I Have a Few Questions For You...

Quick rant here...

This is one of the scariest moments for a person working at the front desk.  You're assigning rooms and you realize you're oversold so you have to move some things around.  The phones are ringing like crazy and you don't have enough hold lines to pick up the next call.  And then the guests come in.  One by one at first, then they start to come in more bunched together.  And then they come in groups.  And it hits you:  TONIGHT WILL BE HELL.

You make your way through the first few guests and get them into their rooms without a problem.  The 4th or 5th guest in line checks in with no problems, but then proceeds to ask you questions.  Lots and lots of questions.  The line gets longer, and there's nothing you can do.  It kinda makes me want to interrupt her and ask "DON'T YOU SEE THERE'S A LINE OF PEOPLE BEHIND YOU???  GO TO YOUR ROOM, TAKE A BREATH, AND COME BACK IN A FEW MINUTES!  YOU'RE NOT GOING OUT TO EAT DINNER AND SEE A BROADWAY SHOW WITH YOUR LUGGAGE IN HAND ANYWAYS!"  But I can't.  We all know that.  Even though I REALLY REALLY want to.

Luckily we have some solid guests (most of the time) and they understand that people can be difficult.  It's nice when they make fun of the annoying guests when they walk away, just to lighten my mood when they see I'm frustrated.

On a complete side note but is strangely connected to the title...I had an undercover cop come in to the hotel today...

Cop: "Good evening, [flashes badge and has a stone cold face] I have a few questions for you."
[My stomach drops and heart stops while thinking:  This is my first day back from a two week vacation!  I couldn't have done something wrong already!]
Me: "Hi officer, how can I help you?"
Cop: "I'm tracking a bad guy [yes, he called the suspect a 'bad guy'] and I found this key in a stolen vehicle.  Does it belong to your hotel?"
[My stomach slowly crawls back up and heart speeds up a bit while I slowly exhale]
Me:  "Oh yes, that's ours, but it's a standard Hampton Inn key and there are eight in New York City, so it can belong to any of them."
Cop:  "F*ck!  This case is going to be harder than I thought!  Crap!"
[I stare at him, not knowing what to say...]
Cop:  "Is there any way to track the card and see where it came from?"
Me:  "I can try to read the card, but if it's past it's checkout date, it will come up as voided and we won't find anything out."
Cop:  "Oh what the hell, give it a shot.  I found it four days ago.  I might as well go home..."

After trying to find information in the card reader, I tell the officer it's voided and there's no way to know which hotel the card is from.  He hands me his card with the suspects name written on it, thanks me for my time, and heads out.

Morale of the story:  I have to be more careful when I steal cars in the future.  Just kidding.  I don't carry hotel keys when I steal cars.

Real morale of the story:  Don't jump to conclusions when a cop comes up to you saying he wants to ask you a few questions.  I think I grew a few gray hairs and lost a few years of my life from that.

Oh, and if you know anyone who stayed at a Hampton Inn in New York City who steals cars, call the NYPD.  You would be a big help to the poor cop who came in today, and you'd be doing a big service to the community.

Behind Closed doors...

Have you ever interrupted a couple having sex?  My coworker did.  It was both hilarious and awkward at the same time.  Let me tell you what went down...

I received a call from a Japanese guest around 8:30pm who, in her very broken English, was asking me to order her a pizza.  It took about four or five tries for me to understand what she wanted me to do, and that was just the beginning.  I proceeded to tell her (here is my side of the phone call):

"sorry ma'am, you have to either call them and order what you'd like and give them a credit card number over the phone, or come down to the lobby with your credit card and then I can call for you."

...

"No, I can't do it now. I don't have your credit card."

...

"Oh, you can't come down?  Ok, can you read the credit card number to me?"

...

"Ok, I understand if you don't want to give me the card number, but then you have to call them yourself."

...

"No, you have to call them and they'll deliver to your room."

...

"Sorry, I can't order it for you.  I can't pay for it without your card."

...

