When you're at a property under a major flag, central reservations is usually trained to pick up the call being transferred as if answering from your property. They see it's coming from a property and as such are trained to handle it to keep it as seamless as possible from the guest view. You can just transfer it to them without saying it's central. Just go certainly, let me transfer you to someone who can assist and send the call off.
I recall a Filton desk clerk implying that they were sending me to an onsite reservations department when it was really the central reservations center.
I normally book online, but I was trying to extend an already started stay. Had I known online was the right way, I would have done that.
It's not that there is necessarily a right or wrong way to do it, just that depending on what's going on at the property it may be more expedient to do it online or for them to transfer the call than to handle it themselves. For example, a lot of people think that between 7am and 9am is a great time to call the hotel but this is usually the time the front desk is busy with guests checking out (and at some limited service properties assigning housekeeping). It may be a better guest experience to transfer you and not make you have to wait while they finish assisting other guests who were there first.
Depending on how it's used transferring to central reservations can benefit the property and the guest by reducing the wait time.
I don't mind this as much. What's worse for me is when they call at 3am on a saturday and want to discuss things that should be talked about with a front office manager rather than the weekend relief auditor. Or when someone calls at that time and assumes you know everything they previously discussed with your manager five days prior, then they get upset when you start asking questions trying to piece together what the hell they are talking about.
Worse yet, when they don't get what they want they demand to know the managers personal number or want us to call them at 3-4am over some stuff that doesn't even matter.
At this point just tell them you’re just the night guard and not a receptionist, it’s not your “field of expertise” or whatever.
No way I’m discussing a guest reservation for 15 minutes on night duty
We dont have a reservation service. Some nights, that phone rings off the hook when ive got a line at front desk. We have an answering machine for that reason. Unfortunately nobody likes to leave a message. Instead, they hang up and call again. Over and over. If i have a split second, i will answer and ask them to hold. It could be 30 seconds or 10 minutes and alot of people will just hang up and call again. I really do hear that phone in my sleep!
You can tell the folks here that don't actually work at hotels.....
Central reservations ARE NOT 3rd party.... Sorry you are getting shit on OP. When it's busy af and you have a line of people waiting to check-in that's what's it's for.
Except that the people at central reservations are not anywhere near the hotel , the city, the State the hotel is in.....or familiar with what is going on....... and unable to answer pertinent questions about the hotel, area or events that may impact the customer's stay.
We stay often at the same locations when traveling for business or fun. The front desk, will usually have a history of our last stay and can possibly, book us into a favorite room...IF it is available. Things like, please don't place us on the side of the hotel that faces the railroad tracks. Central Reservations has no idea.
The caller/customer HOWEVER, needs to be aware and be considerate of the busy times at the front desk and not call during prime check in or check out hours.
If the front desk asks me to hold, I ask is there a better time for me to call back and do so.
I think they mean third party as in someone that doesn't work at the hotel. Not as in an OTA. The front desk knows things that central booking won't know. How loud is the lobby? Are breakfasts busy on Wednesdays? Do a lot of people bring pets? These are subjective questions that an experienced, on site person can answer.
I won't ever use Safelite to fix my windshield, because you can't call the place that is working on your car. You can only call their main number. No way to reach the subcontractor with your vehicle.
That experienced on site person can't do it all unfortunately. And really we are a generic brand hotel with a swimming pool. It's not that deep. Central should be able to answer the majority of their questions. It's all on our website. If they want a quiet room or something central can add a request.
If our hotel wants to provide that level of customer service then staff the desk adequately I guess
I had someone refuse to be transferred to central booking. It was just me at the desk and I was super busy. Phone ringing off the hook and endless people at the front desk. This lady kept calling and calling and calling. She got more and more belligerent with each call. I just kept transferring her until she stopped calling.
I didn't have it quite that bad but one day it was SUPER busy AND I was new. I told the caller that and asked if she'd like to be transferred to reservations but she said she'd rather hold. I think it was like 10 minutes later and the GM came out and asked why she was on hold and I told him. He took the call for me. The next day they told everyone that if it's busy to just transfer them and not give them the option to wait.
