Hotel and Motel Receptionists
Greet and check in guests, and look after their needs on arrival and during their stay in hotels and motels.
The late shift at the motel
You are the receptionist on the evening shift at a highway motel, checking in guests, taking bookings and handling anything that comes up. It is 10pm. The motel is nearly full, the manager has gone home and you are the only one on duty until morning.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
I booked a quiet room at the back and you have given me one by the road. I asked specifically. I have a long day tomorrow and I need to sleep. Please fix it.
Apologise, look at the booking and move her to a back room if you can
You find that her note was missed. A back room is free and she is moved. She thanks you for taking it seriously.
Offer her a free breakfast instead of moving her, and hope that settles it
She accepts, grudgingly, but sleeps badly with the traffic noise and says so in the morning. A treat is no substitute for the quiet room she asked for.
Tell her the rooms near the road are cheaper and the back ones are full
She is angry because she asked for a quiet room and nobody told her that this one was different. She asks for a refund in the morning.
The people in room 14 are very loud. I have been trying to sleep for an hour. Can you do something about it, please? I have an early start.
Tell the guest in room 12 to bang on the wall
This makes a conflict between guests, and you have not done your job. It is a chance for things to get worse.
Call room 14 on the phone and read out the motel's quiet hours
They go quiet for ten minutes, then start again. A phone call is easy to ignore. A polite visit is harder to ignore.
Knock on the door of room 14 politely and ask them to keep it down
They apologise and go quiet. The guest in room 12 thanks you in the morning. A calm knock at the right moment keeps things from growing.
I have locked myself out of my room, number 7. The key is inside. I do not have my ID with me. Can you just give me a spare key? I am exhausted.
Give him the spare key, since he looks like a genuine guest
You have given a room key to someone you did not check. If he is not the guest, someone else's belongings are at risk.
Tell him you cannot help without his ID and he will have to wait until the morning
The policy is followed, but he sleeps in his car. There were other ways to check that he was a guest.
Check the booking, ask for details only the guest would know and let him in
He answers correctly and you let him in. He apologises and thanks you. Verifying kindly keeps all guests safe.
How it went
By morning the rooms are cleaned and the last guest has left. Hotel and motel reception is about people at their most tired and out of place, and giving them a good start. Could you stay patient and friendly at midnight?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The booking that was not there
A fictional case set in a family-run motel on a busy highway with twenty-four rooms.
The situation
At the Willow Bend Motel, Chris was working the late shift when a couple arrived just before midnight after a long drive. They said they had booked online and had a confirmation email on their phone. Chris searched the system and found nothing. Their email showed a booking at a different motel with a similar name, forty kilometres away. The couple were exhausted and the motel was nearly full.
What they did
Chris did not argue about whose mistake it was. He offered them a glass of water and found the last room, a double near the back with a slightly worn carpet. He explained clearly what the price would be and let them decide. He then rang the other motel, who held their original booking, and arranged to cancel it so they would not be charged. He gave them a map for breakfast the next morning.
How it turned out
The couple took the room and slept well. They left a kind note and a good review. The other motel confirmed the cancellation. Chris said the lesson was to treat a guest's problem as the first job of the night, even when the mistake was not yours.
What would you do?
- What would you say first to guests who arrive tired and in the wrong place?
- How do you decide when to help beyond what the booking says?
- What does it feel like to work alone on a night shift?