I'm a hotel manager, I worked for Marriott for 5 years. If you read only one post of mine, please read this.

I manage a hotel with 350 rooms in a touristic area. Since I got my job, I had more than 2000 guests (guests, not customers). And I worked in the Marriott hotel in Miami for 2 years before this job. So, I met a lot of travelers. I saw all types of people, all kind of behaviors.<br><br>I worked in the hotel industry for more than 15 years in total, in different countries. I saw good and bad. And I have a message for you to read and to remember for your next trip. <br><br>I decided to make this post because I saw A LOT of complaints about hotels lately. And most of them with no reason to be mad, if you think about it.<br><br>Here are some things most of the guests (not customers, I will explain) don't understand about working in the hotel industry.<br><br>* We don't pretend to be your butler. If you came to the hotel to party, and you need someone to clean your room 24h, for example, please don't get mad with us if we can't adapt. We have 350 rooms to clean, people who really need the room clean. <br>* You don't have the right to free stuff just because you are here. We are not Walmart. We are a company. If you want a early check out, we have some policies (check the website), but let's be honest... Most of the hotels have the same policies. If you want to check out early, we have a tax to pay, and we do for every guest who asks that. <br>* We don't care if you came for a wedding or for a vacation. We have the same tax for everyone. Comparing yourself with others... Compare your life to others when you are 50. Not your vacation. <br>* We don't have the power to give you free stuff. It's a manager's job to treat guests well, yes. But we have limitations, too. And we are humans too. We have lives, we have kids, families... If you ask me for a late check out, and the next guest has early check out, you are disrupting someone's plan. I gave a late check out for you once, and the next guests were kicked out of their hotel in 10 minutes, and were not told in advance. Don't be that person. If you ask for late check out, ask how many hours we can give. Don't ask to stay all day. If we have guests coming, we can't give you more than 2 hours. <br><br>Most of the people who complain about hotels and hotel manegers don't even know what they are talking about. They stayed in a hotel once or twice in their lives. They think because they paid for something, they get 500% more. They don't even understand the basics of business. If you work in a restaurant, a store, a gym, you know it is too easy to see that hotel guests have no clue about the basic concept of taxes, and limited power. If you are a "gold", "platinum", "privilage" customer, it doesn't change anything. It is just a number. I have hundreds of "gold" customers who think they have the power to get free stuff. They don't. You have an "upgrade" sometimes because it is fully empty, but that is just because of that, and not because you have "gold". I get tired of say it. I don't care about the number. I have a job to do, and I am just like every working person... I pretend to be nice, because it is better for business, but I am not here to be your friend. <br><br>And the room not clean when you come back? If you check in at 4 am, it takes some time to get the room ready. If you sleep all day, till 4 pm or 6 pm, and you come back, the room will not be clean. We have time to clean the rooms during the day, because you are out. If you come back earlier, you will find the maid cleaning the room next to yours, and if you give her 5 dollars, she will finish faster. Don't be offended... It is too common. Sometimes we have rooms that take more time, because the guests leave everything open or full of trash. But it takes time, because we are humans, and we have limitations too. If you come back at 6 pm, and you need the room clean, ask the front desk if it is possible, and we will give it to the maid who is the most free at the moment. And if you are at a touristic area, and you come and go, you will never see the room clean, because you won't give us time.<br><br>Most of the guests don't know the first thing about cleaning a room. I used to work in a cleaning shift when I started to be a manager, and I had no clue how much time, time, TIME it takes to clean a room. We talk about 45 minutes per room. Forget about it. I have 350. If the guests leave everything full of clothes and full of trash, it takes more time. If we have an accident in the room (vomit, dog poop...), it takes more time. If you don't clean your shoes in the mat near the door, you will ruin the carpet. If you put your makeup in the counter, you will damage it. If you don't dry your hair after washing, the mirror will be full of water everywhere. <br><br>Most of the guests don't know the first thing about the machines, and how difficult it is to clean them. We have guests putting tissue in the toilet, napkins in the oven, make up on the phones and machines... It takes hours to clean the machines, and the guests complain because we don't have the information written anywhere... It is too easy to write "Don't put tissue in the toilet", but guests do it anyway... People still smoke in the room, spitting in the bidet... It is too common. <br><br>If you ask something to the front desk, don't get offended if the person says no. Don't think that the person is bad with you, because that is not possible. We are humans, too. We have limitations. And if you are kind with us, we are more willing to give you something that you asked. If we are busy, don't throw a tantrum because we don't answer. We are on the phone, sometimes with 5 people at the same time. If you are kind and understand that we can't give you something because we are busy, we will be more likely to help you. <br><br>If you have an issue with the room, don't go to the front desk and start being rude and screaming. Please call us. We have a number in the room, or in the menu. Explain the issue, and we will fix it. If we can't come, we will send someone. But don't come to the front desk, slamming your fist, and start a fight with the person because it is not your food in the room... Order room service, and if you don't have, ask to the front desk, and we will give you the number of the restaurant. If you have an issue, we have a feedback paper in the room. Please, if you have an issue, tell us when you leave. You don't realize how useful it is to give us feedback, because that helps us to identify where we did something wrong. And we correct it for the next guests. <br><br>Most of the people who come to our hotels don't know that we have lives too, families too. We had colleagues who came to the hotel, and the guests were mean and rude. We are humans, not machines. <br><br>If you stay in a hotel, you pay to sleep there. The people in the hotel are here to make sure you feel comfortable, and have what you need. If you are a rude person, and you behave badly, you will never meet the service you deserve. Don't be that person. <br><br>I hope this post gets to the right people. I am not a mean manager. I am not the bad guy. I had thousands of guests, and I treated them well. I had guests crying because I couldn't give them something. I had guests calling me 2 years after they came, just to thank me for the treatment. But I also had guests throwing tantrums, guests fighting with my colleagues... Don't be that person.<br><br>If this gets to the right person... Thank you for staying in our hotel. Thank you for paying for the people's food in their bellies, and a roof above their heads. Have a wonderful day/night.