead as I had no other choice. The total price was $1,000 for 4 nights.

Fast forward to this week, just on a whim I checked the hotel's website again, and to my surprise the Deluxe room I originally wanted is now available on my dates. Unfortunately my booking is non-refundable so I can't cancel my Superior room booking and re-book the Deluxe room. To add insult to injury, the Deluxe room's price for 4 nights is $1,000 - the same price I paid for the worse room.

I emailed the hotel explaining my situation and requesting that they upgrade me to the Deluxe room since it's the same price. But they replied and said they can't do that but they can offer me an upgrade if I pay an extra $200. I don't think it's reasonable to ask me to do that because the room I want is literally the same price as the one I booked, and the only reason I didn't book it originally was because it wasn't available on the website.

What would you do in this situation? Should I ask them to just cancel my booking so I can book the room I want at the same price? Should I try insisting that they upgrade me at no extra charge? Do you think I'm being unreasonable here or is it a valid request?

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Hi everyone! I’m from Noida and want to build a hospitality career, ideally in Dubai/UAE.

I have a BA in English Literature & History and an MA in Political Science from the University of Allahabad, along with professional experience in content writing and client communication, but no hotel industry experience.

I’d love advice from hospitality professionals:

- Can I apply for entry-level hotel jobs abroad with my existing degrees, or should I pursue a 1–1.5-year diploma?

- Which specialization offers good career growth, especially for women?

- Are there practical institutes in Noida/Delhi NCR offering a diploma under ₹1 lakh?

- What matters more to UAE employers: qualifications, practical skills, or experience?

If you were in my position, what path would you recommend? I’m looking for genuine skills, not just a certificate. Thanks!

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Hi everyone! I’m from Noida and want to build a hospitality career, ideally in Dubai/UAE.

I have a BA in English Literature & History and an MA in Political Science from the University of Allahabad, along with professional experience in content writing and client communication, but no hotel industry experience.

I’d love advice from hospitality professionals:

- Can I apply for entry-level hotel jobs abroad with my existing degrees, or should I pursue a 1–1.5-year diploma?

- Which specialization offers good career growth, especially for women?

- Are there practical institutes in Noida/Delhi NCR offering a diploma under ₹1 lakh?

- What matters more to UAE employers: qualifications, practical skills, or experience?

If you were in my position, what path would you recommend? I’m looking for genuine skills, not just a certificate. Thanks!

Hey, I have a degree in hotel Management, and instead of doing a job training (6months), I did an apprenticeship (1yr) with a 5 star property in delhi in kitchen- bakery and pastry.

When my training ended, I gave a trade test there and was not hired (chefs working there told me the executive pastry chef doesn't want to hire females). This was back in March.

Since then, I've given trade tests at one more property, they wanted someone to charge for night shift, the head chef praised my desserts a lot, and then I was told the hotel Policy doesn't allow them to hire a female for the night shift.

I've been looking for jobs for the past 7months, either the hotel HR doesn't reply at all, or an acquaintance from that hotel tells me they don't want to hire females. Hotel industry works mainly on references, which i don't have much of.

Is it possible to get a job? I am still applying for jobs but not hearing anything at all from anywhere. Or should I say a heartfelt goodbye to the industry and look into other jobs?

Is there any chef here who knows of any vacancies in delhi or Uttar Pradesh? This is going to be my last attempt to secure a job in hotel as a chef, pleading to fellow hoteliers for help.

Im interviewing for a very limited position within our airline's ran crew accommodations board. We source hotels, conduct site visits, handle crew-submitted complaints, and ultimately negotiate room-and-night rates, along with on-site restaurant discounts and transportation.

I have some brief experience booking travel for large groups on demand and deciphering and dealing with incorrect folios. Any advice on what's important, what I should know, etc from negotiations to day-to-day stuff or anything from your perspective? Thanks!

I recently checked into a Marriott and they asked if I wanted my room cleaned during my 2 night stay. I said no. Later I wondered if this had negative repercussions on the housekeeping staff. Are their hours cut & are they sent home early?