"You can call from your room and order it yourself."

...

"Yes, you can call from your room and order it yourself."

...

At this point, I continued to repeat that last like 6 or 7 times until my coworker (and all the guests in the lobby) looked over to figure out what the heck I was going on about.  I put the guest on hold and explain the situation to "Bob".  He proceeds to take the phone off hold and somehow manages to get the credit card from the guest, and the phone number of the pizza place she wanted to order from.  Bob called the pizza place and discovered that it wasn't a working number.  After quickly calling the guest back, we find out that she was having the same problem and wanted us to try calling, in case she was calling the number incorrectly.

"Bob" told the guest he was going to bring up a menu for a different pizza place that we use often and then she can order from her room.  After a few minutes, he came back down, his face white as a ghost, and he was trying to hold back a laughing fit.  This is how he explained the interaction:

"I knocked on the door and heard shushing really quickly after I knocked, so I knocked again.  A woman cursed, or it sounded like a curse, in a foreign language.  The man said 'one second!'.  Then, there was a loud THUD and male laughter, which leads me to believe that the wife fell off the bed.  She must have quickly gotten her robe on and answered the door all sweaty and frazzled, took the menu, bowed down, and closed the door quickly.  As I walked away, I heard them laughing hysterically!"

My question is, WHAT???  Were they doing it when I was on the phone with her?  How about when they were on the phone with "Bob"?  If not, and they knew we were bringing the menu up, WHY WOULD THEY START THEN????  And weren't they hoping to get pizza delivered?  SO AWKWARD!

All I have to say is thank G-d I wasn't the one to bring the menu up!

Name of the Day:  Apussorn Phungsoondara

Renovations

We just finished going through renovations in the hotel, and it sure was an interesting experience, to say the least. Renovations started at the end of January and just finished last week. We completely renovated the lobby, breakfast area, and the guest rooms. Two and a half months of complaining guests (even more so than usual), renovation questions, jackhammering, drills, saws, dust, and everything else you can imagine that goes along with renovations.

It started in October when the GM put a note on our website saying "The hotel will be under renovations from January through March 2011". Little did we know that we were in for 6 months of hell. I understand getting questions about how the renovations will affect the guest rooms and breakfast and things like that. Then we started getting crazy questions. Here are a few of my favorite conversations:

Caller: Will your swimming pool be available?
Me: Sorry ma'am, we don't have a swimming pool.
Caller: You're closing down your swimming pool? That's the best part of the hotel!
Me: Ma'am, we've never had a swimming pool on our property.
Caller: Oh.

Guest Checking In: So I saw you're under renovations. What time do I need to be out of my room so they can do the work in the room?
Me: Excuse me?
GCI: Well I certainly won't want to be sleeping when they come in, so I want to get out early enough.
Me: Sir, we're not doing any work in the rooms that are occupied with guests. That's a health and safety hazard.
GCI: Oh good. That's good to hear.

Luckily for us, we have a lot of repeat guests that come in every week, or often enough that we know them by name. When they come in, it's always nice to see them and catch up. You know they're here often enough when you can ask about their family and how things are at home. Having these guests coming in during renovations was quite helpful with our morale.

Despite all the questions and complaints from the other guests, these regulars would come in with a smile (assuming they didn't have a crappy day) and lift our spirits a bit. They know that when we aren't bogged down with renovation stuff, we're a (mostly) great staff, the breakfast is good, and the rooms are comfortable. They're understanding and despite the minor disturbances and inconveniences, they still show up week after week.

So this post goes out to Mrs. Levy, Mr. Fox, Mr. Fennema, and all the other regulars that I can't think of offhand at 2:00am. Thanks for the help with the annoying guests and for keeping us sane when we're at the desk!

I'll be starting a new game.  At the end of every post, there will be a name of the day.  Each name I pick will be an actual name of a guest in the hotel.  I am NOT making these up, no matter how ridiculous they look.  Enjoy!

Name of the Day:  Christine Farondegoerdeherve