Author: Blake
Ever wonder what it’s like to work in a full service hotel for a day? You’re in luck today! Today, I will be taking you inside a day in my shoes as a front desk agent at a full service hotel. Just a quick note I want to mention, not every hotel is the exact same or runs the same since each property is unique or has different standards. For example, if you work in a select service hotel (a hotel with no ballrooms and select amenities) or a full service hotel (a hotel with ballrooms ,restaurants and expanded amenities), it will change your work environment. I hope you all enjoy it and if you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them down below!
America’s Best Value Under The Sun
Before I take you through my day to day, let’s explore the property I work at and essentially consider a second home. So prior to being a Days Hotel, the property opened as a Holiday Inn in 1974. In 2016 the property was renovated and converted into a Days Hotel. The hotel currently has two ballrooms, a restaurant, indoor pool, fitness center, outdoor patio area. There are a total of 173 rooms in the hotel which makes us the largest hotel in town.
You may be asking yourself, what’s a Days Hotel? Days Hotel is the same brand as Days Inn. The reason for using the word Hotel instead of Inn is due to the fact of how many rooms we have and also the fact we are a full service hotel. I’ll be honest, I was just as confused too when I first started but when you think about it, it does make perfect sense.
I know the Days Inn brand does not have the best image to it. You may think of a rundown or poorly kept location on the side of the interstate. Well… you wouldn’t be wrong there about the brand since a lot of locations are like that. However, not every location is like that. Take mine for example, our property is one of the best Days just simply for how well it is run and how well it is maintained. In a future article, we’ll cover this topic more.
Holiday Inn vs Days Hotel Before & After Photos:
It’s amazing how hard it was to find these photos. I really had to dig for them in the archives but I found them. It was totally amazing to see how the hotel has changed from since I was to a kid to now working there. I remember attending a wedding here as a kid and looking back at these photos and comparing them to what I see daily is just crazy and brings back some memories.
Before taking you through a day in my shoes, I just want to quickly point a few things out and explain a few of the changes made to the building. One of the maybe not so clear things is the changes to the Coral Ballroom and restaurant area. Originally as seen below in the 3rd set of photos, the ballroom was a lot smaller than it was now. When the building was renovated, a part of the restaurant was demolished to create the bigger ballroom you see in the after photo. The restaurant is still there today but is smaller than it once was. Of course by doing this that whole dining room was redone. If I am being honest, I sort of like the original restaurant layout and ballroom design better. (If any of my bosses are reading those please don’t fire me lol). However when I think about it, I see why and it makes sense to increase the size of the ballroom so we can host two events at the same time. (Which is what currently happens here a lot of times on weekends).
The only other thing I want to point out that was a major change is the removal of the saunas and hot tub in the pool area. Sadly, I couldn’t find any photos of these amenities as many of these older photos are disappearing. I am very happy to recover these photos and keep the history of the hotel alive. As I work day to day and roam the halls, I can definitely still see touches of Holiday Inn and design elements of from the past still preserved. For example, we still have in the storage area some original Holiday Inn posters with the old school Holiday Inn logo. If my bosses are reading this, DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT THROWING THOSE OUT!
Just Another “Typical” Day
First, let me begin by saying there is no such thing as “just another day” for me at my hotel. My surroundings are always changing from having 2 weddings in house to having a full house during a busy holiday weekend. Depending on what is going on in the hotel on a particular day, it all shapes how my day will be. Like, I just mentioned having weddings. If I have no weddings, then I can expect for the most part a slower day depending on the time of year. On the flip side, if I have two weddings going on at the same time, I can expect a busier day and know to be prepared for it. Despite having events or not, busy or slow, I still make sure to do the best job I know I can do and am expected to do.
The Daily Grind
Typically, I begin my day at 3pm and will wrap up my day around 11pm. When I first come in, I meet up with my team and get filled in on everything that is going on and what happened in the morning. After that, I head around to the desk where all the action happens. I typically check my arrivals, my availability and prepare accordingly. Depending on the day, I can get anywhere from 10 arrivals, if it is slow, to over 100 if it is busy. Of course one of my main jobs is to check guests in and out, serve my guests and assist them with whatever they may need.
Sometimes if there are banquets going on, I will jump in the back and help out as needed. Typically, I only can do that if there is another front desk agent working with me and if it’s not overly busy at the desk. I’m very big on being a team player and helping out where I can. For example, if I go into housekeeping to get more towels, if I see the dryers are done and finished, I’ll take the extra few minutes and empty them for the housekeepers so that it is less work for them.
Anything Can Happen…
Remember how I said how no day is ever the exact same? With the fact, anything can happen anytime and anywhere in the hotel, it makes each day different
and sometimes challenging. On some days you will have a busy shift but it is quiet where nothing happens and there are other days you have a mix of both. From having emergency situations to dealing with crazy people, anything can happen. Sometimes you even have things happen that you have never seen before and you can’t believe it. Believe me, I have plenty of stories to tell and some I still can’t believe even after some time. For example one of my most recent stories includes a guest screaming at a bush outside and having a solid one on one argument with the bush. I think the bush one though… cause after a while the guest gave up. It’s things like this that make the job interesting and play a part in the idea that not everyday is the same. I can honestly, sit and write about all my crazy stories for hours. If you want to hear some of those stories go check out our Top 10 Craziest Stories as Told By Front Desk Agents blog post.
Advantages of Working Full Service:
At this point, you may be thinking why would I want to work in a full service hotel, it seems like a lot of work. I’ll be totally honest, some days are very challenging and you’re running around like crazy while other days it is a lot slower paced. One reason I love full service is for this very reason the fact there is that balance of slow days and busy days. So you’ll never just be dead slow or insanely busy all the time. I tend to notice this more on weekends where Fridays and Saturdays are insane followed by a relaxed Sunday to end off the week.
Another reason I love full service is the fact of the people you meet during your typical shift from the events going on or the large groups coming in. Sometimes you meet the coolest people from these groups and you suddenly find yourself talking with them as if you knew them for a long time. I think the best example of this that sticks out to me is the time this gentleman came up to me and told me he was inside my hotel when it was being built during the late 1970s. He told me this story of how the police department used the half built building for police drills and training. If that wasn’t cool enough, he took out his wallet and showed me pictures of the hotel during construction and of the drills. Even months later, I still put this at the top of my list as one of the coolest interactions I had.
Sunset At The Days
As the day fades into the night and it turns 11, my shift officially comes to an end. Before I leave for the night, I do any paperwork or reports I need to do, count the drawers again and finally I hand off the night to the night auditor. Typically, I fill them in on what happened all throughout the day, things they need to know and anything that needs to be passed on to the morning crew. Lastly before I clock out I make sure the cabinet with all the towels and extra linens is stocked for the night so it makes the night crew’s job easier. After all that is finished, I head out for the night and wait to do it all again the next day.
And that is a day in my life! Thank you all for enjoying this blog!
Touristician 