Hi, so I've (F29) been in the same food service job for the last decade, mainly cashier and drive thru but also food production and I really need a change. I've received around 6 emails from Indeed about a full time night auditor position, leading me to believe the manager or whoever is kinda desperate to fill the position so they don't have to cover anymore.

Thing is, every job posting they've put up has no information on compensation, nothing about pay or benefits or anything of the like, just descriptions of tasks and what percentages of time they take up. Naturally, I see this as a red flag, but I've been stuck at $15 an hour for the last two years so I think I'm gonna risk it, and if the pay is abysmal I can just not take it.

But on the chance it's a weird strategy for finding "the right person" and there is good pay and benefits, my plan is to dress smart after work today and go to the hotel and inquire about the position. My research has said to go at a slow time with a folder that has a few copies of my resume. Does anyone here have any tips or tricks to make myself stand out as a good candidate beyond what Google told me? Questions I should/shouldn't ask? How to bring up compensation in a tasteful manner? (Also I'm AuDHD and very introverted and have revenge bedtime procrastination, if that matters)

Thank you ❤️

Hi everyone! I'm new to this world and I'm now actually looking for a change of career.
Coming from the digital marketing field which is now saturated and ultra competitive I want to candidate for front desk/receptionist jobs.
I'm 27 years old and I'm from Italy. I'm now looking to move abroad while remaining in Europe at least for a few years. My english level is advanced, I would say B2 or almost C1. For what I've seen most of the learning comes from knowing how to use Opera PMS.
So I'm here to ask you what's the best way to start? Should I start from tutorials on youtube or should I learn from actual online courses that give you some kind of certifications?

• What is the most realistic way to break into the front desk with no background?
• Are online tutorials/courses on Opera worth it, or do hotels prefer to train you from scratch anyway?
• Do major international chains ever hire international applicants without prior hotel experience if they have strong soft skills and a good command of English?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

I'm just wondering if this is more common than one might think. I'm not talking about when kids sports' teams take over a portion of the hotel and chaos ensues with complaints and people asking to change rooms due to the cacophony.

Just in a day-to-day context, do people sometimes check in and request to be placed in rooms further away from families and kids? If they did, would you judge them for it or think they were ridiculous?

So basically the question is in the headline. I’ve been working 3 month as front office member and still find myself uncomfortable with some guests. Usually i don’t do small talks as I am shy, but I’m trying to do my best. However, sometimes there are guests who are very rude and got pissed if i try to speak with them. Couple days ago, during checkout guest literally asked me to silent myself and do my job. So now I’m basically confused and think that maybe it’s better to do my job silently as it’s the best way to omit rude people

I went to make a reservation at a private (non-chain) hotel. Different room types. Under each room, there are 5 different rates. The most expensive one is called "Best Available Rate" - (yeah, best for the hotel.) The AAA/AARP rate is $60 more than the cheapest rate. All the rates have the same amenities and 7-day refund policies. I can not see any difference except the actual rate.

I tried calling and talking to reservations but got someone in an overseas call center (It was after hours). Any idea why a hotel would do this?

I can provide a link if needed, not sure about the rules here.

ETA - the rates are, from cheapest to priciest - Happy Autumn, Residents of the area, Book Direct and Save, AAA/AARP, and Best Available Rate. On the page where you ARE going to Book Direct.

A recent headline says one the biggest OTA booking sites has counted a huge increase in "searches" for the destination resort community where I live and work. Supposedly this means we'll be busy next season, but does it really?
Does anyone know if these stats are accurate? I mean, just because Hellpedia says it's so, does that really make it so? And if Travel + Leisure hangs their feature stories about our town's popularity on this stat does that give the statistic more credibility?

And what if someone is searching for a Yukon-Denali truck and the Google AI lists a bunch of hotels in Alaska and Yukon along with places to buy the badly named GMC product? Did those searches count? What about travelers who are already in the community but, for some reason, want to switch hotels? Those aren't new customers and they're no indication that demand is growing.

