The critical ancient racist [FINAL UPDATE!] TalesFromTheFrontDesk

Wake up you sleepyhead

Rub your eyes, get out of bed

Wake up the wicked witch is dead

She's gone where the goblins go

Below, below below

She's not dead guys its okay. But she is gone! Yo-ho!

This is the final update from my previous post. Here is the first post also for those of you who have not had a chance to ride the Ruth train.

The days leading up to her eviction were no better than any other. She was constantly calling the front desk. She also pulled the "I'm not talking to you" stunts on almost all of my coworkers and demanded to speak to each specific department rather than following standard procedure. This didn't last very long.

"Guest services"

"Have housekeeping call me"

"What can we get you from housekeeping?"

"Just have them call me"

"I'm sorry they're not available to come to the phone right now, if you like I can let them know what you need over the radio."

Click

We also got reports from our restaurant that she had called so frequently and was so nasty to one of the hostesses that she made her cry. The manager let her go home early and she was later given a bottle of wine as an apology.

My manager Frank (the one who got the hug for delivering food in a to-go box rather than getting his butt chewed out) finally had enough. He is one of the most upbeat and energetic people I've ever met. He hung on until the very end but even he couldn't put up with her anymore. After the memo came out about front office employees not being allowed to deliver food anymore she turned on him and gave him a hard time about everything. She made it clear that she did not approve of him having a child out of wedlock, or of his race, or of his tattoos, or of his attitude.

My other manager (lets name her Linda) was beyond being over her. Ms. Ruth had apparently told Linda that I needed to be "talked to" because of my attitude, and that I probably didn't need to work here anymore because of how awful I was. Linda is a kind soul and had an especially hard time with Ms. Ruth. Its hard enough to hang up on her without being harsh and direct, and Linda had tried her best to be nice to keep things from escalating. It only served to put her under even greater stress because Ms. Ruth didn't want to speak to anyone else but her. She was so stressed out and so strung thin that she had to put down an ultimatum. Either I go or Ms. Ruth goes. Our GM would never have chosen otherwise, so it was finally time for Ms. Ruth to go.

So the fateful day came to evict her from our property. One of our sales managers (dubbed Eliza) was assisting our GM with the eviction as a witness and general support. Eliza is typically a very strict, no nonsense type girl who is not afraid to tell it like it is. The perfect eviction sidekick. Poor GM and Eliza were stuck trying to move Ms. Ruth all day. Thankfully they didn't leave property until she was gone, otherwise we would have never gotten her out.

First things first was to actually break the news to her that she was no longer welcome at our property. This was greeted by accusations, name calling, denial and refusal to leave. She also wished curses and poxes upon all of us, the GM especially. How dare an immigrant kick her out of her own room? How did he get this job anyway? Was there anyone else on the executive committee who was foreign? How could we employ people like that, even for housekeeping?

She then somehow managed to lock them out of the room with the new locks that we installed for her. GM had to get a special crowbar that would disengage a flip lock and a super-master key which would disengage a dead bolt.

She didn't want to get dressed, and walked around for most of the evening in one of our bath robes.

Her stuff was unpacked and all over the room hours later. Her old dog's ashes were on her mantle. Her whole wardrobe in the closet and on the clothes rack we had loaned her. The GM called the moving company for her and convinced them to come move her stuff. They resisted because she still hadn't payed them for moving her to the hotel. He advised them to skip speaking with her and to go directly to the insurance company because there was no way they were getting a penny out of her.

She tried to take our microwave, then our towels, and then our bathrobe once she finally changed.

Eliza was instrumental in speaking with her and showed tremendous amounts of patience. She apparently had a soft spot in her heart for Ms. Ruth and connected with her because she had also had a tough life when growing up, so Eliza did her best to help. Ms. Ruth did not make it easy on her though, and despite her good will she still got yelled at for the most trivial things.

While Eliza was in the room, she noticed Ms. Ruth's dog walking around and bumping into furniture and walls. Ms. Ruth snapped at her:

"Why are you looking at him like that?"

"Looking at her like what?"

"Looking at him like you pity him!"

"Because I have a heart, and I have feelings, so I feel bad for the dog because he is blind and bumping into things."

"Well you don't need to be looking at him!"

Eliza carried on though, and continued to help her. She was very picky about which items had to go into which boxes, and where everything was going. She didn't want Eliza to touch certain items but was lollygagging and not putting things away herself.

"Is this your dog's ashes here on the mantle?"

"Don't touch that! Get away from the urn!"

"I wasn't going to touch it, that's why I asked you first."

"It needs to go in a specific box!"

"Ok well here is the box, can you please pick it up and put it in there?"

"Don't tell me what to do!"

We called the sheriffs to try and light a fire under her buns, but she put on the "old sweet grandma" facade once they got here so it did nothing to help spur her into action. They asked us several times why we were evicting her and what she had done to be kicked out. We tried to explain how horrible she was, but none of it was evident to them during their conversations with her so they were not motivated to get her moving.

Later in the evening the officer reported to us that she was hungry, and could not continue moving until she had eaten. Eliza tried to tell them that she was fine, that she could finish moving because she already had food in the room and could eat what she had. They said she had requested a pizza from our restaurant, and that she was literally dying of starvation. We shrugged our shoulders and obliged, if only to shut her up until it was time for her to go. Pizzas were made for her and some extras for the two officers. Time ticked on.

Eliza took it upon herself to call around to local hotels to see which would work best for Ms. Ruth, specifically looking for one that had a stove and a large refrigerator. She found a room at the local Shmampton Shminn, and the insurance company agreed to transfer the account on the condition that they would not pay for tonight's night at our hotel. That's fine, just get her out of here.

