00:00If it's continental breakfast, do not touch the bacon.
00:02He passes the sales receptionist
00:04and solicits her $1,000 for the night.
00:08You don't want to get scammed.
00:09It gets pretty kinky.
00:11I have been in the hotel industry for 12 years.
00:1318 years.
00:1420 years.
00:16I hate that thing.
00:19I think people forget that we do actually care,
00:22and we want to make your trip as cute as possible.
00:25The front desk is fully in control of your stay at the hotel.
00:30Your room, the place where you're going to be sleeping,
00:32they are actually your key to getting a better room.
00:36And the concierge, they're pretty much your best friend,
00:39your liaison to the city.
00:40We recommend restaurants,
00:41and we arrange anything special that the guests are looking for.
00:46Maybe it's a romantic getaway, and they're like,
00:48can you make sure that we have some lingerie in the room
00:49prior to getting there?
00:50Whatever goes, so long as it's legal or moral or ethical, obviously.
00:55The fastest check-in and check-out that I've ever experienced
00:59was a guest came in.
01:01He was already giving some weird vibes.
01:03He asked for the Wi-Fi.
01:05I gave it to him, but when he showed me his phone,
01:07it had an escort website on.
01:09I was like, okay, well, here's the Wi-Fi password.
01:12There you go.
01:12Please, please go.
01:13And then he walks down the hall,
01:15does not even make it to the elevator.
01:17He passes the sales receptionist
01:19and solicits her $1,000 for the night.
01:23She immediately flags security, and he's escorted off property.
01:26So this all happened in a minute.
01:28We had a wedding in-house.
01:29The best man wanted to send some ladies of the night
01:34to the groom's room as a fun surprise the night before the wedding,
01:38which I was like, all right, aggressive.
01:40I can't book that for you.
01:42I'm sure if you look here, here, here,
01:43it'd be pretty easy to find,
01:45but we wouldn't facilitate something like that for the guest.
01:48One of our core values is that we never say no to a guest.
01:52If we do have to decline any request,
01:54we always provide an alternative,
01:56and we provide the best possible alternative.
01:59Yes, I definitely know where to party in New York City.
02:01Absolutely, I can score you some good weed.
02:03Everything that you want to do that is extra special,
02:06it comes with a price.
02:11Tipping does one thing.
02:12It puts a very big smile on my face.
02:14I had it one day where there were like five, six people,
02:17back to back to back, $20, $20, $20, $20.
02:19They didn't necessarily ask for anything,
02:21but if you're lacing my pocket with cash,
02:24I'm going to hook you up with something.
02:25The most I've ever had someone give me upon arrival
02:28without even speaking to me is $300.
02:30They'll just slide it across the desk.
02:31This is for you.
02:32Without you even knowing it,
02:33you're getting the best room in the house.
02:35I'm not going to charge you an upgrade fee.
02:36You're going to get breakfast on me,
02:37and you have two cocktails coming your way
02:39as soon as I give you this room key.
02:41Please tip your housekeepers.
02:42I would say for the housekeeper tips, $10, $15.
02:47What they've seen in their rooms.
02:49Oh my God.
02:51Housekeeping, we are nothing without you.
02:54Nothing.
02:54Thank you so much for everything that you do.
02:57They are the unsung heroes
02:59because the things that they walk into
03:01after a guest has checked out, ridiculous.
03:04One guest, he kept extending his stay.
03:07We kept asking if he needed housekeeping service.
03:09By the time he left, he ruined both beds, soiled them.
03:14We could never use them again.
03:16Trash everywhere.
03:18He broke the shower faucet.
03:21Not too sure how.
03:22The engineer comes to the front desk and he's like,
03:26yeah, so this was left on the shower.
03:27I'm checking a guest and I'm not paying attention.
03:30And then they kind of bring the picture of,
03:32they're like, Lee, what is this?
03:33So it's like extension for the shower extender to like,
03:37you know, and flush everything out.
03:40And the guest left it attached to the shower head.
03:43You know, you stick it up your bum.
03:44That's probably the weirdest thing I've seen in the last couple of months
03:46because is it sanitized?
03:48What do we do?
03:48Do we call them and let them know,
03:50hey, you left your cleaner attached to the shower.
03:53Would you like us to mail it to you?
03:54Sex toys, dildos, vibrators, we've seen it all.
03:57We've seen the dildos lodged in between the mattress,
04:00stuck to the windows.
04:01We actually have a guest that comes and requests a particular room
04:05because it has two mirrors on either side of the room.
04:08I guess he likes to watch.
04:10If he doesn't get that room, he actually goes a little crazy.
04:13Worst case scenario, we get into the room after they check out
04:15and we realize it's totally trashed.
04:17Security deposits, it normally tells the hotel,
04:20yes, I have the ability to pay for the room that I've reserved.
04:23And we always want to make sure we're giving the guests the best experience,
04:26but we're taking care of the hotel asset as well.
04:29And then we tend to take a little bit extra
04:31in case there's extra incidentals during the stay.
04:34So maybe they raided the mini bar, they booked a massage.
04:37My property, we do not have sensors in the mini bar,
04:40but I have heard stories, especially,
04:42and I think Las Vegas has some high-tech technology
04:44when it comes to those mini bars.
04:45I have had a few experiences with people
04:47that smoke the room and trash the room.
04:49I had one experience when I was working in New York.
