I’m staying at [Hotel] in [Small Town] for the first time, and there isn’t much information about their restaurant on their site. I do know that I don’t have breakfast included in my booking.

Late in the evening, I go to check the restaurant’s opening hours.

Night Man: “Oh, the kitchen’s closed, I think, but you can get tea right now. Here’s the hot water and everything. Help yourself.”

At that point, I don’t want tea. In the morning, I learn the kitchen’s exact opening hours at the reception, and:

Me: “So… should I pay for the tea over there?”

Receptionist #1: “Oh, no, it’s free.”

Okay, I believe that, especially since it was free at [Guest House] where I stayed the last time I visited [Small Town]. I drink that tea with my breakfast — the food I’ve bought elsewhere.

The next morning, I get to the restaurant when breakfast is already drawing to a close and [Receptionist #2] is obviously clearing everything up.

Me: “Can I still have the tea now?”

Receptionist #2: “What’s your room number?”

I tell her.

Receptionist #2: “But you don’t have breakfast included. Only the water’s free; the tea costs 50 rubles.”

Me: “Oh, I’m awfully sorry, but I was told by your colleague yesterday that it was free…”

Later that day, I come to the reception and hand over a 100. I explain everything and say it’s for the past two days’ tea.

There are two receptionists on duty, and with my terrible facial memory, I can’t be sure if I talked to either about the tea, but I’m almost certain one of them is [Receptionist #2]. Both receptionists assure me:

Receptionists: “Oh, please, [My Name], it’s all right! Keep that!”

100 rubles is just a bit over $1 in current rates, so I know it was no big loss for them to make this tea on the house, but I really appreciate their friendliness about the whole miscommunication — especially since I’m incredibly nervous around strangers and often go to pieces after making mistakes.

To avoid trouble in the future, I simply bought a box of tea bags from a supermarket. With the amount of tea I drink, it’s the most economic solution.

I work in a hotel. I’m chilling at the desk when a large group of dudes in high-visibility gear comes up to the desk. Their boss approaches.

Boss: “Hey, I need to get two rooms with two beds.”

Me: “I’m sorry, sir, but we’re almost sold out. All I have left is one room with one bed.”

Boss: “Really? What happened?”

Me: “We’re just very busy this week.”

Boss: “I really need two rooms with two beds. Can you do one room with one bed and one room with two beds?”

Me: “I have one room with one bed, sir.”

Boss: “What about downstairs?”

Me: “Yes, it is downstairs.”

Boss: “Do you have two rooms downstairs?”

Me: “I have one room, with one bed, in the entire hotel.”

He turns to talk to his guys for a minute, and the phone rings, so I go to answer that. It’s someone else looking to get the price for the one room we have left, but he is looking for a smoking room, which we no longer have. (Cue celebration noises.)

After the phone call, I go back to [Boss].

Me: “Have you made a decision, sir? Would you like to rent the room?”

Boss: “I really need two rooms.”

Me: “I understand that, sir, but I don’t have two rooms.”

Boss: “Can you please check?”

Me: “There isn’t anything to check, sir. I have one room, with one bed left.”

Finally, he asked for the price of the room and then decided that standing around trying to will rooms into existence wasn’t working well and asked for directions to the next hotel.

I am a Latina woman with a pixie cut and the sides of my hair shaved so there are just lovely curls up top and falling down to the side.

At my hotel, we have several wedding groups in-house, which is normal for a weekend. But last night, I had to bite my tongue hard.

This all starts with a woman trying to check in when I am working the afternoon shift.

Me: *Politely* “Can I see your ID, please? And the card you wish to use for the room?”

Guest: “I don’t have my ID. But here’s my husband’s card.”

Me: “Is your husband here to show me his ID?”

Guest: “No, he’s still at the airport. We lost a suitcase and he’s trying to get it back.”

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, but due to policy, I can’t check you in since you have no ID, and the card you have belongs to someone else.”

My general manager even comes from the back to back me up, and the woman is livid.

She storms out and sits outside yelling and talking s*** about us on the phone. I ignore it and move on with my day.

A few hours later, the woman is back with her son who has his own room.

Son: “Can I check my mom’s room in with my ID and my card?”

Me: “Sure, as long as the gentleman with the reservation says it’s okay.”

He texts his dad, who adds him to the reservation, and I check them in quickly.

On the weekends I do the audit shift, which I love. The next night, the wedding this woman is here for has an after-party reception, and they have booked our meeting room. It is fine, everyone is nice and chill, and it is a smooth-sailing shift.

Then, I have a young lady from the party come up to redo her keys; if you have our room keys too close to a cell phone, they demagnetize. I am chatting with her when [Woman] stops at the desk on her way back from smoking outside.

Woman: “My husband made fun of me because you had me homeless in the parking lot for two hours yesterday.”

I just smile and apologize for the inconvenience. She then comes out with:

Woman: “So, guy or girl?”

[Young Lady] and I look at her and at each other, confused.

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, but what do you mean?”

Woman: “Oh, my friends, husband, and I have a bet and want to know if you’re a guy or a girl.”

[Young Lady] stares at her, horrified. I bite my tongue and respond with a smile.

Me: “I’m a woman, ma’am.”

I am in a grey cardigan and a cute short-sleeved blue blouse with black slacks, which is our uniform look for front-desk women.

This bitter woman gives me a fake smile and says:

Woman: “Oh, we all thought you were a man with how assertive you were about not checking me in, and how you were fine with us leaving without a place to stay, all over an ID.”

She then goes back to the party.

