Anyone Here Work for a Hotel Assigning Rooms?

[SirDuff]

That's been a relatively new add to the Hilton app (maybe last 2 years or so) -- it's really great, but it also depends on your arrival time. If you show up early, it's possible that particular room had a late check out and isn't ready, yet.

You've been able to select your room for far longer than two years. I remember at least five years ago, and this press release suggests it was a decade ago. Though it used to be online, before Hilton got the app (I still usually do it on their website rather than app).

https://hospitalitytech.com/hilton-... Garden Inn, Homewood Suites and Home2 Suites.

 

[seashoreCM]

One time I stayed at Coronado Springs (a spread out resort). When I got to my room I noticed a large noisy central air conditioning unit just outside. "What a bad room." I thought. Then I went inside and closed the door. I could barely hear the air conditioner.

When I got back from the park late that evening I was almost at my room except I forgot exactly which building, which wing was mine. Did not have a cell phone and did not want to walk back to the check in desk. After a few minutes pondering I remembed the noisy air conditioner. Found it quickly and was back in my room.

More than one third party (travel writer, not relative or friend) has suggested that ressies made directly with the hotel tend to get "better" rooms because the hotel has not paid travel agent commisions or at the last minute sold off those rooms in a block at a deep discount.

 

[focusondisney]

Based on what I've read, it appears room assignments, even at Disney, appear to be luck of the draw. It's like winning the lottery to get all of your requests.

From everything I’ve read, Disney has a whole team that does room assignments & they’re done 3-5 days in advance. The last reports were it is a centralized gem that does all resorts, a change from when each resort doing their own. But it definitely seems to be luck of the draw. Especially at Disney where hotels run almost full year round, the chance of your requested room being available on your check in day & not also being requested by someone else decrease significantly.

I wonder if it’s not that you ticked someone off so you’re getting the bad room. I wonder if there’s another note because you accept those rooms without complaining …. Doesn’t mind noisy elevator adjacent rooms.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Well all I can say is for Marriott and Hilton I tend to get my room upgraded a couple of days in advance - they don't want the front desk person ignoring the members status.

Even with Dockside at Universal I got a text about a week in advance asking for any requests - and they were able to accommodate me.
I cant say they do that for everyone - but I was staying for 2 weeks and I have stayed for 10 days several times in the past.

Also - the prices tend to be better well in advance - unless you are using something like Hotels.com and not booking direct - and in that case they don't really (have) do anything for you as a member.

Unfortunately, we don't have that luxury. DH's travel is never scheduled far in advance. On the rare occasion that we have a 3 week notice, the dates still change on the fly. It's common for a 2 day stop to become 4 days or a 3 week trip to become 5.

We learned to book on the official sites a long time ago. We do it, because they're much more willing to work with you, if something changes. With his crazy schedule, it's not uncommon for us to have to drop or add a day or more.

I’m checking into the Hampton Inn near the San Jose, CA airport later today. About 3pm yesterday the Hilton app prompted me to check in and gave me the opportunity to choose a room. There were about 5 or 6 rooms available on each of floors 2 thru 6.

DH and I chose third floor near the elevator but not next to it.

Now that you mention it, we often get a text asking us to check-in. We always ignore it, but obviously shouldn't.

Yeah, even if you show up at your indicated arrival time your chosen room might not be ready. That has happened to us once or twice.

Our expected arrival time today is 6pm Pacific so hopefully our room is ready.

Safe travels! Enjoy your trip.

From everything I’ve read, Disney has a whole team that does room assignments & they’re done 3-5 days in advance. The last reports were it is a centralized gem that does all resorts, a change from when each resort doing their own. But it definitely seems to be luck of the draw. Especially at Disney where hotels run almost full year round, the chance of your requested room being available on your check in day & not also being requested by someone else decrease significantly.

I wonder if it’s not that you ticked someone off so you’re getting the bad room. I wonder if there’s another note because you accept those rooms without complaining …. Doesn’t mind noisy elevator adjacent rooms.

Hmm... Interesting thought. That's very possible.

DH always checks us in. I'll suggest he asks, when he gets a particularly chatty employee at the front dest.

 

[China Expat]

Our hotel curse is always having the farthest room possible, often in places with carpets that make lugging your suitcases difficult. From Africa to Asia to the US, always the longest walk.

 

[Deb]

I managed a hotel that had a larger than normal amount of guests that extended during their stay. Upon availability of course. It was highly unusual for us to assign rooms prior to the day of arrival. And I left before our hotel started doing online check in. I expect guests choosing their own rooms at that hotel would have been a mess if it allowed guests to choose expected check outs rather than just rooms that were already vacant. We did our best to accommodate requests within reason. Higher tier members received priority. Third party bookings were last.

 

[NYCgrrl]

in fact these people had told an employee they were extending their stay, but they have had issues with people trying to stay and extra night without paying and hoping not to get caught.

This points to a possible problem with staffing. Almost every hotel I worked with was covered by a union contract that among other things stipulated how many workers must be employed to staff a hotel/motel by occupancy rate.

It’s Housekeeping’s responsibility to assure room status and heads would roll in your situation.

 

[tvguy]

This points to a possible problem with staffing. Almost every hotel I worked with was covered by a union contract that among other things stipulated how many workers must be employed to staff a hotel/motel by occupancy rate.

It’s Housekeeping’s responsibility to assure room status and heads would roll in your situation.