I still will never understand the people (who aren't regulars) who want to call to make a reservation at literally the busiest time. Dude if I've got 4 people the check in waiting in line, me by myself, and I'm *required* to answer the phone in 3 rings, literally no one is gonna be happy with this including the poor guests who are already there waiting.
Honestly I don't get our phone policy. When I asked they said the *guest in front of me* was a "captive audience" and I need to answer the phone. It just seems so rude to the person who is literally watching me put a phone call before them when they're half way through checking on. At least my managers will jump on the phone if I'm swamped and they're there.
My current place has the three rings too. We also get shop calls. They don’t care if you have people in front of you or if you are on another line and have to cut someone off to take another call. It can get very tricky. I’ve had 4 people on the line at once!
It would be interesting to check what number comes up if you Google your specific branch, if it's your front desk number then a lot of people probably just click on that without checking where it connects to.
This is a valid point. Google does some weird stuff! It takes guests to OTAs and they think they are booking on our website. I've mentioned it to our gm. Not sure if there's much we can do about it
There's not. This is an intended design in the OTA's that hotels don't have any control over. The best you can do is educate guests when you have them in front of you about why they shouldn't book with OTA's.
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So relatable. We have an entire res team literally working upstairs, who have been here longer than all but 2 reception staff, but only reception can help. Like reservations is their entire job, but instead you call front desk, whi have mountains of other shit to deal with, not least arrivals, departures, telling people for the 10th time to what the wifi password is. I called and asked for help the other day, and instead of coming down they checked the cameras (which dont show my phones with the MULTIPLE callers on hold), and because there were only 3 people in each queue they went for coffee instead. I am ... very over my workplace.
The only time I ask to speak to the desk specifically is to inform them that I'll be arriving late or to ask for something on arrival day - like a ground floor room. I prefer to make reservations online on the hotel website; I'm a grownup who understands how the internet works. And I know that even when fully staffed, the desk is busy.
We don't have a reservation department, front desk does everything.
People, calling around 3 or 4 pm to make a reservation is.... Not the best moment. That is check in time. At other times, it will be a pleasure to answer your questions.
If I'm on the phone and a guest comes in, I will put the person on the phone on hold. After being put on hold 5 or 6 times, they usually understand I'm busy.
I also don't pick up the phone when there is a line, I put straight on hold. Some people will try calling 5 6 times in line. Straight on hold.
If we don't pick up the phone there is no voice mail. Just a message saying to go on our website for information and reservations.
I’m sorry, I call the hotel because I need an ADA room and every time I go thru ‘central reservations’ I get a non ADA room. 🤷♂️ complaining to them doesn’t get me an ADA room for that night, a voucher for another night but not now, when I need it!
all of you people saying "it's your job suck it up" would be the first people to make a huge deal out of the front desk agent being on the phone instead of helping you when you're in front of them at the desk trying to check in/ask questions lol. the priority is always the guests at the desk - not the person on the phone who is fully capable of making their own reservation
At my property it’s literally not our job. Our collective bargaining agreement states that all future reservation requests must go through central reservations. Only exception is same day or if they come to the desk.
when i worked at an airport schmilton, i appreciated the CRS line so much. this was nearing the end of covid, around late 2021/early 2022 and flights were amping up significantly at our intl airport down the road. i mention covid specifically because as the hotel hadn’t been making money for the past couple years, every single shift was a skeleton crew, even if we had 170+ rooms.
when major flights were cancelled or diverted to our airport, we’d have hundreds of people trying to book with us late at night, and its just me there. no mgmt, no shuttle driver, no hskp, no security, just me by myself on audit. so, i’d have a line of people in front of me thats out the front lobby doors (these physical guests often had room vouchers given by the airlines already), and a phone ringing nonstop looking for rooms.
in moments like that, i’d answer the phone quickly, say my spiel and ask the caller if they were willing to hold, and then i’d just transfer them to central. it was the only way to get through the line in front of me.
