Hotel Front Desk
Los Angeles, CA
Male, 27
For the past two years I've worked the front desk at a boutique luxury beachfront hotel in Southern California. My job can range from simply checking guests in & out to many other duties, including: pretending I work in different departments so that behind-the-scenes chaos is never seen by a guest, shielding guests from stalkers that come looking for them, and picking up used drug paraphernalia from a trashed room. Ask me anything.
You would think that would automatically annoy a staff member, right? But when it boils down to it, you pulling the toilet paper or whichever supply off the cart yourself, and not calling the front desk or housekeeping asking them to pull someone away from their other duties to bring up just 1 item, is actually HELPING the hotel run faster and more efficiently. I say if you're a guest, and you actually NEED the item, not just taking it as a souvenir for the hell of it, go for it! If you're NOT a guest, and just passing through, then that's not a very nice thing to do, since ultimately lost items mean the paying guests will have to pay for that. If a housekeeper ever approached you as you were taking something from their cart, you could kindly explain that you needed the item and no one was around to give one to you. He or she should understand.
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You could be a super-sleuth and actually ask each nearby hotel what type of key system they use, but you could also be stone-walled because these post 9/11 days most hotels are not going to give that information out to a stranger without a valid reason. However, you could also hang in the lobby acting like you're going to check in and see what the keys look like that are given to guests. Creepy, but it would probably tell you which hotel the key came from.
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Sure, it's their job, but what they are paid as a base wage is typically factoring in that they are going to offset that wage by receiving gratuity. Room service attendants, door and bellmen (and women) can make a decent amount in gratuity if their hotel is busy and/or consistently frequented by affluent guests. However, just as many people on average do NOT tip as do, it's very hard to predict. My thought process is, if you tip, you will often see a return the NEXT time you call. Remember, if you are super-cheap AND a jerk, the staff will talk amongst themselves and you likely will not get speedy service the next time you ask for it. If you just so happen to not have cash on you, no problem, it's just $2-ish, we understand, just offset THAT by being nice and thanking for good service instead.
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I would think it's not necessarily your husband's fault, and nothing suspicious may be going on. What probably happened is that when each hotel's property management system (the program the clerks are using to check him in and out) loads the room type he is staying in (I'm presuming he's on business), their system likely reflects double-occupancy (2), which is probably the smallest guest count that most hotel systems allow in a room, think: most hotel rooms allow at least 2 guests at minimum. This default may just be a matter of course for most systems and properties, and the clerks aren't intending to get people in hot water when they are checking them in and out. Now, if for some reason there's an area on the bill that states an additional guest was added, say a second different name, or an extra charge for an amenity (food for two/beverage/movie charge) that doesn't make sense, then your husband should have some explaining to do!
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This is the cheap internet searchable answer: "They are placed there by a group called a non-profit Christian organization called the Gideons. The Gideons are not preachers, but businessmen who feel called to help with this ministry. They raise money from churches and individuals and use this money to print and distribute Bibles to many places--wherever they are allowed to put them--such as hospitals, prisons, and motel rooms. Through feedback and letters they receive, they have learned of many people who picked up one of their Bibles in a desperate moment and found the faith to turn their lives around. All Marriott hotels have Book of Mormon, too, because Mr. Marriott is/was (don't know if he is still living or not) a Mormon." We don't have them at our property, so it must be an aging habit among hotel owners. Wouldn't it be cool to start a different trend, like placing a box of legos or something cooler in there? I guess whatever floats your boat...
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Hotels are usually populated by very social employees, because one has to be social to be good at interacting with guests, but don't feel bad if you like to leave when your shift is over and go back to your home life once your work day is done. There are some employees for whom the hotel is their life, and that's fine, but don't worry if you are not always going out with co-workers after work or very involved in their personal chatter during down time. Just make it clear to co-workers that you are very into your home life and they'll probably understand why you may not be as into what's happening in social circles within the employee ranks.
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Only a guess, but I'd have to say at most 40%, and it's even harder to ascertain because so few people order movies, it seems. The percent of couples that order porn? Got to be less than 10%.
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