Interesting. As an outsider I would expect the Hotel to require to notify the front desk if they were extending, not housekeeping. As I recall, the occupant of the room told the front desk that they HAD called down to extend. But as the person who they told that to would have been the one they talked to, seems unlikely.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Interesting. As an outsider I would expect the Hotel to require to notify the front desk if they were extending, not housekeeping. As I recall, the occupant of the room told the front desk that they HAD called down to extend. But as the person who they told that to would have been the one they talked to, seems unlikely.

Normally, it works like this:
Guest informs Front Desk (sometimes Housekeeping is informed first so they inform Front Desk) and when H/K does their daily checks ( at least 2 a day; one status update when the room is cleaned, another at end of shift to avoid the problem you had.), ultimately their report informs FD. Now if the guest informed no one of their intentions or the info was lost- Housekeeping would still know via afternoon report.

I love the way it’s done in many modern hotels now via tablets with all departments getting info in RT. Must cut down mightily on paper costs.

 

[Deb]

This points to a possible problem with staffing. Almost every hotel I worked with was covered by a union contract that among other things stipulated how many workers must be employed to staff a hotel/motel by occupancy rate.

interesting out contract did not have staffing guidelines. The closest it came to telling us how many employees needed to be scheduled was how long our housekeepers had to clean each room. Any other position, as long as management was not being used in place of a union employee, staffing was up to management

 

[tvguy]

Normally, it works like this:
Guest informs Front Desk (sometimes Housekeeping is informed first so they inform Front Desk) and when H/K does their daily checks ( at least 2 a day; one status update when the room is cleaned, another at end of shift to avoid the problem you had.), ultimately their report informs FD. Now if the guest informed no one of their intentions or the info was lost- Housekeeping would still know via afternoon report.

I love the way it’s done in many modern hotels now via tablets with all departments getting info in RT. Must cut down mightily on paper costs.

Of course, it depends on the hotel. I stayed at one last week (a small one) that only does housekeeping upon request. So if you don't request it, they don't come into your room. And I stayed at a Marriott in March in St. Louis that only did housekeeping every other day for guests staying more than one night.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Of course, it depends on the hotel. I stayed at one last week (a small one) that only does housekeeping upon request. So if you don't request it, they don't come into your room. And I stayed at a Marriott in March in St. Louis that only did housekeeping every other day for guests staying more than one night.

Yeah that’s a trend I would have never predicted; was always amazed reading about people getting rate discounts to not clean the room; seemed the antithesis of the national desire. You live to learn

 

[Deb]

Of course, it depends on the hotel. I stayed at one last week (a small one) that only does housekeeping upon request. So if you don't request it, they don't come into your room. And I stayed at a Marriott in March in St. Louis that only did housekeeping every other day for guests staying more than one night.

that is very much a covid/post covid thing. One of those "we got away with it during the pandemic, so..."

 

[tvguy]

that is very much a covid/post covid thing. One of those "we got away with it during the pandemic, so..."

My wife is much more comfortable with not having anyone in the room, especially someone who has been in multiple other guest rooms before hand. . She has her Clorox wipes and a routine every time we check into a hotel room and would have to do that daily.
Not sure they got away with it during covid, more than likely they were forced to for a couple of reasons. People like my wife that don't want people in their room, and at least here in California not being able to find anyone to do the work. My son lives in Los Angeles and both the hotels we stay in have signs posting that their house cleaning staff carry panic buttons for their safety. Apparently housekeeping staff have been frequent victims of assaults.

 

[Deb]

Not sure they got away with it during covid, more than likely they were forced to for a couple of reasons.

sure, those of us in the business have no idea

 

[tvguy]

sure, those of us in the business have no idea

Sorry, I don't understand. Does your hotel get any guest feedback on housecleaning?

 

[RuntheMouse]

If you travel a lot it would be beneficial to join a loyalty program (preferably Hilton Honors ) to earn points and status, not to mention selecting your far-from-the-elevator room. Do what works for you of course, but these options are available.

DH travels a lot for work so we have lifetime diamond with Hilton (thanks for the ear buds!) and they have been accommodating with our requests away from elevator from day one blue card members. Their app is also the best for letting you pick your room 24 in advance.

Lifetime titanium at Marriott and they’re about 50/50. The upgrades are good but you sometimes give things up for “better” rooms. I don’t even bother doing online check-in with them as it’s pointless.

 

[Deb]

Sorry, I don't understand. Does your hotel get any guest feedback on housecleaning?

I said the not cleaning every room every day came out of Covid and stuck around and you said it did not.

 

[tvguy]

I said the not cleaning every room every day came out of Covid and stuck around and you said it did not.

Re-read my post. You said "they got away with it". I was saying that..............as an outsider......they may have been FORCED to make the change. So I am guessing that your hotel didn't like having to clean rooms for guests staying more than one night? The news stories I have seen interview folks saying the problem of housekeeping employees being assaulted, and covid made it tough to find people to hire to do the cleaning.

 

[Deb]

Re-read my post. You said "they got away with it". I was saying that..............as an outsider......they may have been FORCED to make the change. So I am guessing that your hotel didn't like having to clean rooms for guests staying more than one night? The news stories I have seen interview folks saying the problem of housekeeping employees being assaulted, and covid made it tough to find people to hire to do the cleaning.

we were well staffed and preferred to be in every room every day pre covid. Occupancy plummeted and the goal became to limit contact so cleaning occupied rooms were cut. I can't remember our exact parameter's. Because occupancy was so low I think we got into the habit of leaving checked out rooms a day or two before they were cleaned.