A taxi was called. He waited for nearly the entire time. We were happy to pay him the $80 bill just to get her out. Ms. Ruth wouldn't have agreed to pay him anyway.

8pm rolled around.

A strange quiet fell over the hotel.

The phones stopped ringing.

The fires of hell no longer burned our heels.

Eliza called the Shmampton that evening to check up on them and make sure Ms. Ruth had gotten into her room alright. According to her the front desk over there already sounded stressed. They had already changed her room several times in the span of two hours and she was not happy with anything their establishment had to offer.

A couple days later we got an angry call from the GM of the Shmampton asking why we hadn't called ahead to inform them of the situation. They were rightfully upset at us, but what could we do? If we had said anything they would not have taken her. All we could do was apologize.

Ms. Ruth has called Eliza several times since then to complain about the hotel and demand that we do something. The food there is awful, the staff is awful, everything is awful.

Today she called because her dog hadn't eaten or gone to the bathroom in 3 days. Eliza said she could hear the dog screaming in the background. Eliza told her to take the dog to the vet immediately. Ms. Ruth argued that she couldn't, and that Eliza had to come pick her up and take her. Eliza declined, and said there was a shuttle provided by the hotel that could take her for free. She even called and booked an appointment at a vet on her behalf which was directly across the street. Ms. Ruth argued and said she couldn't take the dog because they would euthanize it. She didn't want to take the shuttle. She didn't want to take a taxi. She said she couldn't make the appointment in time.

Eliza said she couldn't help but feel like it was possible for Ms. Ruth to have pinched the dog to make it cry in an attempt to get her to come to the hotel.

Honestly she needs to have the dog taken away from her, whether or not she's pinching it to make it cry she's obviously in no state to take care of her. I'm almost tempted to call and report her but its not like any of us have any proof. She needs to be put in a retirement home and be put on medication.

I've never wished death upon anyone, but I probably wouldn't be upset to hear that she had passed away.

Submitted December 27, 2017 at 09:58AM by SoLongAndTired http://ift.tt/2Dkg5ZE TalesFromTheFrontDesk

The Shithead GM: Menage a Trois TalesFromTheFrontDesk

I swear this is my last post about David the Wonderful GM from Wonderful Land. BUT it's not just about David. It's about the FDM as well, and the fact that David even let her work there. Let's call her Jezebel, for reasons that will become apparent.

-David had no idea how to run the systems, for that he had Jezebel. For all her faults, she really did know the operating systems inside and out, and could do anything with it. She had a fairly good grasp of numbers as well, so I think from an accounting standpoint, she was the only reason the place didn't go under. I give credit where credit is due. She was a crazy bitch, but she knew that hotel inside and out.

-Jezebel was having a decade long affair with a married man. He would stop by from time to time and they would disappear for about an hour. I don't know if they went to an empty room or just to his truck. I don't really care either. The first time she abandoned me for a quickie was on my second shift while training.

-Jezebel also had a problem with drugs, and DUI's. In my second week of training, a couple police officers showed up and took her away. I was young and didn't know much about that stuff at the time, but I'm assuming they had a warrant for her.

-Jezebel was demoted from FDM to FDA for something, and no one was sure what. But, a few weeks after being demoted, she was caught on camera trying to break into a locked file cabinet with a screwdriver and was then fired. Apparently there was a write-up in the cabinet that she wanted to get rid of? It happened after I left so I heard about it 3rd hand so who knows how much truth there is. I don't doubt it for a second though.

-If Jezebel saw a sexy man walking into the building, she would immediately lean over the air conditioner to perk up her nipples. She never wore a bra.

-One fateful night, I got a call from a VIP member, he stayed with us a lot. To the point where, he would call the front desk, tell us to order a pizza and pay for it out of the drawer and he would reimburse us at check out. And this was OK'd by David. I get a call from VIP member at like 2am, stating that Jezebel was going to be late for work the next morning. Ummm, wtf? He then went on to state he would talk to David and guarantee I would get double wages for the 2 or 3 hours I would have to stay late before Jezebel got there. I was so, so young. I said whatever, I'll stay. My shift was supposed to be over at 7am. Jezebel showed up at noon, hair a mess, yesterday's makeup, and very very happy. If you haven't guessed, she totally stayed in VIP's room... With him and his wife. Lotsa drugs, lotsa sex. And I got to hear all about it. As you also probably guessed, I never saw the extra wages, though I never actually expected them. I also got in trouble for staying late and going into overtime. (As a very young 20something, I was aghast that people actually had threesomes? As a mid 30's adult I'm like, you go girl... but maybe don't do it at work. Just a thought.)

-Back to David. The man did not give a flying fuck about employee safety. The hotel had a large parking lot bordered by woods, and he expected us to walk the perimeter every night. After being literally chased back to the hotel by a crazy person (that's a whole 'nother post), I brought in pepper spray, and was told I wasn't allowed to carry it. Fuck that, I carried it everywhere.

-David also emphasized "heads in beds". Didn't matter what heads, as long as they had money. That meant if someone walked in and gave hella creepy vibes, said hella creepy things, or straight up threatened us, we were not supposed to let them leave without renting a room. He would check the cameras and if he saw that someone had come in to inquire about a room, and left without renting, we were given the 3rd degree and potentially written up for losing revenue. I cannot count how many times I checked someone in, and then stayed in the locked back office out of pure fear.

-David didn't believe in having a 24 hour maintenance guy on call. He also didn't believe in replacing broken air conditioning units or broken refrigerators, instead apologizing to guests and guaranteeing we would replace it as soon as they checked out, and never doing so. If someone called and said their AC didn't work, I was required to go into the room and try and fix it, regardless of who was in the room. Did I do that? A couple times yes, but after the first attempted assault, I told him to fucking fire me because I wouldn't be going in guest rooms alone ever again. I still won't to this day, unless I see children.