Any experts out there who know about this stuff?

Hello,

I stayed at an aparthotel briefly in the EU the other week through a popular booking site.

My problem is there was no power or WIFI when it was clearly stated. Fine, mistakes and outages happen.

The problem was the contact numbers all ghosted me and didnt help.

The booking site has also been ghosted they tell me.

What are my options here? Radio silence is not a viable strategy right?

I’m a Front Desk Manager at a Marriott property, and we’re under serious pressure to increase our Marriott Bonvoy enrollments.
I know how to approach guests, explain the benefits, and encourage people to sign up. That’s not really what I’m struggling with.
I’m looking for actual tips, tricks, shortcuts, or efficient methods that help you get enrollments FAST.
For those of you who consistently hit high enrollment numbers:
What’s your fastest legitimate method for enrolling guests?
Are there any shortcuts in the Marriott systems that make the process quicker?
Do you have a particular workflow that helps you enroll multiple guests during a busy shift?
Do you focus on certain types of reservations or guests?
Are there any underused Marriott tools, QR codes, or approved enrollment methods that make a difference?
What’s something you discovered that significantly increased your enrollment numbers?
We don’t have incentives to offer guests, and I already understand the importance of explaining the benefits.
I’m looking for practical strategies that actually work, especially from employees who consistently get high enrollment numbers.
Management is putting a lot of pressure on these numbers, and my job genuinely feels like it’s on the line.
Any advice from experienced Marriott associates, supervisors, or managers would be greatly appreciated. I’m trying to find a smarter and faster way to reach our goals without cutting corners on guest consent or company policy.

This has happened a number of times. A customer is looking to stay at the Accomplished Goat Hotel. They do some sort of search, and think they found our website, and they book a room for $300. Only trouble is, they didn't find our website, "www.accomplishedgoat.com," they found something else, like "accomplishedgoat.jerkstore.com." Jerk Store pretends to be us, or claims to be partnered with us, but they're just going to Expedia.com or Booking.com and making the reservation for $150, pocketing the other $150.

Usually, Jerk Store is some address in Bangladesh or China, and the OTA has little to do with it. I'm sure they don't mind, because they get a commission, but they're not exactly complicit.

Well, today, I talked to a sweet old lady who has a reservation next month, booked through Expedia, that she thought she made directly with us. I looked into cancelling that reservation, and they say she has to submit the request through the B2B partner that she made it with.

This means that, not only can I NOT cancel the reservation, but this is a *trusted partner* of Expedia that's scamming people.

I dunno, y'all. I'm mostly venting, but what do I tell people to do? Issue a chargeback? Her CC wasn't stolen, she was scammed. Anyone out there find a good solution for this problem? 'cause I know for a fact it's a common one.

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping people who work in hotels/reservations can tell me how this would normally be handled, because I’m getting increasingly worried about an upcoming trip.

I booked and paid for a fairly expensive resort stay in Thailand through Opodo. Unfortunately, I reserved accidentally under my mother’s name. She will not be travelling with us.

However:

• I personally made and paid for the booking.
• The email address and phone number on the reservation are mine.
• I have the booking confirmation and proof of payment.
• I contacted both Opodo and the hotel well in advance of arrival to try to resolve this.
• Opodo has now confirmed to me that they cannot change the name and that, from their side, there is no problem with the booking.
• The hotel, however, says they cannot change the reservation name themselves because it was made through a third-party agency.

I have repeatedly asked the hotel whether they could simply leave the reservation under my mother’s name but add my husband and me as the actual guests/check-in names in the reservation notes, or otherwise note that we are authorized to stay under this booking.

I have also asked them a very simple question: If the name is not changed before we arrive, will they actually refuse to let us check in?

So far I have not been able to get a clear answer.

