You know you work at a hotel when.... You have to change the toilet paper roll every place you go so it faces the right way with the toilet paper coming down from the front of the roll. The way the housekeepers are trained to do it. If your friends and family notice their toilet paper facing a different direction well now they know. Guests dont understand why you cant book them a pet-friendly 3 room suite with a full kitchen, outdoor hot tub, personal butler, helicopter landing pad, stretch limousine, with a 7 course dinner delivered by room service on a property with 10 tennis courts, 3 Olympic sized pools, and overlooking the ocean on a private balcony with a rate of $299 per night. You are biggest critic when it comes to customer service. You go out of you way to let individuals know that they gave you great service. You use the words amenities, upgrades, and hospitality a lot. You cringe when someone calls a nice inn or hotel a motel. You have to keep repeating to guests that want a specific room number, we cannot guarantee it but we always try to accommodate requests as best as we can. If the hotel does pre-block rooms at the time of the reservation then God forbid a situation, like a maintenance issue, happens and the guest doesnt get their room. The guests still expect the room number they want even after been told repeatedly that it cannot be guaranteed. You hate wedding groups with a passion. They give business, yes, but after the 20 rooms they blocked, they end up only using 8. And dont even get us started with bridezilla...and her mom. Blocks of rooms set aside (groups) can be a real mess when not organized properly. Youre PMS (property management system....hotel computer program) can be a real pain. You start judging the hotel the moment you pull up into the parking lot. You automatically start making a list to yourself of all the improvements the hotel could use. You yell at the TV when watching Hotel Impossible. You dont understand why the hotel owners and managers dont realize how easy it is to improve their hotel. You picture yourself in their situation and all the revenue you would earn after fixing up the property and firing half the staff. You know what ADR, RevPar, Budgets, QA, P&L and Yielding means. If you dont then youre probably not a manager or your owner doesnt disclose the information with you. If you do not have access to those numbers as a manager then you wonder how the hell the owner expects you to run the hotel blindly. You either hate or love the term, Revenue Management deepening on how it is used. The term hitting/making budget means all the world to you. If you work for a brand such as Marriott or Best Western then you more thank likely hate brand standards but love the customer loyalty. You daydream what it would be like to drop the brand flag depending on the brand youre working for. You do not use the glass cups in the room. Youve seen the YouTube video. You visit at least one review website like Trip Advisor before making an online reservation to read customer feedback. You mentally make a note of the recurring pros and cons and compare it to other hotels. Cheap motels might as well be camping on the ground compared to the standards youre used to. . Youre first impression is the hotels website (or reviews if the hotel is part of a brand and doesnt have an independent website.) You asses the ease of booking on the website and how the information is displayed. You hate...errr....strongly dislike third-party booking engines such as Expedia since guests continually get incorrect information from these companies and the hotel has to deal with the complaints. The business is good when the hotel isnt as busy, though, and it attracts loyal customers of those companies. You feel guilty when you use a third-party booking company because its cheaper than booking directly with the hotel. You know what rate parody means. So having to use a third-party booking engine bothers you. You check multiple websites to find the best rate before calling the hotel directly and asking for an industry discount. If the reservation department cant help you then you might ask to speak to a manager to get a good rate. You may have been trained not to use the word, booked as it is an industry term. Another reason to feel guilty when you use it. You silently complain how horrible the reservation agents are. Or you smile in appreciation that some people still have professional phone skills. The first thing you do when checking into your room at hotel is remove the comforter, throw pillows, bolsters, and bed scarves and throw them far away from the bed. The second thing you do is pull up part of the mattress and inspect for BBs (what we call bed bugs.) Saying the words bed bugs in the hotel just feels dirty. You know that bed bugs dont determine the cleanliness of a hotel and transient guests from other countries are more likely to bring them. Your staff has been trained to thoroughly check for them but they can still happen. And it is your worst nightmare. You will go back to a hotel just because of the fantastic breakfast spread they had. A good breakfast can make a world of a difference. You know this and wish you could offer the same breakfast to your guests. Guests will never be satisfied with a hotels breakfast even if it has every breakfast item there is. Maybe their arent gluten-free muffins, Activa yogurt, or almond milk. You get upset when hotels are still using Styrofoam cups and plate-ware. You jump up in joy when you see biodegradable items. Even plastic seems outdated these days. Yet you know the cost mark up on products and know that there may be corporate managers that dont want to or cant afford to buy the green items. You dont understand why people do not call to confirm they actually do have a pet-friendly room. Just because a hotel says their pet-friendly doesnt mean that every room is a pet room. Unless it says pet-friendly on the room you booked. Be fair to you animals family members! You might have to find another hotel if the room you booked isnt a pet room. Remember, other guests might have allergies. Your corporate guests expect to get their $89 rate during the busiest time of the year even after stating in their contract that their rate isnt always available. They clearly state to you that they are loyal customers and deserve the rate. Sometimes they even threat to take their business elsewhere. You bite your lip when you know theyre stay isnt for business and theyre bringing their entire family on vacation. You get excited when hotels use natural and eco-friendly bath products. You make sure to take the left-overs home with you. Unexpected amenities such as make-up remover wipes or mouthwash make you really happy. Then you wonder if these items are now expected and if you should provide them at your hotel. You hope the wireless internet doesnt fail you since you know first-hand the issues that servers can have. Trip Advisor and other review websites are either your friend or enemy based on the review. You admire the unique offerings that other hotels have and try to bring the ideas back to your hotel and implement them there. You know the rates are high but understand supply and demand. You pray to God that housekeeping with have all the rooms clean by check-in time. And last but certainly not least, you HATE it when guests complain and you cant do anything about. Youre just waiting any day for that bad review.
Posted on: Tue, 27 May 2014 07:38:45 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015