Hotel and Motel Managers
Organise and control the operations of hotels and motels to provide guest accommodation, meals and other services.
A full house at the Crossroads
You are the manager of a highway hotel and motel on a long weekend, with every room booked and the bar filling up for the evening. It is 4pm Friday. The last rooms are being cleaned and the first guests are at the door. The kitchen is busy, the bar is starting, and a problem is about to arrive at reception.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
A couple have just arrived and say they booked a king room. I cannot find their booking, but they have the email. The motel is full, and they have driven six hours. I do not know what to do.
Check the booking system and the email yourself, apologise, and if the error was ours, find a way to put them up
The email is real and a booking was lost in a system change. You move a staff member's room to a cabin and give the couple the king room. It costs you a little, but you keep a guest and fix the fault.
Tell Jade to say the motel is full and they will need to find another place in town
The nearest town is two hours away and the couple are exhausted. They leave a bad review and tell the story to everyone they meet. A mistake you caused is yours to fix.
Offer them a lower-grade room and a free breakfast, and hope they accept
They accept reluctantly, still unhappy. The offer is fair, but you did not check whether you could do better. A real solution beats a small gift.
There is a man at the bar who is getting louder, and he keeps asking for another drink. I think he has had enough, but his mates say he is fine. I do not want to make it awkward. What should I do?
Tell her to use her judgement and serve him if she is unsure, since his mates say he is fine
He is served, becomes louder and a scuffle starts outside later. Your licence depends on responsible service, and a bartender should never be left to carry that alone.
Go to the bar, quietly check for yourself, and refuse service if you agree, backing her in front of the others
You protect Aaliyah and the licence, and the man leaves unhappily. It works, though you could also have given her the confidence to say it herself with you standing behind her.
Tell her she is right to be careful, then go with her and support her as she explains the decision
She says it calmly with you beside her, and the man accepts a glass of water and a meal. She learns that she can say no, and that her manager will always stand behind her.
A fridge in the kitchen has stopped cooling. I have a full dinner service starting at six, with sixty bookings. I can move things to the cool room, but it is almost full. What do you want me to do?
Keep using the fridge for tonight and fix it on Monday
Food stored at the wrong temperature is a food safety problem. You have to throw out a lot of stock later, and could have made guests sick. Food safety does not wait for a quieter day.
Move the food, call the repairer and trim the menu for tonight
The menu is a little shorter, but everything served is safe. Paulo appreciates the quick decision. A short menu is much better than a risky one.
Ask Paulo to decide how to handle it and call you only if there is a problem
Paulo handles it well, but he is now carrying a decision that affects the whole hotel, and no one has told the front desk the menu will change. A manager shares the problem, even when the specialist leads.
How it went
The dining room closes at nine and the bar is calm by midnight. Running a hotel or motel is a mix of customers, staff, food and legal duties, all in the same building. Does the idea of keeping a whole small community running appeal to you?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The regular who had had enough
A fictional case set in a fictional country motel and pub on a highway, busy with truckies, tourists and locals.
The situation
Dean Murphy managed the Crossroads Hotel Motel on a long highway. One Friday night, a long-time regular, Gus, who had been drinking at the bar all afternoon, asked for another round for himself and his mates. Gus had always been friendly and a good customer. The bar attendant, Aaliyah, was new and unsure. She came to find Dean and said she thought Gus had had enough but she did not want to upset him.
What they did
Dean went to the bar and spoke to Gus quietly and kindly. He explained that the hotel could not serve him any more tonight, and offered him a meal and a soft drink on the house. He arranged a lift home with a local taxi and asked Gus's mate to stay with him. Afterwards, he told Aaliyah she had done exactly the right thing in finding him.
How it turned out
Gus grumbled but accepted it. The next week he apologised to Aaliyah and came in for lunch. Dean updated the bar rules so the staff know that refusing service is always supported by the manager, and nobody has to carry that decision alone.
What would you do?
- Why was it important that Aaliyah came to find Dean?
- How would you refuse service to someone you like?
- What might be harder in a small town where everyone knows each other?