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

New York City Nightlife

We get all types of creatures wandering into the hotel when working overnight. Someone just walked in who clearly had too much to drink tonight. I knew from the moment he walked in that it would be a fun conversation and I'd write about it. Here's how it went:

(Man walks in, stops in the middle of the lobby, purses his lips while looking around, and then walks over to the desk.)
Man: (while still looking around) This looks different. Did you change it tonight?
Me: The lobby looks different?
Man: Ya, it's different than when I left. Did you move the desk from the other wall?
Me: No sir, we haven't moved anything tonight. In fact, it's been like this for 8 years.
Man: No way! You're s***ting me!
Me: No, I wish I was though!
(He looks at me quizzically)
Man: Am I staying here?
Me: That's a good question. Are you? What's your name?
Man: I'm not sure. Do you have coffee and tea in the back?
Me: Yes. Just around the corner to the right.
Man: So I am staying here. Are you sure you didn't move things around?
Me: Ya, I'm positive.
Man: This must be wrong. I don't remember you. I'm going to find my place. Can you point me in the right direction?
Me: Do you know where you're staying?
Man: (Silence...)
Me: Are you staying in a hotel or an apartment?
Man: It's...um...crap. (Rubs eyes and face). I'm so confused!
Me: Do you know what street you're supposed to be on?
Man: Umm...up. There somewhere (pointing to the front door).
Me: Ok, so you're staying uptown. There's a start. Do you know the name of the place?
Man: No, but it looks like this. I'm going to walk uptown. Where is that?

I point him in the right direction and help him get his bearing straight. The poor guy proceeded to walk down a quarter of a block and fell twice before the next corner. As entertaining as that was, I hope he makes it back ok. Mainly because he'll be safe, but also so the night auditor at the hotel he's going to can enjoy his presence as well.

Moral of the story: If you're planning on getting piss drunk in New York City, don't get separated from your friends, and keep a hotel business card on you, so someone can direct you to where you need to go when you can't get there yourself.

Holidays

Being in New York during the holidays is quite an experience. There is just so much to see and so little time to see it. Do you go to the Empire State Building first, even though you know it will take up two hours of your day? Or do you go see to Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree and go ice skating? Maybe head down to the Statue of Liberty? Oh, and you can't forgot about seeing Macy's all pretty and lit up!

The holidays bring people to New York from all over the world. Off the top of my head, I can remember meeting people from at least 14 different countries. Despite the language barrier, it was amazing to meet them. The come in from Sweden, Chile, Germany, or whatever country they're from. They wake up early to venture out into the craziness that is New York City and spend the entire day traveling, sightseeing, eating and shopping. I don't know if you've ever had the chance to do it, but it's exhausting. Sometimes I forget that I haven't done much touring around New York and that some of these tourists have seen and done more than I have.

They come back in after their long day and they just love to talk, in their broken English, about what they did and saw. I love to hear their stories. It makes me feel like I've been where they've been and seen what they've seen. Sure, I've never been to the top of the Empire State Building before, but after hearing the story dozens of times and having them explain the view with vivid details makes it all seem real. The Central Park Zoo? Nope, I've never been there either, but I'll tell you those animals are adorable without ever seeing them! How about that helicopter tour around Manhattan? "Oh ya! That's an incredible trip! You'll really enjoy that!!"

And then there's hearing about everything around the world. From the way they talk about it, New Zealand, Sweden, Morocco, India, and Japan seem like fascinating places to visit. They make the United States seem bland. Well, New York at least. If only I had time and money to travel...
I guess I'll just have to live vicariously through the guests and enjoy their stories.

Story of the week:
9 guests walk into the hotel at the same time while I'm the only one at the desk. I start checking them in relatively quickly and get through most of them when my front office manager walks up to the desk. I'm checking in the 8th guest when she asks "are you all together?"

The last guest looks around and, as he's walking up to check in, says "No. Well, yes. I'm together. like, in my head. I'm not crazy. I'm just not with them. Not in their group. Wow. I'm making an idiot of myself in front of strangers in New York City. I'm going to stop talking now."

Happy February!

Good Customer Service Pays Off

Guests in a hotel are very easy to please, despite what people may think.  Especially in New York.

Guests spend lots of money on hotel rooms and quite frankly, they deserve good service for the prices they pay. I'll be the first to say that some of the rates in New York are incredibly insane.  $300 for a room per night?  At a hotel that doesn't have a pool, spa, lounge or restaurant?  It's outrageous, and I'm kind of surprised that people are so willing to pay that much.  I guess they have the "well, it is New York..." attitude, so they are accepting the fact that they will need to spend more money.

Back to my original point though.

