Sovigilant

I've worked in several hotels in the US and most of us just find it annoying when you sit in the lobby and bug us. We have work to do. And most of the time it's distracting. We do not get breaks only when there is no guest in the lobby. If you are sitting in lobby we cannot leave front desk. So if someone just sits there when they have a room they can clearly sit in. It's a problem. Guests need to stop selfishly only thinking about themselves.

simmang

In the case of your hotel, they simply need to remove the furniture from the lobby if it's that big of a problem. No guest knows, nor would care about the complaints you've mentioned.

BadgerBoi

I'm often interested in knowing things that annoy people in various customer service roles. It rarely (if ever)!would change my behaviour though.

MSPeconomist

"Guests need to stop selfishly only thinking about themselves"? Well, those guests are paying your employer to stay at the hotel and you are a paid employee of the hotel, right? In fact, without such customers, your employer's hotel could cease to be profitable and then you would no longer have a job, so you need to change your attitude. If you find it so annoying to be personally inconvenienced by paying customers during the time that you are paid to work, you need to find another job, preferably some career that involves no customer service at all and no contact with clients. Good luck.

smc333

Don't blame the guests, blame your boss for not having somebody else available for 15/30 minutes to cover you for your breaks.

Also, I fail to see how sitting within your line of sight is 'bugging' you. All of the posts here have mentioned waiting for someone or working - nobody has mentioned chatting with the front desk staff or anything like that.

pinniped

Are we being punk'd right now?

Hotels have been extensively investing in lobbies. @:-) They want us to hang out in lobbies, not our rooms. They're building living rooms and community tables. They're putting in places to work on a laptop or tablet. They're designing open floorplans that blend lobby, bar, and coffeeshop. They're putting vintage videogames, board games, and other gizmos in the lobbies. They're putting outlets and USB ports everywhere: they don't want us to leave to juice our devices.

This is the hotel design trend. They know guests in their rooms aren't ordering glasses of wine or cups of latte, even if they are theoretically available from room service. Guests in lobbies do.

The one guy who sits there all day and doesn't order a cocktail? He's an outlier. And besides, even he adds to the subconscious feel that the lobby is alive, which attracts more people.



Guess this memo didn't make it to the front desk.

Kagehitokiri

pinniped, apparently there is now an app that lets companies pay models/actors to show up, to fake certain kinds of crowds

pinniped

If any hotel out there ever wants to plant a guy at the bar drinking Scotch, give me a shout!!

obscure2k

I recall reading that when Cesar Ritz was planning the Ritz Hotel, Paris, he was adamant that the lobby should be small with few, if any, seats. He wanted to discourage people from lingering and also thought it would keep out non guests. Having stayed there before the recent remodel, I can say that was the case.

BuildingMyBento

Most recently, after long walks around Jeddah, I'd end up at a random hotel lobby, looking to buy a water/relax for a bit in the a/c. Instead, the staff would offer me dates and Saudi coffee (infused with cardamom).

In general, if I'm not staying at the hotel, I'll try to buy something. I'm apt to stay longer if the lobby has free wifi, and is free of smoke.

Jaimito Cartero

If you read back in this thread, you'll see that you posted something almost identical 5.5 years ago.

obscure2k

I'll add to my original post. Ritz may have been the one to have originally thought about a small lobby in order to keep out those he considered undesirable, but many classic, luxury hotels which followed, adhered to the same paradigm. Lobbies are not a place to loiter. Examples are Gritti, in Venice which had almost non-existent lobby. Hassler in Rome, Meurice in Paris, Pierre, New York as well as The Carlyle. IIRC, are just a few which come to mind. They all have bars just off of their small lobbies where patrons may sit and converse and wait for their friends. I have seen some modern hotels in the past few years which also seem to have adopted the same paradigm.

Kagehitokiri

some luxury hotels have large/massive lobbies and lobby lounges which serve but do not require full meal service, tea, alcohol, etc. (it is really interesting how much it varies from none/tiny to massive.)

while some others do not allow nonguests through the front door and or require roomkey to access hotel's common areas beyond a small entryway. some have additional access control on certain floors, IIRC waldorf towers had a manned desk on one floor. waldorf towers rented some as apartments.

i imagine it varies by product, but seems mostly offering young attractive model types for businesses who want to be considered as having a "scene"

milepig

I have a female colleague who was sitting with two of us males at the Hilton Chicago on Michigan bar. She was asked to leave as "we don't want your kind here" She was dressed in a business suit.

darthbimmer

Did anyone at the table demand an explanation for that remark?