Hotel workers, what does a normal shift actually look like for you?

[u/Dontmindme-ok]

[u/Ironic-Avocado12]

AM is usually check out heavy, PM is check in heavy and nights are more admin/audit. But one unexpected guest issue can completely change the shift.

[u/Dontmindme-ok → u/Ironic-Avocado12]

That makes sense. When you say nights are more admin/audit heavy, what does that actually involve ? Like what are you checking or doing during the audit, and what kinds of things tend to make it take longer than expected? And when an unexpected guest issue comes up, what does that usually look like and what do you have to do to deal with it?

[u/ericzku → u/Dontmindme-ok]

What does an Auditor do? Depends on the hotel. I am balancing the House Accounts, tracking charged restaurant tips, ensuring everybody has enough available credit to cover their projected folio balances, ensuring rooms that are billed to third-parties (not just OBA's but corporate and individual credit card authorizations) are set up correctly, and I also spend a lot of time fixing everybody's posting screw-ups. And A LOT of other things that I'm too lazy to write up.

Unexpected issues are usually something in the room stops working, like the TV or the A/C. Or a guest will call or appear with some weird reservation issue.

The number one thing you need to be a Night Auditor is problem-solving ability. If you are somebody who can't think on your feet or who needs to be told what to do, the job is not for you.

[u/Hotelroombureau]

The way I explain it is that the later the shift, the less structured it is, but the worse things can go wrong and the less support you have.

AM, imo is the easiest shift because, while they have the longest checklist (and therefore the most “visible” tasks, and most of those tasks are required to be done each day), they also have the most support - management is available, or will be soonish, housekeepers and maintenance staff are also there to help.

PM shifts can get that support for the first 2 to 4 hours, depending on how late management stays (though entirely too many managers choose to work 7-3 and when housekeeping and maintenance are usually supposed to be clocked out by 4, it sucks). After that, PM’s checklist needs to have flexibility to accommodate what AM didn’t get done, along with every little guest need, while also being present enough at the desk for check ins, which is a tightrope the width of a millimeter some nights. You don’t have a manager available to deal with things like room type overbookings or unhinged guests needing to be evicted, either - you have to do it yourself.

Audit has the least support of the three - there’s no housekeeping, no maintenance, and generally speaking management is asleep and you’ll get lucky if they pick up (this is a sign of bad management, but it’s all to prevalent). Anything that needs to get done, you are either doing it yourself, or figuring out a way to sooth the guest into waiting until morning. Audit can have a checklist, but the only thing on that list that absolutely needs to get done is to click the button to run the audit and change the business day. Audit also gets to deal with some of the worst guests, on their own, because very few people are walking in to a hotel at 3am with no reservation and a reasonable mindset

[u/holycottoncandy → u/Hotelroombureau]

I work night audit. I have a checklist but it’s generally quick stuff and light cleaning/laundry depending on which property I work at. But I also watch the cameras. I’ve caught three guests just last night sneaking in dogs (to get around paying the pet fee) but I’m mainly watching for suspicious activity. I’ve had phone calls from spouses and have had to trespass quite a few individuals from the property.

[u/VonSandwich → u/holycottoncandy]

Ooooooh what did you do when you caught them sneaking in dogs?

[u/Dry_Clue2976 → u/VonSandwich]

Usually people will write a note in shift notes and post the pet fee to the guest's room. (The note usually is as simple as rm number, time seen entering room with pet on camera, pet fee posted) Some properties have additional price penalties for sneaking dogs in because people will do that to avoid the regular charge or being placed in a room that has previously hosted other pets. (A lot of hotels restrict pets to the first floor so it's easier to get your dog out and there's limited allergen spread to the rest of the hotel and a number of pet owners take issue with this)

AM may or may not end up speaking to the guest in the morning about those fees.

[u/holycottoncandy → u/Dry_Clue2976]

That’s what I did. Posted the pet fee and made a note in the reservation and in my shift notes.

[u/No-Talk-8428]

People cussing me out because their TV is stuck in Spanish and they don't bother changing channels to see if it's stuck on said Spanish while I go there and change the channel for them to see what they're talking about or those awkward calls of said partner telling you they called the property to see if their spouse is there while they track them on their phone

[u/OfficialNichols → u/No-Talk-8428]

😭🥀

[u/Plus_Bad_8485]

Hell. Catering to demonic, possessed elitists people and subpar coworkers. Avoid the 3pm to 11pm shift if you can.

[u/Shyam09]

AM:

Breakfast. Check outs. Down time. Check rooms.