04:52We had a high-profile guest.
04:54Won't name names, but he's a former heavyweight champion.
04:56The room just, like, after he left, reeked of pot.
04:59We've got all these hotel tricks.
05:01We've got, like, these machines we can put in that absorb smell.
05:05Old trick I learned back in the day is, like, fresh coffee beans.
05:08They absorb smell.
05:09So we'll put, like, bags or bowls of those through the suite.
05:12But no matter what we did, like, for one, two months after the fact,
05:16the smell would just, like, occasionally come back,
05:18until we were doing our preventative maintenance,
05:20going through everything, you know, the floorboards, the vents,
05:23and we cracked open this one vent and just found, like,
05:26this pound bag of pot that this guy had hidden in the vents
05:30before he left.
05:31So we're like, ah, that's where the smell is coming from.
05:34Every time the vent is blowing,
05:35it's just permeating smell of pot through the whole suite.
05:39Maybe he was paranoid and he's like,
05:41ah, I can't take this with me.
05:43Boop.
05:44It was a creative place to hide it, though.
05:46It was definitely the most creative place I've found stuff in the hotel.
05:49I think a lot of people think incidentals means in case you break something.
05:52It's actually just for food and drinks
05:54and different activities that the resort might offer.
05:56Generally, if something's broken, unless it's extremely significant,
05:59we just deal with it internally.
06:01But please don't break anything.
06:06Does booking third party make a big difference?
06:08Third parties, you think you're getting a good deal.
06:11However, it's going to be a little convoluted if you have any difficulties.
06:16If there's any issue, we're limited on how we can compensate you for that.
06:20I cannot touch the revenue.
06:22I cannot touch the rate.
06:23I cannot offer a refund.
06:24I always say book direct.
06:25I know a lot of times many people get sort of swayed by third parties, OTAs,
06:30which are online travel agencies.
06:32But oftentimes they might seem like they might be a little bit less,
06:34but then by the time you add in all those extra fees, it ends up being about the same price.
06:38Definitely better to call the hotel.
06:40You can certainly get some more personalization with your room booking.
06:43And if you have some particular preferences as to what kind of room you want.
06:47Most hotels are just going to be like,
06:49book directly with us and we're going to match that rate for you,
06:52so that we're not paying the commission and all this and that.
06:55Any hotel is going to pay like 30-40% commission on any booking that comes through those sites.
07:00If you have psychic vision and you know your life is going to be perfect
07:05and nothing is ever going to change about your life, about your trip, about the world,
07:10book a non-refundable rate.
07:12If you are not psychic, don't do it.
07:14The best way to get an upgrade, and I love this,
07:16everyone's top question, call us beforehand.
07:19Talk to us.
07:20Tell us about yourself.
07:21We really do care.
07:23We're going to help you out.
07:24And you let them know what you're traveling for.
07:26So maybe it's a birthday, an anniversary.
07:28Maybe it's your first time traveling in a year and it's just a really special thing for you.
07:33Maybe the day of your arrival or the day prior, taking a look on their website
07:37and seeing what room categories they're still selling, if it's suites or things like that.
07:41But I've had people come to me at the front desk and maybe it's 10 p.m. at night.
07:46I know if I have a suite, I'm probably not going to sell it that night.
07:49So we'll give a sweetheart deal here and there.
07:56Continental Breakfast.
07:56My advice, Google the menu.
07:59There are hotels with lovely, lovely restaurants where an included breakfast is amazing.
08:05There are also many places where a Continental Breakfast is an egg.
08:10I don't know if you want to pay extra for that.
08:12If it's Continental Breakfast, do not touch the bacon.
08:14It's pre-cooked.
08:15It comes out of a box.
08:16They'll recycle it for days.
08:18It's not cooked to order.
08:20The eggs are also something that you want to steer clear of.
08:23Nine times out of 10, they're carton eggs.
08:24I have nothing against carton eggs, but it's like the lowest brand of brands.
08:28Sometimes they're actually powdered eggs too, so don't touch the eggs either.
08:32When it comes to being in the lobby, people come down and maybe they're in their bathrobe.
08:36I always find that a little bit interesting.
08:38I'm like, that was a choice.
08:39I do not like to see children rolling around on the floor.
08:42I think it's very disgusting.
08:44A couple of weeks ago, a guest walked down in the complimentary slippers that we give them.
08:48The bottom of those slippers were so filthy to think that someone would walk around barefoot
08:52literally made my stomach, like, turn.
08:54People are super special.
08:56I think live your life, be yourself.
08:59I think it's rough if you're walking through the lobby bare feet, and I would love for you
09:03to wear shoes.
09:04I mean, it's a compliment.
09:05I'm like, okay, awesome.
09:06You feel like you live here.
09:07That's amazing.
09:08There's no need for me to see your feet.
09:09I don't like for people to congregate in the lobby.
09:13If it's a smaller lobby, I can't hear myself.
09:15We're trying to speak over you.
09:17Like, just be considerate because there are still people coming in to check in.
09:20They want to hear what we're trying to tell them, and we want to hear what they're trying
09:23to discuss with us.
09:24So, you know, just don't be a jerk.
09:26You have to remember that the hospitality industry is a people industry.
09:30Be nice.
09:31I think people underestimate how much of a difference it makes if you treat me
09:38like a real person.
09:39Now I feel good about this interaction.
09:41I'm going to be helping you out.
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