Travel Expert Warns About Power of Hotel Workers

[Mr Hero]

I commented on the actual article, but I'll comment here too.

1) Make you wait
Nope. I don't make SC's wait any longer than the checkin time of 3pm. I am more accomodating to polite customers. It's not punishing bad behavior. It's rewarding good behavior.

2. Hold on your cards
It's a hotel. That's what we do. We authorize the card for the full stay plus about 10% extra for incidentals.

3. Room Assignments
If you're one of our regulars, I'll try my best to put you in a room you enjoy. If you're a douchebag, I'll let the computer assign your room for me.

4. Extra Curricular
Illegal.

5. Extra charges
Illegal. But I WILL sometimes waive charges for services they actually did use. It's basicly a discount for being polite. The idea is to reinforce this behavior.

And hotels aren't the only places where they can give preference to their good customers. In a personal example, I would get a 10% discount on my food at the Subway I frequent. I asked about this and they told me it was because I was always polite. Their SC's probably get charged the full amount, but it would be illegal to charge any more than that.

[BookstoreEscapee]

The only time I've ever had to wait a significant amount of time for a hotel room was when I went to Key West. We had to wait over an hour because we were early (due to the flight schedule). They stashed our luggage in a closet behind the desk, and let us dig in our bags for bathing suits so we could hang out by the pool until our rooms were ready.

I normally show up in nothing more formal than jeans and I've never gotten a terrible room.

Seriously...if I'm traveling a distance, I'm going to be dressed in something comfortable. Am I supposed to stop at a rest stop to change into something more "appropriate" just to check into the hotel (where I will likely want to relax for a bit before doing anything else)?

And hotels aren't the only places where they can give preference to their good customers. In a personal example, I would get a 10% discount on my food at the Subway I frequent. I asked about this and they told me it was because I was always polite. Their SC's probably get charged the full amount, but it would be illegal to charge any more than that.

When I worked at Store1 way back when, we had a reciprocal discount agreement with Starbucks (it was attached but was not a Store Cafe). At some point Starbucks decided they didn't want to do that anymore (why, I have no idea). Even so, some of the employees still gave me a discount, and often free drinks. Why? Because I'm nice. (I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I also doubt they did it for all the Store employees, either.) And when I could, I gave them an employee discount on books, as well.

[hinakiba777]

Wow, he made us sound really vindictive.

1) Make you wait
If I get a late rush of boat customers, I will make the rude ones wait. It's the middle of the night and I'm juggling 50 guests. The nice ones will get more of my attention.

2. Hold on your cards
GASP! Hotels will put a hold on your card equal to the cost of the room?! That is horrid! Some people choose the wrong thing to complain about.

3. Room Assignments
I always put people in the best room possible. But if you want our cheapest rate, I'm not going to put you in a Suite. I'm not punishing you, it's just the rules. And I have never judged a guest based on their clothing, except one woman who came in a strapless bra and a miniskirt. I didn't want to give her a room, because she was a prostitute.

4. Extra Curricular
Reminds me of my co-worker from last year the gave extra curricular attention to the guests she liked. Like mailing love notes to their place of work

5. Extra charges
Illegal. The only extra charges we give are for if your pet makes the room smell or for damages. Though we did have a guest make a huge rant about us on a hotel review site in regards to that.