-The reason I finally left, and the conclusion of these ranting lists. I worked every single weekend for over 8 months. Every. Single. One. That is not an exaggeration. My best friend was getting married on Memorial Day weekend, and I requested it off. I was told no, because that weekend is super busy and I was needed. I went back through the records for the last 10 years and we had never sold out on Memorial Day Weekend, not by a long shot. I went back and demanded the weekend off because I hadn't had a Friday or Saturday night off in almost a year. Again I was told no. I slid my 2 week notice onto his desk and told him I figured he would say that, because he is a piece of shit and I can't believe I worked for him as long as I did. He said he wouldn't give me a good reference, and I told him to go to hell. I was free.

-Fuck that guy.

Thanks for reading these, it was fun and infuriating to write out. I love my hotel now, and I will never work for a raging jagoff like that guy again.

Submitted October 01, 2017 at 03:45PM by sassystarfleet http://ift.tt/2kdwUk0 TalesFromTheFrontDesk

Those guests you can tell will be a pain from the start. TalesFromTheFrontDesk

Me: Good afternoon, ma'am! What's the last name?

Lady: waddles slowly up to the front desk What's my Hotel rewards account number?

Me: Okay... Let me look for it... What's the last name?

Lady: Ugh. Guest.

Me: I'm sorry, what was that? I didn't quite catch that.

Lady: GUEST! G-U-E-S-T!

snatches a random piece of paper off of my desk and grabs a pen without asking and starts to write down "rewards account number"

(Oh boy... here we go... time to bring out my inner FDA bitch)

Me: gives her the "did you really just do that?" look for stealing my pen and paper

Lady: (sarcastically) Can I borrow this?

Me: Sure! (but just to fuck with her) But that has writing on the other side so let me just take that back and here is a blank paper... Okay I found your reservation but your number isn't on file. So let me look it up.

Lady: gives me the death glare and starts tapping her fingers

Me: Okay here is the number.

Lady: Make sure my room has a refrigerator.

Me: Of course! We already have you preblocked in a room with one-

Lady: And I better be right next to Miss OtherGuest

Me: okay...

Lady: taps fingers some more

Me: Alright and your ID and Card for incidentals since the room and tax is taken care of by your company.

Lady: hands me her ID

Me: Alright and your credit card?

Lady: It's on file

Me: No... your company card is on file for room and tax only. You will need to present your own card for incidentals.

Lady: They didn't ask for one last time I was here.

Me: Okay... last time maybe the company was paying for all charges. This time you will need to present your own card.

Lady: My own card is on file! It carries over from the first time I stayed here.

Me: Well this time it didn't, so I need a card to check you in, okay?

Submitted September 18, 2017 at 02:08AM by PoisonRainbows http://ift.tt/2x5Zvgq TalesFromTheFrontDesk

The worst kind of guest: The Elite member. TalesFromTheFrontDesk

I'm currently dealing with the worst kind of guest: the "I'm an elite member so you will treat me like the royalty that I am" guest. I've dealt with them before, but not like this. This is turd on another level entirely.

Our rooms have mini-fridges in them, and sometimes they go into defrost mode. This person checks in, goes to their room, and calls me 15 minutes later absolutely LIVID about their fridge going into defrost mode. I tell them I will contact my GM about it. GM tells me to move her to a new room. Person repeatedly tells me they are a Gold status member of our points program and cannot believe we don't check the refrigerators before checking people in. They wanted me to swap refrigerators. Like, from one room to another. I told them I couldn't do that. I probably could have, but I sure as hell wasn't going to move heavy furniture around for this person.

So they come down and start acting like they're my damn parents. "So, what are we doing about this, You?" I sternly tell them I'm moving them to a new room, since they aren't happy with their current one. Oh, but this new room is not perfect either. Yes, the fridge works. But this one smells like cigarette smoke. I tell them our facility is 100% non-smoking. "Well, I think someone was pulling your leg on that one." This room is also closer to the elevator. The guest requested a room at the end of the hall, away from elevators and ice machines. "Sorry," I say, "this the only other room on this floor that is away from the elevators." They give me a strict warning, "If I get woken up during the night, I will not be a happy person!" You're not even one now I thought.

Every time the phone rings, I jump and get scared. I don't like being harassed about stuff that isn't my fault. Everything they were complaining about, I can't control. I don't know why the temperature knob is missing from the fridge. Some idiot probably stole it. Oh that's my problem too, they say. We're supposed to check our fridge knobs everyday so assholes like this one won't have room temperature soft drinks in the morning. Thank the gods they're only here one night.

UPDATE: Just told my GM about the entire situation. She just texted me and asked me what I usually drink. Oh man, I need it after dealing with this person.

Submitted September 16, 2017 at 07:10AM by kpm92 http://ift.tt/2faHpmz TalesFromTheFrontDesk

Am I in the wrong here? TalesFromTheFrontDesk

Hey TFTFD, long time lurker, first time poster. I don't work at the front desk and this is more of a rant of a hotel I'm staying at. I feel after reading many stories from the other side of the desk, maybe I could get an honest opinion and understand if I'm wrong in thinking that my service is a bit on the odd side.

My mom picked a hotel for a mini vacation, just chill at the pool for a weekend and check the mall away from home. Nothing special. She did an e-check in which apparently allows her to choose her room and give them the time we would be arriving. Now I don't particularly understand how that changes the on location check in process, but my guess is it is similar to a confirmation/heads up.

Anyway, check-in is at 3pm and we came in at 3:30 and the room wasn't ready. Odd, but we see the cleaning cart in a room so probably ours and as it turned out it was. But we ended up waiting until 4:15, an hour and 15 minutes past their posted check out times. Now reading the stories here, I'm rationalizing that maybe they are short staffed or our room checked out late.