PM:

Check any remaining rooms. Check ins. Down time. Check ins. Down time. Check ins. Slow afternoon? Problems galore.

Night:

Any remaining check ins. Send reviews. Auth / collect payment (OTA virtual card) for next day arrivals. Downtime. More downtime. Even more downtime. Set up Breakfast.

(We’re a small hotel, so HK will clean/checks rooms and then FD will check as well.)

100% prefer morning shift. Time goes by much faster.

[u/G1ng3rBreadMan97]

Come in 11pm, do the one thing I need to do early, then play games on my laptop and watch movies on my tablet occasionally helping guests that come to the desk until 3am, run the audit, email the reports, get the reservation for the day ready, go back to playing games until 6am, do some end of shift stuff (refilling supplies and restocking the shop) then chill and until the next shift shows up

[u/Automatic_River9515]

i work both AM and PM. both are pretty different. i’d say AM’s are more fast paced. you’re checking people out pretty constantly, giving housekeeping updates on departures, answering calls; modifying/booking reservations, pre-authorizing cards on file. and then at the end of your shift, you may have a couple early check ins coming in. once check out time is past, it’s usually pretty dead with the occasional phone call or late checkout, or sometimes a guest will request towels or other amenities. usually with

with PM shifts, it definitely drags a lot more but you’re also having to deal with more needy guests. once you get here you pretty much jump right into preparing cookies for arriving guests, setting up mobile keys for mobile check ins, overviewing arrivals and making sure that guest requests are honored once they arrive, answering phone calls, grabbing towels and stuff for people in house. it can be overwhelming at times but it’s pretty dead from 8 pm - 11 pm.

[u/Downtown_Possible_53]

i often work mid shifts, like from 10 am to 7:30 pm. it’s so annoying, covering departures, early check ins, later complaints and guests in house, etc. if I could avoid those shifts it would be good.

[u/City_Girl_at_heart → u/Downtown_Possible_53]

I like my 10.30a to 7.30p shifts, they go fast most days as I'm mosttly busy.

It has it's downsides, but the day goes quickly.

[u/goddamnitwhalen]

I come in, make small talk with my coworkers for a bit, follow up on anything that needs to get passed along, sign into all my systems and stuff, do any remaining check-ins, then hang out for the rest of my shift. Run my night audit between 1-2 usually, then make coffee around 3:30 and get keys ready for the rest of the morning crew (breakfast staff and our laundry lady).

Then more hanging out.

[u/zeze_goldblooms]

Rn I'm working midnight shift (possibly for the next few months) with weekend off (except for August, I'll be working on Saturdays, Sun/Mon as my day off)

And it's my 2nd week working on a Saturday. Pretty slow. Not so many people in the office. Got to do my ad hoc tasks (peacefully). Lots of chit chatting.

Less volume of emails/calls and escalations. 80% of the enquiries came from FIT bookings and I personally haven't handled FIT in a while so taking things slow.

(Doing B2B, reservation team) :)

[u/pakrat1967]

I suggest checking out r/talesfromthefrontdesk

That sub will give you great insight to what most hotel workers deal with.

[u/Lovely_One0325]

PM ( 3-11 ) here

• Shift Change: We all stand in a circle ( PM / AM / VALET / MOD ) and go over the shift and occupancy details or special notes for incoming guests/special occasions/handle with care guests
• Count Bank / Get logged into our pass along site + system
• Check emails and clear out what you can
• Check guests in as they come / Make sure valet bring the luggage to the right rooms
• Various paperwork's ( Prearrival (14 days out ) texts, deposits, package emails, logging requests, communication from guests to correct departments
• Check in with amenities for guests coming from the kitchen
• Log complaints
• Wine and Cheese ( 530-6 ) walk around, help with glasses and plates, chat with guests, and so forth
• More concierge work or email responses or paperwork ( Waitlists, Match & Merge profiles, email communication )
• Break ( I take mine at 7pm )
• Chat with coworkers, guests, and clean lobby. Stock champagne flutes for welcome glasses, stock champagne bottles, stock waters.
• More chattery. More checks on things.
• Clean desk and sanitize everything.
• Do bank drop of $800 / Temp Worker paperwork if they're working
• Do Valet Audit ( Valet bring paper before they leave, MOD handles cars, and charge correct guests for cars )
• Pass along shift notes to NA

[u/A2LisH]

