Hospitality

I love being in the Hospitality Industry.  I really do.  I love meeting new people, I love helping people and I love that every day is different -- it's not a typical 9 to 5 job.

When you work at a hotel, you see all types of people -- you see families traveling on vacation, you see people who rarely travel and have no idea how to handle reservations, you see professional men and women who travel for a living and barely make a blip on the radar.  They pack lightly, they check in early evening and are usually gone by breakfast.  They don't ask for much and don't require much hand-holding.  I did, however, have a client at a previous property who insisted she be personally walked to her guest room no matter what time she checked in (4 AM or 4 PM).  She also had other issues which we commonly refer to as Power Tripping.  Power Trippers like to use phrases such as "do you know how much my company spends here a year??" or "do you know who I am??"   Female Power Trippers are the worst.  Female guests are horribly nasty to female front desk associates.

Then, there are the people that are not nice no matter the situation.  Even if that situation is a result of their own actions or inability to prepare properly.  Today I had a client walk into the Sales Office at 8 AM and ask if she there was somewhere she could charge her phone.  Of course!  So I directed her to the Business Center which has a row outlets.  Turns out she didn't have the actual charger.  I then directed her to the Front Desk to see if we had any iPhone 5 chargers in the lost and found box.  We did not.  She carried on like a crazy lady and "could not believe that this hotel does not have spare iPhone 5 chargers."  Seriously?  It's a hotel.  Not an Apple store (which, by the way, is across the street at the mall.  Within walking distance).  She then went on to say that it is now 8:15 AM and the shuttle service was supposed to take her to the local office at 8 AM.  Which shuttle service?  Our van here at the hotel or an outside company?  She said it was the same company that dropped her off last night.  Okkkaaaaayyyy???  I offered to contact the shuttle service for her and find out where they were.  She did not know what the name of the shuttle company was, she did not know where she was going for her morning meeting and when I offered to call her contact at her local office, she did not even have a name.  When I asked her for her name, turns out she was a doctor of some type.  Seriously lady?  Who dresses you in the morning?