Now, mind you, Hotel looks amazing and the staff so far have been nice. The room also looked nice, a double queen, with kitchen and whirlpool tub and shower. However, when we walked in there was bit of a chlorine smell in our room, our tv was disconnected from its box so no cable until we called them to fix it, refrigerator was leaking a bit later, one of the hand towels folded all fancy had a pizza looking stain on it and we might be idiots but we can't seem to find a button or handle on our microwave.

All minor but I think what kind of ticked me off was when me and my younger sister were in the indoor pool at night. We went in at 8, posted hours on the door said it closed at 930. The clock in the room didn't work, so I figured we would stay until we got tired or they closed it. In previous hotels, people would come in to the pool and tell anybody left like a heads up. In this case, my sister and I and two others were in the pool when the lights just turned off?! No warning and some staff came in to clean the hot tub earlier, not a peep from them. I found that dangerous because now I'm navigating a dark, slippery area with my sister who wears glasses and took them off to swim. What if somebody slipped and fell because of that? Isn't that a lawsuit waiting to happen?

All in the first day. Nothing extreme and I'm just ranting, but I'd love to hear if these are complaint worthy offenses or if I'm just over exaggerating.

Submitted September 01, 2017 at 08:40AM by lolwut22woowoo http://ift.tt/2wWlh6w TalesFromTheFrontDesk

The refrigerator in your room is NOT the same as the one you have at home. TalesFromTheFrontDesk

For some reason, guests seem to think that the refrigerators they have in their rooms will behave in the exact same way as the ones they have at home... in other words, they'll keep things SUPER ice cold. They won't. Case in point:

Guest calls down to the front desk:

Guest: "Hi! My refrigerator's not working. I put some ice in there a while ago, and now it's all melted!"

(Yes!!! This guest seriously thought his refrigerator could do that. I know of NO fridge that can. But I digress...)

Me: "Oh!(?) I'm so sorry to hear that! I do want to make you aware though, that the refrigerators we have in the rooms aren't designed the same way as at home. They're actually coolers, to keep drinks and similar items cold."

Guest: "So, you mean there's not even any electricity going into them?!"

Me: (sigh) "No sir, it's just that they don't cool in the same manner as at home. So unfortunately, it won't be able to store ice. (You can verify it is on by touching the rear on the inside). However, if you'd like, we'd be more than happy to store any ice you have in our freezer downstairs." (Or better yet, you can walk your lazy self to the ice machine RIGHT DOWN THE HALL from you)

Guest: "I've... I've never heard of this! I've stayed at all these hotels, and (I'll spare you the predictable rant)." Click!

Seriously, though?! Ice in a fridge? I, too, am sorry that our management company is so cheap to install these things (they really do suck), but... come on, man.

Submitted May 28, 2017 at 09:47PM by adam6294 http://ift.tt/2ruXqII TalesFromTheFrontDesk

the ongoing saga of the guy who yelled at me TalesFromTheFrontDesk

So you might remember that when I worked on Wednesday night I almost walked out of my job because of a very very rude guest. Several guests came to my aid to comfort me after this man berated me and called me names for what seemed like an hour over a door lock not working and us not having an engineer or manager on site at that time of the night.

I expected something negative to come out of this situation but not the negative part that I expected. I've been combing Trip Advisor and the Amelia Bedelia reviews for the last two days and nothing came up but I imagined that the guest had said something....

No it wasn't that guest. A fellow hospitality bro complained about me for multiple reasons. They didn't see the begining of the interaction with the guest where he was initially aggressive with me, instead only witnessed the end when I was crying and walking away from the guest to call for help. She said I was rude and unprofessional to that guest and then get this ratted me out for finding them a room after housekeeping screwed up and forgot to put their room back in order the night we were oversold, saying that I shouldn't have told them about the mix up, when the only reason I mentioned that I was the one who inspected their room to be sure it had been cleaned to let them know if they were unhappy with the room we'd be able to move them in the morning but it was absolutely the last 2Q we had.

Then in great detail told on me for letting them use the hot tub after hours and made it sound like I was just being lazy or whatever when they begged me to keep it open for them for another hour and I simply said they had to be out by the time my replacement came on. So that apparently was unprofessional and rude as well.

So I went out of my way to help this guest because she was staying with us for three days and she wrote a really rude email to the GM about me and then also complained that her refrigerator was unplugged and that was also might fault as well.

Granted if I was a regular room inspector I would have known that people unplug their in room fridge all the time but I've never seen anyone do it and usually the guest who does asks first and we put a note in. The room had been cleaned and housekeeping owned up to forgetting to put it back in the system.

I am so over this. Even though other guests complimented me verbally and online for how well I held it together until this guy got just DNR list worthy in his behavior towards me, someone who should actually understand how difficult it is to be alone on a sold out night shouldn't be critical of my work. Yes I could have not cried I suppose but we've all had off days and that was mine.

Whatever. Maybe I'm not cut out for this business after all.

Submitted April 16, 2017 at 06:59AM by queenofcambodia http://ift.tt/2oCBubE TalesFromTheFrontDesk

holy hell I got new shirts! new shirts! TalesFromTheFrontDesk

So in Cambodia we wear a uniform and while I don't hate mine with the passion I reserve for Expedia and group check in's, it's pretty not cute. In my town basic uni attire is the dreaded Lands End Uni button up in (blah color), black pants we buy ourselves and black shoes. I am also allowed to wear a skirt if I feel like it and sometimes I do. As long as it's black and goes below the knees.