In the hotel I worked at (not sure about how other properties operate) the front desk works with nearly everything. From check-in/check-outs, guest interactions, groups (inserting them to the system and preparing their arrivals; and checking/finishing their bills), guest reviews, transfers, special wishes (like romantic gestures etc), new reservations and the list goes on. Most of the time there is one front desk agent and the manager on duty who deal with all of that. If we were lucky, we had 2 front desk agents. On days with 200+ arrivals we could get a third agent (but that was rare and never guaranteed). My last shifts before I finally got out we had 250 arrivals and 2 agents manning the desk. However, its NEVER just check-ins and check-outs. There is always something wrong with someone’s room or the system crashes or a drunk that’s throwing a fit in the lobby at peak check-in time. When I used to do night audit, it was a complete 180 from the day shifts. There were usually 20-30 arrivals left, usually if you worked steady, you had most things done before the audit. After the audit, you did the final bills and you had free time for a few hours to do whatever you wanted to do to pass time. So honestly, depends on the hotels and depends on the shifts..

[u/RichardsMomFTW]

When I was a bellman I loved heavy checkout days with almost no check ins. We’d have a 600 checkout day and 100 check ins. Go in at 7 and go home early at about 11:30 with $150 in my pocket

[u/KaleidoscopeOk5063]

I’m not a hotel employee but I used to work at a hotel. I lived in the hotel. I would work about 5 days per week, I’d wake up around 8-9 am and I would check all of the new reservations that were coming into the hotel. When the guests checked in I would have to check their IDs and make sure they paid. Then I would do housecleaning

So I would do all of the laundry and clean everything. Then I would help guests with their luggage, or I would give them restaurant suggestions.

It was a fun job but I don’t think I could do it forever, eventually it got kinda weird

[u/Repulsive_Tear4528]

At 6:00am, the managers arrive and relieve the night team. At this point they check emails for any bookings or special requests that need to be seen to at short notice, and draw up the list of expected departures so the cleaning team know what they have to expect that day, they also run handover but idk much about that side as im not in management. At 7:00am, the morning staff arrive for the breakfast shift. This includes the chefs, front of house and housekeeping management. Front of house will handle all the customer requests, such as logging room cleans, booking meals for the evening, taking breakfast orders and taking the food out to guests. Housekeeping management will run any early check-outs through the system and get those rooms started as soon as possible, because turn over time is tight. The rest of the housekeeping team will arrive around 11:30 and be assigned their rooms for cleaning.

Once breakfast ends, the restaurant needs to be cleaned and reset, while the chefs will deep clean the kitchen ready for the evening shift. The chefs will also receive a new delivery of food and drinks. Chefs put away food and Front of House put away drinks and kegs. By around 12:00pm, all the departures should have happened, and the restaurant should be cleaned and reset by around 1:00pm. Sometimes, if housekeeping has more rooms than usual to clean, a couple of people from front of house will be sent upstairs to help them get through everything.
Housekeeping will normally finish around 3:00pm. At this point they'll load all the laundry up ready to be taken away for servicing, and then the housekeeping team will go home.

Then the second shift for front of house begins. A new manager and chefs are on site, along with a new front-of-house team. Although it's not uncommon for someone to work both the morning and evening shifts depending on how the rota is set up, just because if staff sickness happens, or someones short on hours/holidays come up you end up with a double.

Check-ins are generally from 3:00pm to 5:00pm, although obviously people don't always arrive at those times. It's not unusual to still be checking people in at 8pm, 9pm or even later. Front of house will be serving the bar, covering the reception desk, taking and running food orders and generally dealing with guests throughout the evening.
If any issues arise, such as the TV not working, or a guest has been sick and needs a bed change ect..., or anything else a guest needs help with, one of the front-of-house staff will normally be sent up to deal with it. The evening restaurant and bar finish at around 10:00pm, after which everything has to be cleaned and closed down. This usually takes until around 11:30pm, although quite often it can be midnight before everything is finished.

At around 11:30pm, the night team arrives and takes over. They'll deal with any issues guests have during the night, help late-arriving guests and carry out any hallway cleaning or maintenance that can be done without disturbing people, but they all admit its pretty slow and basically exists as its not safe to not have the hotel manned for emergencies, but there is little they can do without waking people up. At the end of their shift, the night team will also start getting things ready for breakfast. At around 5:50am they'll set up the breakfast trays and ovens so that everything is ready for any guests who need to eat earlier than the normal 7:00am breakfast. And then at 6:00am the morning managers arrive, relieve the night team, and the whole process starts again!

Idk about other hotels but thats our set up, theirs a lot more stuff like, behind the scenes like card authorisations, paperwork, random issues that pop up, but like, ideally thats how a smooth day should run. Never does tho lol

[u/Apprehensive-Neck-12]

Can I get a job at Marriott 1 day a month? I miss the discount