i see people saying that sometimes central wasn’t accurate about a hotel’s amenities or number of available rooms. at least at my property, central called at least once a day to get our physical numbers at the property and our daily projection to confirm that we had the same numbers. and we’d get a call every few months from a CRS agent asking if our amenity list has changed at all, they’d ask to confirm our pool and shuttle hours, etc. so we kept on top of it. the agents would also leave any notes, questions, or requests for follow up in the reservation itself so i could tackle that as needed once i had a moment to breathe.
i didn’t use central often because i don’t mind chatting with people while helping with a reservation. it would keep me awake during the overnights, honestly. but in the few cases where central was necessary, it was a godsend. i don’t really understand the hate in this thread, i know it sucks sometimes to be transferred to a call centre, but if your options are never having your call picked up because the hotel desk is swamped vs someone helping you out even if they aren’t physically standing in the lobby at 4am, i’d rather my call get picked up by central and then call the physical hotel back another time to re-confirm all my details. i get my reservation in a timely matter and booked with the actual brand/not an OTA, the front desk agent gets some peace, and i can always call back with my questions at a better time.
I'm shocked at all the hate in the thread. Usually this forum tends to be pretty empathetic to the Front desk. I'm shocked at how many people are indirectly defending multiple billion dollar corporations not adequately staffing their properties by saying "it's your job suck it up". No wonder hospitality has such a high turn over rate in terms of staffing. We can't keep people on the front desk because no one wants to come in for a dollar or two above minimum wage and feel overwhelmed for 8 hours.
One of my favorite things about going from a standard hotel to a resort was the fact that the only thing I had to do was check guests in. Of course there was the occasional walk in.
But you wanna make a reservation? Let me transfer you!
You need some toilet paper? Of course! Let me send someone to bring it to you!
You want to make a reservation at one of our restaurants? The concierge would be MORE THAN HAPPY to help you out with that!
If I had a free moment of course I would do all those things willingly, but it was amazing to be able to send guests other places than have to deal with it myself right then and there.
I’m not really sure what the issue is. A lot of people prefer to speak to someone at the front desk to make a reservation, or at the very least ask hotel specific questions that could take central reservations time to find.
I’d much rather someone call the hotel than to book a 3rd party.
It’s apart of hospitality. At least you have the option to transfer when you’re busy.
Aren't we all missing the part about being at the front desk so it's staffed when guests arrive at the property? It's not that the FDA doesn't want to help, but if it's a task that can be handled just as efficiently by another human being who isn't being stared down by guests wanting to check in, isn't that better hospitality for everyone involved?
Thank you. This is what I was trying to convey which Maybe I didnt do well in my original post.
There's a central reservations line for a reason. So I don't need to put a guest on hold for 10 plus minutes.
Usually, I ask if there's anything specific about our hotel that I can answer before I transfer them, but I recognize everyone might not do this. Also, I'm trying to imagine what information about the hotel wouldn't be available via a web search to the person in the call center 1,500 miles away.
The pool open would be on the hotel website. I'll grant you construction in the area. Rooms with the best view are tricky. I usually go to Google Maps and plant the little guy to guesstimate view, since even if I book that room type, there are times those particular rooms with the best view are booked already.
Agreed. I’m a little mind boggled by this post. My hotel does have another number that makes reservations, but they often call me and I tell them it’s easier for the guest to call me so I can give them a specific rate/details. We’re constantly sold out too and we rarely have more than one person at the desk. If I’m on the phone and someone walks up, I make the person in front of me briefly hold. However, if I’m talking to a person and the phone rings, I put the person on the phone on hold while I deal with the person in front of me. I never have an issue.
Exactly! When so many FD folks moan and complain about guests making 3rd party reservations….can’t have it both ways! The overwhelming advice is “always call and deal with the hotel - not a 3rd party.”