But my shirt, even though the color isn't bad and makes my eyes pop and now I have like 90 pairs of "fun socks" that match the color scheme and 11ty five hair bows to match, my shirt is too big. You see they gave me a men's small, which should fit but its gappy and floppy and won't stay tucked in and looks sloppy if it comes untucked. Basically it's too fucking big. Both of them.

But today the uniform Gods heard the Queen's anguished cries and havin also hired a girl smaller than the Queen ordered... an extra set of XS WOMEN'S SHIRTS. I mean like button ups that are meant to make me look like less of a refrigerator box and more like I person. I won't look like I'm wearing my dad's clothes anymore.

I can't even believe I'm excited by this, but hot damn when I go back to Cambodia on Sunday, I'm gonna have a uniform that fits a queen.

edited to add I am positively shit faced right now so please ignore any glaring typos.

Submitted January 28, 2017 at 04:27PM by queenofcambodia http://ift.tt/2jp8kXJ TalesFromTheFrontDesk

2nd post tonight, things keep getting better. TalesFromTheFrontDesk

So I posted a few hours ago, and my night has just gone from shit-tastic to I may not come back after my next weekend off (I only work weekends).

-Two hockey boys running through the halls throwing buckets of ice every which way.
-Exit signs up and down the hallways have been knocked off their screws, from hockey kids running through the halls, jumping and smacking them.
-I found three dudebros in the hot tub after hours and when I asked them to leave they offered me a joint to stay in the hot tub, I declined. Then they moved as slow as humanly possible to grab towels and walk back to their rooms.
-On a random wall in a random hallway, someone had thrown an entire cup of hot chocolate into the wall, spraying at least 10 feet wide and up onto the ceiling.
-Found some pizza slices smeared into the carpet in a spot that no pizza could magically find its way to without human help.
-Fuckhead hockey peeps are STILL going on in room 123, and now they're yelling over each other about whose nanny is the worst.
-There are NO staples in this building. None. Paperwork will go unstapled.
-I've gotten 3 calls from a woman demanding to stay next Saturday for $50 when our rack rate is $295.
-I've been prank called by hockey kids at least a half dozen times about refrigerators and whether I like my muffin buttered. I've seen Mean Girls, you're not as funny.
-I can guaranfuckingtee these hockey rooms will demand a late check out for each of their rooms, I hope my morning manager says FUCK NO GTFO.

Edit to add: Mister Fuckhead Hockey dad just came down and asked if he could buy cigarettes from us. I said no sorry we don't sell cigarettes. He asked if I smoke. I said no...................I totally smoke.

I want to go home now.

Submitted January 15, 2017 at 04:43PM by sassystarfleet http://ift.tt/2jxvU5N TalesFromTheFrontDesk

Huevos? TalesFromTheFrontDesk

As I've said we recently started doing hard boiled eggs with breakfast. Yesterday the AGM picked up 15 dozen eggs, and the NA was bored and cooked all 15 dozen up.

Me and the HHK were tearing down breakfast and she said, "Mucho huevos!"

"Si," I agreed, and opened the refrigerator to show, "Mas huevos."

"Gustas huevos?"

"Si, me gusta." I chuckled in my head because of the rage face.

Then she said something about 'these eggs or those eggs.' (in Spanish) My Spanish is terrible at best, so I couldn't understand what she was trying to stay. She repeated it several times before she finally said, "Hombre huevos!"

She was asking me if I like balls! XD

Jokingly, obviously. She caught me completely off guard.

For the record, no I don't like those kind of huevos.

Submitted December 03, 2016 at 09:02PM by mstarrbrannigan http://ift.tt/2glnYTe TalesFromTheFrontDesk

My GM is the ultimate unicorn. No, not even that, she is like.... the grandmaster of the unicorns. TalesFromTheFrontDesk

So I departed Miami today at like around 9 AM or so and arrived at my parents house at like 1:30 PM, quickly took my shower and got ready for work. Left the house at around 2 PM or so after spending a few mins with the fam and then arrive at my hotel 10 minutes early.

I find out we have a decent amount of arrivals, nothing the DankNissan can't handle and then I start printing out my paper work.

My amazing GM emerges from her office to greet me and of course I ask her how her day went and what she was up to.

She tells me what she wants to tell me then asks me what I have been up to and tell her how I just came back and am "starting my day."

There was some filler conversation that followed that and when it was time for her to leave she told me to check the kitchen refrigerator when I had some time...

So I just found some time and my only reaction is hashtag blessed

http://ift.tt/2ftVXrp

I finally got a smart phone too, hence the not crappy picture :D

I am going to miss these guys so much :(

Submitted November 25, 2016 at 06:08AM by danknissan http://ift.tt/2g9YfxE TalesFromTheFrontDesk

Im a complete idiot... TalesFromTheFrontDesk

NA here. High end extended stay property...

So I was checking to make sure all the exits were locked about an hour ago and managed to grab an out of date HK key to check, which I found out at about the same time as I confirmed that the first door was locked! The good news: second shift remembered to lock all the doors! The bad news? second shift remembered to lock all the doors! Oh, and we had a family of four trying to check in!

I could only get ahold of the FDM and she suggested that I see if the window to one of our out of order rooms is locked.... it's not! It is however stacked 3 rows deep with like refrigerator boxes (yay!) and there is no way in hell I'm going to be all to squeeze my ass through the space between the windowsill and the first row of boxes. So in the end I got my boyfriend to come out and crawl in to let me in one of the exits. When the family came back to check in I gave them a few gift cards (and appoligized/self depricatingly joked about locking myself out) and they seemed unbelievably cool about it.

I still feel like an idiot though.

6 years in the industry and this is the first time I've locked myself out...