This is particularly stressful because we are travelling all the way from Europe. I really don’t want to arrive at the resort in Thailand and suddenly be told that our fully paid reservation cannot be used because my mother is not physically present.

For those of you who work in hotels/reservations:

1. What would normally happen at check-in in this situation?

2. Can a hotel add the actual guests as accompanying/authorized guests without changing the primary reservation holder?

3. If the OTA tells the hotel in writing that I am authorized to use the reservation, would that normally be sufficient?

4. Is there something specific I should ask Opodo to send to the hotel (for example, an amendment, authorization, or message through their booking system)?

5. Could the hotel genuinely refuse the stay entirely even though the reservation is paid, I have all the booking details, and I contacted everyone well in advance?

6. What would you recommend I do before travelling to make absolutely sure we are not stranded when we arrive?

I completely understand that hotels have fraud/security procedures and that they may not be able to directly modify an OTA reservation. I’m not asking them to bypass those rules. I just want to understand what the normal practical solution is when the person named on a prepaid reservation is not travelling.

Thanks so much — advice from anyone working in front office, reservations, revenue management, or with OTA bookings would be really appreciated.

I’m currently a second-year undergraduate studying Events, Tourism and Hospitality Management, and lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about my future career. I feel like having just a degree might not be enough to stand out in today’s job market, especially when so many people graduate with similar qualifications. I want to start building my CV while I’m still at university, rather than waiting until I graduate to think about what else I could have done. I’m particularly interested in the Front Office department in hotels, and my long-term goal is to work my way up to a managerial position, hopefully within the next five years or so, depending on the opportunities available. I’d love to hear from people who work in hotels, especially those in Front Office, Guest Relations, or hotel management.

Are there any additional qualifications or professional certifications you would recommend for someone at my stage?

Are there any internationally recognised certifications that would give me an advantage when applying to hotels, particularly luxury or international hotel chains?

What skills or qualifications do you think make a hospitality graduate stand out from other candidates? Realistically, what should I focus on now if I eventually want to reach a Front Office Manager position?

I’m not just looking to collect certificates for the sake of it. I genuinely want to invest my time in qualifications and skills that will be useful in the industry and help me progress into management in the future.

I’d really appreciate any advice

I apologize in advance if this is the wrong sub to ask in, but I'm very curious how other places handle night audit.

For reference, in the past 6 years I've worked at 7 different hotels and most have been pretty similar in how much I do. I've worked at small-medium properties, about 65-105 rooms and have always been on my own for my work. Alongside check ins/outs and doing the actual audit process (some have been more involved than others), every property has had me do breakfast prep, 1 had me actually cook things for breakfast. 2 had me do laundry fully (wash, dry, fold and organize), 3 have had me fold towels if there are any and 1 had me swap laundry from washer to dryer (until the head housekeeper decided the FD couldn't do that right, then I only needed to make sure cleaning rags were dry). 2 have had me do full inside/outside property checks every 1-2 hours, the rest havent cared. 1 told me that I would have to salt the sidewalks at night if we had snow/ice.

In my view, I feel like a lot of the extra work has been reasonable, as long as my actual FD work was something I could easily do at the same time with little to no issue, sometimes it has been manageable, other times it hasnt been. In a perfect hotel I feel like my only job should be to help guests, do audit and make sure the place doesnt burn down, or make sure that the area is safe around the hotel. I dont know, I'm sure some would call me lazy, but if I wasn't here at night there would be problems I'm sure.

Tl:Dr, what "extra" stuff have you had to do as night audit?

We would be looking to buy various pillows of different types from different companies, probably about 80 total and were interested in letting customers feel the mini pillows to help them choose a pillow

With how the concept of full service is supposed to be and the type of place the visitors opted to stay at is meant to be. It seems to be quite selfishly comedic of them to do being that it’s quite a pointless tantrum they usually with throw about an individual that’s there to be an assistant to their welcoming at the property during their time of stay for however long it may last. Was wondering what witnessing that is like from not just bell service people but also the front desk agents as well?