[Young Lady] then starts apologizing for the woman’s behavior on behalf of their group.

Young Lady: “I never heard anyone in our group talk about that, I swear.”

Me: “It’s fine, don’t worry about it. I’m sure she’s just drunk.”

I was trying to laugh it off, but inside, I was livid. I had really long hair for years, and it kind of hurt to think that people thought I looked like a man because I’d decided to cut it short, and it made me feel self-conscious for a bit before I knocked all those thoughts away. I will admit that I hid in the back for thirty minutes before going to start audit, though; when I sat down and thought about it, I realized [Woman] was trying to bait me into reacting negatively and possibly cost me my job, which ticked me off.

It’s simply baffling to think about how some people literally have no lives and get off on trying to make others unhappy like them. Other than that, the rest of my shift went smoothly, and I happily left as soon as the morning shift arrived.

[Woman] checks out today, so when I go in, I won’t see her face, which gives me joy and makes it better. Either way, I love my job and no one will take that from me.

I work at a four-star hotel. One of my bosses is leaving at the end of this week after six years of service. She has her dream job lined up, working for herself, and she is taking the whole “I do not give a frick” attitude VERY seriously.

Last weekend, we had a guest stay who has been with us before. He is always rude to staff and other guests, always complains, and is never happy. After this particular stay, he sent an email requesting a refund for his stay.

Here is his email and my boss’s response. Enjoy.

Guest: “Dear Sir, I demand you refund me for my latest stay at your hotel! As usual, my stay was sub-par, but this visit was entirely ruined by your night staff! I could not sleep a wink due to my room being next to a door that was used constantly throughout the night, banging and clattering at least forty to fifty times! I spoke to one of your so-called staff members, who was of no help! I expect my refund immediately! Regards, Mr. [Guest].”

Boss: “Dear Mr. [Guest], I would like to apologise for the failings of our hotel during your stay. But I won’t. As you have stayed with us before and have never had a good visit, I’m surprised you expected anything more this time around. In fact, I have often wondered why you bother to stay with us repeatedly at all, as you seem to hate it here so much. However, after talking to the managers of the other two hotels in town, I can see why: they have both banned you for offensive behaviour toward staff and other guests. So, I guess you are just trying to make the best of a bad lot. (And don’t worry about us breaking confidentiality rules; we are allowed to share guest information if it is related to the protection of staff).

“Despite this, I felt it my duty to review the CCTV tapes of the hallway in which you stayed that night. This was partly because I couldn’t think of any reasons why the singular night staff member would need to enter that cupboard door more than once or twice in a night, and partly because when I asked said staff member about the incident, she said you claimed the door had only banged ‘thirty to forty f****** times!’ I wanted to count for myself to make sure. Now, I’m no maths whizz, but I think I got it right. From 10:00 pm when you arrived until 8:00 am when you left, that door was opened… twice. Once was for the staff member to retrieve a cleaning item and once was to return it. There was no other sound or movement at that end of the hallway all evening — except, of course, you.

“I must admit to gagging slightly as I watched the footage of the second time my (five-foot-tall, petite, lone-working) staff member opened the cupboard, returning her item. Because as she locked it, you (a six-foot-plus, large, aggressive man) appeared from your room door, less than a foot behind her. I don’t know what disturbed me more: the fact that you screamed at the staff member before asking any questions; the fact you continued to scream at her without letting her reply; the fact that you marched her backward into a corner, blocking any escape route; or the fact that you did all this in a public hallway while buck naked!

“I’d like to mention at this point that, despite this obvious assault, my staff member didn’t initially report your behaviour to me. She has worked for me for many years and, unfortunately, now sees vile bullies like you as merely “workplace hazards’ — one of the many reasons I am leaving this trade.

“And even if all that weren’t the case, the hotel does have a ‘You stay, you pay’ policy. As you at no point requested a room change or relocation to another accommodation, you are expected to pay the entirety of your bill. However, in lieu of a refund, I can make assurances that you will never have to experience such ‘sub-par’ service again. I am officially banning you from our hotel and our forty-one sister hotels across the country. You have been entered into the company blacklist, so you may never have the indignity of staying at a [Company] hotel again.

“I hope this helps.

“Kind regards, MISS [Boss].

“P.S. I’ve sent a copy of the CCTV footage to the police, as they requested it after I encouraged my staff member to file an indecent exposure report. They should be contacting you shortly.”

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We’re a large hotel managed by a management company. As part of the management company’s role, we have several health and safety inspections per year. They all have slightly different focuses. As part of their visits, they always have a walk around and highlight items they see that need to be fixed.

During one such visit, they highlighted that fire extinguishers were hard to reach as someone had put chairs and tables in front of them.

Boss: “[My Name], you need to email all the managers and tell them that they cannot put things in front of fire extinguishers. Tag the duty managers. They need to mark it during their floor walk.”

Me: “Sure.”

Two days later:

Boss: “Why are they marking that we failed items on the floor walks? You know we always have to pass it. We don’t want HQ getting too involved.”

Me: “You said they had to start marking items in front of fire extinguishers on their floor walks.”

Boss: “No, I meant they had to spot it and email someone to get it moved. They can’t mark the points as failed.”

One week later:

Me: “[Boss], there has been a chair in front of the wedding area fire extinguishers for the last three days and it hasn’t been flagged.”

Boss: “I know. They don’t need to mark that one. I moved it there.”

Me: “Why? You know that they have to be accessible at all times.”

Boss: “In the wedding area, fire extinguishers look ugly.”