Edit: damn you autocorrect

Submitted October 03, 2016 at 10:50AM by _Affexion_ http://ift.tt/2doFYvI TalesFromTheFrontDesk

You my fellow traveler are not a special snowflake. TalesFromTheFrontDesk

I know a few travelers frequent this page. So allow me to share some knowledge with you to pass on. You are not special. Lets break this down.

1. Just because you are part of a convention, or have a special corporate rate does not mean I can get that rate. Hotels sell out. Or get too low on rooms to warrant giving out cheap rates. Conventions get booked up. He who hesitates is lost. Modern parlance; you snooze you lose dufus.

2. But I have platinum, diamond, elite status. You my friend are just a salesperson who has racked up a bunch of travel miles. You are not the president. You are not the pope. You aren't that special. When you get a room when the property is sold out, that means some poor schmuck gets walked(booted out of a room) just to accommodate your sorry butt. The hotel has to pay for that guests stay elsewhere. The hotel can only do that for so long before they lose money. And then they stop. See above note about snoozing and loosing.

3. I have a strict diet because of my religion/I am breastfeeding. I must have a refrigerator in my room. Sorry stupid. Just because you belong to some cult(I am an atheist, everything is a cult to me) or because your body happens to be leaking, does not give you the right to get a fridge. There are these folks that have diabetes. And a need to store the medication. Are you aware there are certain heart and cancer medications that must be refrigerated. So call the concierge. They can hook you up with a deli that delivers. Breastfeeding. You booked a hotel room. A private room. So take the brat up to your private room and let them drink right from the tap.

4. You aren't fooling anyone buddy. A howler monkey is not a service animal. Or a spider, or miniature horse, or fish, or bear. Stick that thing in a kennel.

5. I found a bug in my room. There was a hair on the toilet. The window will not open. I must get an upgrade to the presidential suite. Yeah and I need a $20 an hour raise. Just shut up.

6. You're sold out! Just give me one of those handicapped rooms. Yeah some hotels will book an able body into an accessible room just for the money/to shut you up. Just so you know though, you just suck. Do not meet me in a dark alley. You'll need that room afterwords if we do. Now get out of my face. I have to go teach kindergarten.

7. The hotel is sold out! But I'm a regular guest! Listen dummy that still does not change that a hotel can be sold out. But how can you be sold out? How? Really? Its simple. There are people in all the rooms! If you want a room, here is what you do. Pick a door. Kick it in. Then kick out the occupants. Soon some men in uniforms will come by. They will escort you to a new room. With bars. But hey free room and board with free food. And if you're lucky, a roommate who thinks you have a "purdy mouth."

8. Your rates are too high! Why last year I only payed blah, blah, blah. Rates change at hotels. Its called a market economy. You want to haggle? This isn't a market square. And no dammit I will not give you a room in exchange for a goat. You want a room for $89 dollars? Check the local motel. You know where all the hookers and drug dealers hang out.

In short to all the travelers: Have a backup plan, be prepared to spend some money some times, and this should go with out saying, do not be a pain in the ass. We will do what we can to the utmost, within reason.

Submitted September 23, 2016 at 04:16AM by BROCKTUNGSTON http://ift.tt/2cVuwrg TalesFromTheFrontDesk

I love my hotel and hotel brand. TalesFromTheFrontDesk

So this is going to be more of a story that is about me rather than a guest. Basically - I've been working at a chain under the Big Red M hotel brand for nearly 4 years now. I work at the one that caters to extended stays and allows pets ;)

This hotel I work at is 4 hours away from my college, but I come back and work every weekend because this hotel means a lot to me and it is hard for me to quit, plus the drives are entertaining and I choose a different route to take to spice it up. (I'm looking for part time work in my area too, but for now it's okay)

But see, this year I was going to stay in an apartment rather than dorm - however there were some major complications with the closing and it was just a train wreck so I'm stuck in Miami with no where to sleep but then it came to my mind.

The Big Red M offers employee discounts and boy did they save my life. I stayed in the same brand that I work for one night which I gotta say, it's the best value for the buck. Fully equipped kitchens, beautiful room, full refrigerator, microwave, free popcorn - I love the brand I work for. "We are the leading extended stay hotel, fun talented and in it to win it!!!" Then I stayed in two more properties for the week and it was just spectacular too, like I don't get why guests always complain about their rooms.

Plus I hope I was able to make the housekeepers days, I stripped the room, left a tip at each hotel I stayed in, put some lollipops :D

I'm gonna have to do this this week as well since the guys are saying one more week for the closing to be good, but I just love my brand and everyone that works for it.

Submitted August 28, 2016 at 06:17AM by danknissan http://ift.tt/2bqeSVk TalesFromTheFrontDesk

More asshats than usual today. TalesFromTheFrontDesk

Now I'm not sure if it just seems that way because I've been working a solo 2-10 with over 40 arrivals, but I am already over it with 3 hours left.

First guest I checked in was a seemingly nice older couple, 2nd highest elite member status. They were in a standard and were upgraded to a Jacuzzi suite. 15 minutes after they check in, I get a call down to the desk:

Guest: "Hi, uh, I thought we were given a suite."

Me: "Yes ma'am, that is our Jacuzzi suite."

Guest: Well, I thought we had a room with a sofa and chair. This desk chair is too stiff." (The original room they booked didn't have a sofa either, so I have no idea why they were so upset with not having one.)

Me: "Oh, well I'm sorry to hear that. As of right now, I don't have another room to move you to, but I can bring you a different desk chair that isn't a stiff."

Guest: "Well, this is unacceptable. I was told I would be getting a suite."

Me: "I understand that, and you did get a suite. However, if you give me some time I can see what I can do."

