When you work in a hotel of course you are going to experience a range of shocking hotelier moments. It could be because of a mistake you have made or from what you witness from some of the guests.
Sometimes the shock is purely from the emotions that you feel just from doing your job.
Here’s a top 20 list.
But I’m not going to tell you which are mine and which are stories my friends have told me. But I may have mentioned some on my Facebook page.
Let’s start with the BIGGEST, the most feared moment!
The BIGGEST of the Shocking Hotelier Moments is…. The dropping feeling in the pit of your stomach when you try to get a credit card authorization for 10,000php but end up punching in 100,000php… And it goes through!
The feeling you get when an already irate guest is in a hurry … and your computer decides to freeze mid-transaction.
One of the most common but still shocking hotelier moments is when you knock on the guestroom door several times. And then when there is no answer you open the door. Only to find the guests buck naked.
That chill down your spine when the guest you just checked in 5 minutes ago is walking back to Front Desk with her luggage. And an angry look on her face.
The exasperation when it’s 5 minutes before your shift ends and you encounter a tricky guest issue that you get stuck with.
Another of the shocking hotelier moments comes from the ice cold fear you feel when you think you have lost your master key.
Getting that call that your replacement will not be able to come to work so you have to do a back-to-back shift.
The panic that creeps up when you can’t get your cash float to balance out.
This is a shocking hotelier moments because it never ceases to amaze you how good any food tastes when you take your first bite of the day at 3PM after a super busy and toxic shift.
The shocking rush of happiness you feel when a guest hands you a blue peso note tip.
The frustration when you become privy to a juicy celebrity sighting or gossip but can’t tell anyone because you need to protect the guest’s privacy. Or, you saw something they did and can’t tell any of your friends. Or you discovered they’re not a nice person in real life!
Like with the taste of good food after a hard day. It continues to amaze us that one of our shocking hotelier moments is how good it feels to take off your shoes at the end of the day. After being on your feet for at least 8 hours it’s shocking that it’s still something you look forward to even after years of working in Hospitality.
The panic you feel when you’re temporarily left by yourself at front desk and you look up to see a slew of people start coming in out of nowhere and lining up in front of you.
A big contender for our most shocking hotelier moments is that victorious feeling you get inside when you have told a guest something over and over but they still want to talk to your manager. Only to have the manager tell them the exact same thing.
We know we should be professional and not enjoy the moment … but we’re human too.
The dread in your stomach when your boss says “I need to talk to you.”
The million thoughts that run through your head when you get a phone call from work on your day off.
The sudden panic when you wake up and realize you forgot to endorse a wake-up call for 5am. And it’s already 7am. That’s one of our shocking hotelier moments which makes our blood turn cold!
The relief when you finally get to use the bathroom after hours of attending to guests nonstop.
Seeing the service charge amount after a long, busy and productive month.
That deep sense of fulfillment you feel when guests express their appreciation after all your hard work, long hours and all the effort you put in your job. Everything is worth it after all!
Did I get them all?
Or do you have some moments you can add in the comments?
If you enjoyed this list check out my Taboo Topics in Hospitality article I think you’ll enjoy it!