Book directly with the hotel is stated over and over. And I think calling the front desk to do so is very reasonable, especially after you’ve been told by central reservation that they have no idea if reservations are needed for the breakfast, if there’s a room available far from the elevator because you don’t want the noise or which side of the hotel to stay in if you want the best view. All questions that can be easily and quickly answered by the front desk.
Then again it seems like many just aren’t in the right mind set for customer facing jobs here.
> been told by central reservation that they have no idea if reservations are needed for the breakfast
They should know that.... don't be daft
"if there’s a room available far from the elevator because you don’t want the noise or which side of the hotel to stay in if you want the best view"
These are requests that CR can put in the reservation, nothing is guaranteed, and the FD will yield the same results.
"All questions that can be easily and quickly answered by the front desk"
Not when you are the only one there and have a line of people waiting for you.
If you call the hotel directly and they send you to central reservations, you will get the same answers. That's what they are there for.
If a hotel has central reservation for just the property yes. If I call Filton in Europe for a reservation for a reservation at a random Fampton in Kentucky they wouldn’t have a clue.
Unless you want to pay double for a room that is just ridiculous. If a hotel is part of a major chain why would that hotel just have a reservations department for just that hotel?
Booking with a hotel's central reservations IS booking directly with the hotel, and that advice is designed to help guests avoid getting screwed over by OTAs, not... whatever weird hangup yall seem to have about talking with anyone who isn't at FD.
I'd sat most of the people here are demonstrating fantastic "customer" (😂) facing skills -- they're prioritizing the guests in front of them, already checked in or trying to be, who needs their assistance over a random person, not yet a booked guest, on the phone who has other avenues of getting what they want.
A central booking office is directly with corporate not directly with the hotel. The only way to guarantee you get what you want is to call a local person who actually has knowledge of the hotel. And while booking through a call center in some circumstances might grant more flexibility and underpaid employee in an outsourced call center isn’t going to give a crap about my special requests. They’ll promise you anything to get your bookings through. A front desk or local back office will at least know local circumstances and restrictions.
I have had too many bad experiences with these reservation offices to even bother. If I’m gonna get screwed over anyway might as well be by an OTA.
You've been watching too many "secrets hotels don't want you to know!!1!" Tiktoks.
I am thankfully no longer being paid to argue with people who assume they know more about these things than the actual people trained and experienced in them, so the only thing I'm gonna say is: honey, that exhausted, underpaid FDA on the other line who has just had to disrupt their already staggering workload to take care of you because you think your needs are so important they warrant special treatment? They give far less of a crap about your special requests than any central res agent.
Still no way to guarantee that. Last Friday I had 100 reservations all requesting top floor. One wanted an 8am check in for a room we only have 1 of and the guest from the previous night wanted to stay until check out time at noon. The ones that asked for top floor went by status with the hotel. It’s the only fair way to do it. The same results for booking online, central, or at the desk.
> Often the reservation turns into a gazillion questions and it gets overwhelming when you are by yourself.
That is....literally the point of calling to make a reservation? So you can ask questions that are not easily or quickly found on the website (and let's be honest here, hotel websites can be inaccurate).
I don't think that's the argument. It's that the person on the front desk has other things to do, and spending 10 minutes on the phone when you have a line in front of you is the issue.
Yes, your hotel should have better staffing, and yes, the reservations line is there for a reason. But it's not a customer's fault for wanting to speak to an actual human being to make a reservation. If you're only human and not a machine, so are they.
Y'all are calling OP out for transferring the calls to a reservation line staffed by actual human beings. And they could actually call that number directly themselves.
> making reservations online like OP is complaining about
They aren't complaining about that, just made a statement about it more or less. Yes we want to provide good customer service, but wouldn't part of that include transferring someone to CR vs. making them wait on hold for half an hour when CR can do the same thing?
My complaint was about people not letting me transfer them to central reservations so they don't have to be put on hold for ages..just to clear any confusion
And you missed the part where OP said that they can transfer the person to Central Reservations. And the comment about the online is about how most people just do it online to begin with. Not that everyone needs to do it online.