I ended up moving her to a room across the hall with two TVs, a living room with sofa, a desk chair, and an additional straight-back chair. They complained that their refrigerator and freezer was too small, so we ended up putting their food into our staff fridge.

20 minutes later an airline crew member comes to the desk.

CM: "My key isn't working, Rm 524."

Me: checks the shuttle sheet "Oh I see, you're leaving later this evening. The key probably just timed out."

CM: "But it shouldn't since I'm leaving this evening."

Me: "I understand that, they just automatically time out after noon."

CM: super snootily "Well it SHOULDN'T because I'm leaving later THIS EVENING."

Granted, we try and key the keys for two nights for the late check-outs, but c'mon. Human error; we're keying at least 30 crew keys in a row. Shit happens.

Submitted August 27, 2016 at 05:08AM by NoTellHotel http://ift.tt/2bELqLM TalesFromTheFrontDesk

Zen and the Art of Hotel Maintenance TalesFromTheFrontDesk

A loud group is fine. They are having a good time, they provide cards that authorize, and they haven't yelled at anyone on the staff.

Failing air conditioners are fine. It is good practice for our backup engineer in training and we have just enough rooms to move the more vocal guests.

A broken refrigerator in the kitchen is no big deal. We have a couple of others and everything was moved with sufficient haste. Repairs are high priority and it exposed another issue which could have been far more catastrophic if it had gone unchecked.

A guest who rages at my co-worker and manages to push corporate customer service so hard that the corporate customer service rep admits to me that this lady is off the deep end? This is fine too, as I manage to calm her down within moments.

Until she calls corporate back ten minutes later requesting a room move.

Yeah... I'm not sure whether this is profound lack of understanding how to communicate or an intentional avoidance of said co-worker on the basis of being very not the same skin color, but I'm done with the zen. Go to sleep, walk out of here tomorrow morning, and please do us the favor of not staying in hotels in the future.

Now if you will excuse me, I have to be unconscious for a few hours and re-attain enlightenment in the shower before work.

Submitted June 13, 2016 at 05:43PM by 4432A http://ift.tt/1YlvfE2 TalesFromTheFrontDesk

I can't figure out how to use the in room amenities, so it must be defective. Change my room now. TalesFromTheFrontDesk

This is something my friend texted me today. She isn't a redditor so figured I'd share with you all.

RL (rude lady): comes to front desk I want to change my room.

FD: I'm sorry ma'am, but what happened?

RL: the room is horrible. The refrigerator doesn't work, the shower doesn't work. Nothing works!!

FD: knew that both fridge and shower work I'm sorry about that ma'am. Would you like me to show you how the refrigerator and shower work?

RL: No. I know, but it's too hard for me. I can't stay in that room. Change my room or else I'll go somewhere else

FD: nicely Okay, no problem. I apologize for the experience. What I can do is move you to another room. Would an upstairs room be fine?

RL: Yes!!

RLH (Rude Lady's Husband): angry yesterday night, someone broke my car'e front lights. If they will happen again, I will call the police. They will come her and do an inquiry.

FD: oh I'm sorry about that sir. But of course, you should call the police.

That's all she sent me. I'm working tomorrow so I'll update you regarding the car incident. Not sure why she didn't verify that the front lights were broken, but that's something I'll bring up if this comes to me.

Submitted June 06, 2016 at 07:17AM by Shyam09 http://ift.tt/1U88KAY TalesFromTheFrontDesk

This lady must be truly miserable TalesFromTheFrontDesk

This weekend I experienced my first truly horrible guest.

I'm new to the front desk, just four weeks in. But I do come from a customer service background so dealing with gaping dickholes is something I'm familiar with. Also relevant, it's an older property, two floors, no elevators.

Anywho...

We had this lady, that I shall call Bitch for reasons. She is friends with our front desk manager and rents five rooms for one week every Memorial Day week.

The first couple of days, she seems ok. Made some small talk with her in the lobby. On Saturday she waddles up to the desk while my coworker A and I are checking in a line of guests. I ask her how I can help her.

Bitch: There are ants in my bathroom!

Me: I'm so sorry! I'll move you to a new room right now!

Bitch: the room across the hall from mine is empty, can you put me there? I want to be near the rest of my party.

Me: I'll see what I can do.

I consult my computer because I know the first floor is nearly full and only half the rooms have mini-fridges. Since she will be here a few more days, I assume she will want a fridge. I discover the room she requested is in fact available but doesn't have a fridge. The next closest room with one is right up the nearby stairwell and has a full sized refrigerator.

Me: I can move you across the hall, but that room has no refrigerator. The closest room with a fridge is just upstairs.

Bitch: That's fine.

Me: If you'd like to head down and begin packing up, I'll get your keys and help you bring your bags upstairs.

I should note, carrying bags in absolutely not in my job description. I offered to do it because I'm nice, and seemed like the least I could do since she had to change room through no fault of her own.

I make the keys and she's still at the desk.

Bitch: I don't want to walk up the stairs. Just give me the room across the hall and I share the fridge in my mother's room.

I make her keys, offer again to help her move, she declines, all is well. A thoroughly civil exchange.

The following day, I come in to work and Coworker A tells me that Bitch came down after I left to complain about me. I was "rude" and "refused to give [her] a room with a fridge". So, a great start to my day.

A few hours later...

A band checks in with a big tour bus. Bus driver man politely inquires if we have a hose and spigot and if he can use it to wash his bus. Coworker A consults the GM who happens to be there on a Sunday. GM give him the go ahead and directs him to the hose. The bus had been parked for less than 15 minutes when Bitch waddles back to the desk in a red-faced rage.

Bitch: This is outrageous! You allowed that bus to park across eight spaces! That is incredibly inconsiderate!

Me: They asked if they could wash their bus, ma'am. They won't be parked there long.