Guests are very easy to please.  They come in to check in and expect to see a smiling face welcoming them to the hotel.  Not so difficult.  The check-in process should be relatively quick.  Verify the guest information for the stay, tell them which amenities the hotel offers, have them sign the registration card, and wish them an enjoyable stay.  It should take no more than 2-3 minutes to complete a regular check-in.

Once they are in house, things get even easier.  Most guests try to figure things out on their own, such as directions, attractions, etc., but usually they'll ask the concierge.  If there is no concierge, like in the hotel I work at, they come to the desk and ask us.  In this case, knowing the local area and the big attractions are key.  Point them in the right direction, suggest a good restaurant or somewhere fun to go, book them a cab or car service to the airport.  Those are the big three requests we get at the front desk.  If you know where to send them and how to get around, you can tell them without confusing them and they are very satisfied.  They are more likely to come back to you for advice and suggestions through their stay, and the more the rely on you, the higher chance of getting a tip at the end of the stay.

It's not even so much about the tips (although they certainly don't hurt!).  Being good at customer service is enjoyable.  You tend to move faster through the day and keep up a better attitude.  Both because you did well, and there's the chance of making extra money.  Maybe they give you enough to pay for that coffee you got on the way in to make sure you can stay awake through the shift.  Or maybe they slip you a ten and you can pay for lunch with that.

This wonderful family from Ohio was in the hotel for 4 nights this past week.  They were first timers in New York and relied on us for suggestions to shows, parks, museums, and restaurants.  Each time they walked by the desk I would greet them with a "Hello, how's your day going?" or a "Have a great evening!".  They truly loved it.  They remembered my name and said hi from across the lobby, got concerned when they saw me at 4pm, 10:30pm and then again at 7am and we're hoping I didn't work through the night.  It was really very nice.

They checked out today and came straight to me to check out.  The husband had a big smile on his face and said in his thick Midwestern accent, "Daniel, thank you so much for all you've helped us with.  We were worried about being in New York and getting lost and you made sure that didn't happen.  Next time we come back we're certainly staying here because of you", and he slipped me a ten dollar bill.  Just for being nice.

This is what customer service should be all about.  Making the guest so happy and so comfortable with their stay that they are willing to pay extra money because they know they will get good service.

New Work

Starting a new job has many challenges, but it's a lot of fun as well.  You have new coworkers to bring a different dynamic to life, you meet interesting people along the way, and there is always the challenge of learning the new job.

I don't want to give away too many details so people can come stalk me, but I'll tell you a little about it.  I'm working at the front desk of a hotel in New York City.  it's a nice sized hotel that's been around for a while so lots of people come stay here.  We're consistently sold out or on the cusp of being sold out, and we have guests from every walk of life.  It's always a treat when guests come up to the desk and either can't speak English very well or just say silly things. 

In order to get back into blogging, I'm going to post some fun interaction I've had with the guest during my time at the hotel.  So here's the most recent one that happened tonight:
Guest: "I forgot my toothbrush."

Me:  "We have extras down here if you need."

Guest:  "Are they used?"

::FACEPALM::
 
Sometimes I wonder if people just don't think or if they really wonder some of the things they say out loud.  It's quite entertaining.
 
I'm out for now.  As one of the guests that just walked out said...howdy!

Change of Scenery

I haven't had much to write about over the last few months.  I'm still unemployed and haven't had much excitement in my life.  In fact, I'm as broke as anything and I'm actually moving back home because I can't afford rent.

But this post isn't a sad post.  It's about the good times I've had and the good friends I've made.  They made these seven months here awesome.  There's a core group of seven extremely close friends that has kept me sane.  They let me invade their apartments and their lives, and I owe them so incredibly much.  We don't lead normal New York City lives.  We don't go out drinking and dancing, or seeing shows or the sights.  No, that's not how we roll.

They understood my situation.  They could have gone out and done all those things together, but they are such fantastic friends that they tried to include me in just about everything they could.  Heck, they even fed me when they thought I needed it.  We stayed in and had more movie nights than I can count.  We barbecued, sat and hung out, played video games, did lots of nothing, and who knows what else.  We didn't need much to entertain us.  The fact that we were together and hanging out and kept each other laughing was enough.

THAT, my friends, is what friendship really is.  They are all incredibly special people and I want them all to know it.  I want to show them off to anyone that doesn't know them yet and rub it in their face.  I am the one they chose to see on a daily basis.  I was welcomed in to this otterific group of friends with open arms.

This is just one of my ways of saying thank you to them.  I know they will all see this at some point in the future, and this is a reminder to them of the awesome times we spent together.  I know I won't forget a moment of it.

Thank you all for everything you've done for me.

I can't wait to get back here for good and reciprocate the love you guys showed for me...you're in for a real treat.