There are so much great hotel hacks that even the tips and tricks section just can’t be summarized in one article. You saw the hygiene post? This one originally was twice and even longer. for this part I’ll talk about reception and give you some of the funniest stuff some hotel employees shared online.
Reception
- First and foremost – don’t be rude – be nice to your receptionist and they’ll be happy to help you. Be rude and they have the power to revenge.
- Many things such as fans, heaters and even bathrobes might be something stored in one place in the hotel, if you need something you should ask for it, it’s not always in every room. Also, they might have much more things than you’d expect: free toothbrushes, sewing kit, deodorant, first aid kits, bottle opener (check the bar if they don’t have one, but remember that you might get “the look” because you drink your own beer ), slippers and rubber ducks. They have also phone charges from people that forgot theirs, but don’t lie that you’ve lost your last time you been there – just ask for one.
- If there is a problem with your reservation or room, tell the front desk! Most of them are happy to try and get it fixed for you. If you are upset about something in your room, remain calm and inform the proper people – don’t run to the comment section of the booking site you’ve used, before you’ll give the hotel the chance to fix it, and maybe even compensate you.
- Giving the Front Desk clerk a tip or bringing them some chocolate goes a long way towards having a nice room – There is a whole discussion about it – most frequent travelers says that slipping a $20 works most of the time, but remember – sometimes the $20 is more than just booking a better room in the first place.
- Speaking of nice rooms – don’t ask me for an upgrade when other guests are within earshot – you have slim to none chance getting something.
- If a room is too expensive, ask politely if they can give you a deal. An empty room earns a hotel no money. If knocking $20-50 off a room to make a sale gets a body in there, it’s more than nothing. If the place isn’t expecting a full house they will often make deals. (This works best closer to the date of the reservation. A place won’t make deals 3 months in advance, but might 3 days if it looks like they’ll be empty. Don’t forget that some hotels have overbooking policies ( meaning they overbook on purpose counting on no-shows, but if more than expected guest are in fact showing, the late you check-in, the bigger the chance for you to be moved to a near by hotel for the night ).
- Before going into town ( especially with kids ), ask the front desk whether they have any discount for guests. They might have discounts for popular attractions, night clubs, restoraunts and bars and other location commonly visited by tourists.
Anecdotes
Check the seals on the things in the minibar. I once had a guest who had drunk the whiskey and then peed in the bottle, closed it, and put it back. I’ve also seen candy three month past the exp date.
I worked for the ritz carlton for a few years. In my orientation, the HR rep told everyone that each employee has a special allowance of $1,500 to make sure they can help the guests feel like their stay would be memorable. There was a story about a guest who lost his Rolex and asked the front desk if they had seen it or one of the maids took it and complained a lot. When the guest finally left, the guy from the front desk went out and purchased the guest a new rolex and was reimbursed fully by the ritz. The guest was extra happy and is now returning to the same property every year. So, every Ritz Carlton employee in the U.S. has a $1,500 account for guests if needed. Not many people know that.
There’s a pet fee at our hotel. There’s also a ‘dogs and cats only’ policy. During rodeo season a man actually tried to smuggle his horse into his room because he thought it would get lonely outside. The horse clearly did not want to come inside, given the amount of noise it was making.
I was a valet supervisor at a popular Marriott in south Texas. Valet’s are as bad as you think. The pay is minimum wage plus tips but people rarely tip when they are forced to valet (no parking lot on site). So anyway these young 18-25 year olds rip off change, CD’s, sunglasses, ipods, gift cards, ipads, & anything else of value left behind because they company has a disclaimer that says they don’t cover lost property like this. So basically they say its your fault.
Main photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/grandvelasrivieramaya/3654789855
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