Bitch: What is a handicapped or elderly person supposed to do!? This is inconsiderate! How can YOU let THEM do THIS!

Me: They aren't parked in a handicapped zone ma'am, and they won't be there long.

Coworker A then rocks up as my back up.

Coworker A: Ma'am, we have five doors, each with handicapped parking. They are paying guests and have just as much right to those spaces as anyone else.

Bitch: Well I never! This is inconsiderate! I've never seen anything like this at any hotel! Blah, blah, blah (Yelling down the hall as she waddles back to her room)

We immediately tell the GM, even though he heard the whole thing from his office.

GM: Ah... The lady who complained about the fridge. She's a friend of (FDM) and she stays here every year. She just likes to complain.

About thirty minutes later, Bitch's sister waddles down and demands our GM.

Bitch's sister: That bus is blocking my view in the parking lot! If I get clipped by another car I will sue YOU. We already complained to the girls at the desk and they were rude and ignored us. And I can see [coworkerA] giving me a dirty look right now.

(Coworker A wasn't giving her a dirty look, but she sure as shit did after Bitch's sister said that. )

GM walks Bitch's sister back down the hall to her room, explaining that the bus driver will move as soon as he's finished.

Yesterday:

I arrive for my first shift all by myself, dreading having to deal with Bitch running her suck-muscle at me with no backup/witnesses.

I relieve Coworker B, a sweet 19 year old girl. He first words to me, "That Bitch checked out."

Apparently she left but not before:

Complaining once again that I was rude.

Complaining Coworker A was rude.

Demanding a discount for not having a fridge. (There is no price difference, plus she already had a discounted rate and a free night)

Screaming at Coworker B making her cry.

Demanding the GM Fire all three of us.

It was a busy Memorial Day weekend and literally every other guest was on the spectrum between polite to delightful. She and her party were the only blemish on a smooth, almost enjoyable holiday weekend.

I wonder how miserably awful her life must be that making a 19 year old girl cry or trying to get people fired brings her joy. What a sad Bitch.

Submitted May 31, 2016 at 05:12PM by RiverSong42 http://ift.tt/1TTPdTB TalesFromTheFrontDesk

Absolutely Ridiculous Demands in by 7:15am today. TalesFromTheFrontDesk

We have a guest who checked in yesterday for 9 days. Get a load of her current demands:

No chemical use anywhere on property. If she sees a housekeeper spraying and wiping something down, she clutches her face and runs behind the front desk, asking us to have the housekeeper stop because she is HIGHLY ALLERGIC to chemicals and they mustn't be used anywhere here during her stay. (And if a pregnant housekeeper is seen spraying chemicals, she will consider calling CPS)

No smoking within one mile of the property. We are a non-smoking property and there is one smoking area on the opposite end of the building from her room - outside, away from entrances, in accordance with law. She called this morning to say there is someone who chain smokes out there and that we need to stop them, and affix No Smoking signs to her windows, since smoke goes through closed windows (she has investigated this) and she is highly allergic.

2 cases of Pure Leaf to be kept in our own refrigerator and then delivered by 2 bottles per day to her in-room fridge while housekeeping cleans.

Assistance folding and putting her clothes away when she unpacked, and in the future when she does laundry. She has fibromyalgia and so we must send a housekeeper to help her with these tasks.

1 cup of prune juice delivered by our breakfast staff each morning, in a polished 12oz glass.

2 extra large trash cans placed in the room and emptied twice daily.

Extra shelving units installed in the bathroom and both bedrooms of the suite.

In-person technical support available to her 24/7 to correct her computer issues (turns out her laptop is very old and the problem is the computer itself, not our wi-fi or internet connection at all).

She asked my GM personally to fetch a half-empty bottle of water from her car after she checked in because she couldn't carry it. And the GM was the only person fit for that job.

Oh, and we're select service.

Please help me.

Submitted May 19, 2016 at 07:23PM by honeytaps http://ift.tt/1sBztMs TalesFromTheFrontDesk

Prom weekend (AKA Kill me please) TalesFromTheFrontDesk

It's that time of year again where apathetic parents rent rooms for their teenagers to party in after prom or graduation. I don't understand the mentality but I know most of us have to deal with this BS from time to time. I would now like to share my tale from this past weekend...

I arrived Sunday morning to a lengthy report from my audit. Seems one of these groups decided they could have appox 20 in the room and party like it was 1999 (R.I.P Prince). After a noise complaint my auditor went to investigate and you can imagine the chaos she encountered with that many teens in a room meant for 4. After speaking with them and realizing just how bad it was she decided to call the GM. She is only a couple months into the hotel business so this was her first experience with this particular level of douchbaggery. Being as such my GM told her to go ahead and call the local police to have them evicted and he went to the hotel as well. Once my GM arrived and helped get everyone escorted off property he assessed a $150 fee to the room for smoking (normally $250). I'm listening to all this from my auditor and soaking it all in. I'm trying to comfort her and let her know that for us this is the exception, not the rule since we rarely have nights this crazy. In my two years I have only evicted three rooms for the same behavior.

I did get a call about midday from the mom asking about the extra $150 charged to her card. I explained it as well as I could but she was unable to grasp the concept so I passed her off to the GM's voicemail.

Later in the afternoon my Executive Housekeeper decides to feed her staff and orders pizza. As they are finishing up she brings out this cake from the Walmart Bakery. She said it was found in one of the refrigerators and was still sealed. You guessed it party room left their cake.

In summation; we evicted a room, charged the card on file an extra $150, and ate their fucking cake. That's just how we roll...

Party on!

Submitted April 26, 2016 at 05:59AM by badjuju91 http://ift.tt/1rdRTSr TalesFromTheFrontDesk