Angel Lam Ko (aka Facebooks Hugot Hotelier) has been working in the hotel industry ever since graduating from UP-Asian Institute of Tourism back in 2007.
Let’s hear her thoughts on why hoteliers make the best life partners.
10 Reasons Why Hoteliers Make the Best Life Partners
Here are just a few of the remarkable traits that would make any hotelier an absolutely wonderful person to have around, most especially as a life partner.
1. Hoteliers are always well-groomed and presentable to the general public.
Hoteliers are so used to “grooming checks” that taking care of their looks becomes second nature to them. They can put their hair up in a neat French twist in 10 seconds and have the uncanny ability to scarf down a 5-course meal without messing up their lipstick. Male hoteliers will hardly ever be seen with a scruffy beard or overgrown hair. Since taking care of themselves already comes so naturally, you can be sure they will always be immaculately groomed when you go out. Whether on a simple pizza and movie night, or as a date in a classy wedding, you can be sure you’ll have a date you can be proud to show off.
2. Hoteliers are GREAT listeners.
The hotel industry, or the service industry in general, makes for an excellent training ground on being a great listener. Hoteliers will not interrupt you when you’re talking, they are trained to fight the “rebuttal instinct” (thinking of what they will say in response to you while you are still talking) and know how to read your underlying emotions through your non-verbal signals.
When you enter the door with your brows furrowed and shoulders slumped, they can already tell something is up. When you want someone to talk to or prefer to be left alone, they will know the difference and give you whatever it is you need at the moment. This is a result of dealing with hundreds of irate guests on a regular basis. Hoteliers know the value of making you feel HEARD and UNDERSTOOD, even when they don’t always agree.
3. Hoteliers are excellent conversationalists.
Talking to a wide variety of people on a daily basis makes hoteliers experts at holding meaningful and insightful conversations. They are trained to be very keen on picking up clues on a person’s interests and preferences, and know by instinct whether to push for conversation or to back off. And since every day is a different amusing day in the hotel world, you can be sure to look forward to hearing interesting stories at the end of the day.
4. Hoteliers know to not just SATISFY but to DELIGHT.
With the onslaught of so many hotels these days vying for the attention of each discerning customer, hoteliers have been trained to always look for little golden windows of opportunities to make a guest’s day extra special. It is never enough to merely satisfy basic expectations but it is always the thrill of coming up with a memorable and personalized gesture that guests would be telling their friends for years to come. This “extra mile” culture definitely transcends to hoteliers’ lives outside the workplace. You can expect to always be on the receiving end of little thoughtful surprises and unexpected extra touching gestures that would make you feel like a Very, Very, Very Important Person.
5. Hoteliers know how to apologize and make up for their mistakes.
In a world that is imperfect and complicated, it is only natural that mistakes and complaints are constant realities in the lives of hoteliers. Good thing is that they know how to handle it when things go south. Hoteliers have no problem with saying “sorry,” and can do it in the most sincere way you can imagine. But not just that, they also know that it does not end with a verbal apology, but that what’s more important is what they do about it. They fix the problem and, as hoteliers do, provide a little extra oomph to make sure you know how much they want to regain your trust.
6. Hoteliers are the epitome of “grace under pressure.
“When it comes to moments of crisis, you can always count on a hotelier to remain cool, calm and collected. With so many things that can go wrong in a hotel on a daily basis, they are already so used to rolling with the punches. They remain unfrazzled and in control, while doing anything in their power to manage the crisis. This can come in handy when you deal with life’s many surprises and roadblocks together. It’s always nice to have someone beside you who can handle any situation with grace and levelheadedness.
7. Hoteliers have connections.
OK, this one may seem a bit superficial but it is definitely a perk of being with a hotelier. They have access to many luxuries that people usually have to pay big money for: concert tickets, museum passes, tours, events, conventions, kids activities. You name it, the right hotelier can usually make it happen. They have access to discounted employee rates for hotels and restaurants, so you have the privilege to experience luxury at a fraction of the normal cost.
8. Hoteliers can take care of you.
Hoteliers take care of so many guests on a daily basis, that it becomes natural for them to be tuned in to other people’s needs. If they can do it for strangers, what more for someone they truly love and care for (YOU)? Imagine how loving, caring and nurturing they could be. When you have had a bad day, expect them to be ready by your side with a cup of coffee, a listening ear and a back massage to relieve your stress. When you are sick, chicken soup, ginger tea or a nice Congee will be an automatic response, in their desire to take care of you and make you feel instantly better. And the best part is, they wouldn’t even notice or think much of it since it already comes so naturally for them to take care of you. All you need to do is be appreciative of them and also take care of them the best way you can.
9. Hoteliers try to make the impossible possible.
With the amount of unusual and sometimes crazy requests hoteliers receive from guests on a regular basis, they have come to learn that “impossible” requests just take a little bit longer to accomplish. It’s all a matter of knowing where to look, who to ask and what resources to use. You mention a hard-to-find watch you can’t find anywhere? Don’t be surprised if you receive it nicely gift-wrapped on your birthday. Tickets sold out for the basketball finals? Surprise, she knows someone who knows someone who has connections.
10. Hoteliers approach life with a good dose of positivity and sense of humor.
Working in the service industry is oftentimes a thankless job, and can drain the life out of a person if they are not careful. All the guests screaming in their faces for problems they have no idea about, the standing in high heels for at least eight hours, the shift extensions, the back-to-back schedules, working on holidays and weekends, the “jurassic” rooms to clean and all the rude guests they are forced to be polite to — all these things piled up can be enough to drive a person crazy.
Hoteliers have learned that the best way to deal with all the stresses of the hospitality industry is simply to laugh it off with their colleagues. They have the uncanny ability to find even the smallest morsel of amusement in the most hopeless and depressing of situations, and it is not uncommon to find them laughing while crying at the same time (yes, hoteliers are a bit crazy like that). They have come to accept that life will sometimes throw unpleasant things (and people) their way, but ultimately, it is still their choice how they let it affect them. Hoteliers have learned to fight off the bad vibes with laughter, and can expertly “shake it off” faster than Taylor Swift.
After all, problems come and go, guests check in and out, but the strength, care, positivity, resilience and fighting spirit of a true-blue hotelier? That is a constant. That is something you can count on for years to come. It will see you through problems, fights and issues. It will pull you closer in times of trouble. It will make you smile when life seems hopeless. Choose a hotelier as your lifetime partner, and think back to this article in a few years. You’ll take a look at your amazing hotelier and thank your lucky stars that you got it right.
Other Articles, similar to this, you may wish to read:-
Guest Complaints: Sometimes you have to see the funny side!
Live Life to the fullest: Age is just a number
Angel Lam Ko started her now famous Facebook Page Hugot Hotelier as an outlet for witty posts, observations and meme’s about the Hospitality Industry:
“I didn’t want to flood the timelines of my fb contacts especially those who are not hoteliers and may not be able to relate. I’ve always liked to post “hugot lines” and funny memes relating to the industry, the weather, the traffic, etc. mainly because I believe we can always approach any negative situation with a sense of humor, instead of griping about it and spreading bad vibes.
As a manager, that was how I also handled my team especially during toxic moments. I just find that laughing about it with your colleagues lightens the load significantly.
Hugot Hotelier just expanded the “colleagues” part to a super huge, and fun, group of people sharing the same sentiments,and taking comfort in the fact that we are not alone in this hotel craziness.
Hugot Hotelier has over 18,000 followers to date and has the funniest memes that have hoteliers laughing, relating, sharing and discussing.