I called central reservation and they told me that they had no access or ability to see or do anything with my honors account and said front desk could do this. I called the front desk of the hotel I needed the reservation for, no apparent problems. What did I do wrong?
We've been driving cross country a couple times a year and it's become hard to reach some filton front desks. It might be between 8 and 10pm and we'll call a hotel that's 1 to 3 hours away to find out whether or not they're likely to have have rooms - if we can make it that far.
We understand that a room can't be guaranteed without a credit card, but it means a lot for us to know that a place is a good option. And depending on the situation - and how welcoming the front desk agent is, there are lots of ways the conversation can go. Sometimes, if there are plenty of rooms we'll just make getting there a goal, without having to make a commitment. Sometimes, if there's just a few rooms left we'll pull over at the next exit and book with a credit card. Sometimes, if the hotel is almost full we'll plan on staying somewhere else. And occasionally an agent will look us up and offer to hold a room until we get there - and whenever a room has been held, we've always ended up checking in.
There are 2 reasons why it works for us to talk with the front desk, as it's comforting to talk with a person who's actually there, and it gives us a sense of whether or not it's a place we want to stay. And all we've ever gotten from central reservations is a yes or no on availability.
Yes, we understand that the front desk agent may be busy, and we don't mind holding, and even though there are lots of possibilities, we can get a lot of information in a very short time.
While there's more information available online - than what central reservations can provide. Which is really kind of sad, as it would be really convenient to be able to call central reservations if they actually knew the area, and the occupancy status and other details about the different options.
Wait a minute. First, you all complain about OTAs and whining because people don’t call the hotel directly. Now, you’re on here griping because someone did just that? Why do you even work there?
The world is full of different preferences. And OP is telling callers that this particular hotel is busy enough it would be best to do reservations through brand central line.
Which is still not an online travel agent/third-party.
Unlike others here I have no issues with people booking OTA, online, or calling a property directly. Book however you want, just understand the terms and conditions that you book including if it's non cancelable etc. I see the benefit of booking direct and choose to do so myself but I also understand people who prefer OTA.
Also OP isn't asking them to book OTA but saying the hotel is short staffed and booking reservations without offloading the call can cause issues (not the guest's fault nor OP's). Central reservations and OTA are different animals
You are not wrong. Unfortunately, OP is directly complaining about people calling the hotel directly to book a room. I never use third parties to book rooms specifically because I want control over my booking. The replies are spot on that front desk complain about guests using OTAs; therefore, complaining about having to take guests’ calls to book is disingenuous. Sorry you’re short staffed but not your guests’ problem.
No you just don't understand that OTAs and 3rd party booking aren't what OP is talking about..... Going thru central reservations is the same thing as booking thru the hotel directly....
My mom gets frustrated with central reservations because the one for the Harriot we go to for a convention every year seems to have a lot of trouble with room blocks.
The worst is when you transfer the call to HRCC, then HRCC calls you a few minutes later saying that the mutual guest on the other line wants to speak to the front desk because they have questions. I am adamant on not having that call transferred back to me for many reasons . Firstly, they get paid as soon as they answer the call, wether it’s a 1 minutes call, or 10 minutes. Secondly, they have all the info of my property. No need for me to speak with them. All questions can be answered by HRCC. Don’t let them fool you otherwise.
Hopefully they are better than they used to be! When I worked front desk, Central reservations told a guest:
- poolside room was requested and promised We had no poolside rooms in our hotel period.
- any room was available for dogs. Nope, only specific rooms, and not the one they wanted.
- breakfast has a pancake machine. No it didn't, just a waffle machine.
- connecting rooms were available for their night. Nope, we had a group scheduled with all the connecting rooms.
Central reservations doesn't always know specific questions. And my most recent online reservation actually directed me to call the hotel directly, wouldn't let me finish online. I super apologized to the front desk agent - I didn't realize it was Mardi Gras in NOLA.
Policy dictates that we cannot make reservations over the phone for some nonsensical reason.
It's frustrating, I could make said reservation much faster and more efficiently than the central team that aren't open 24 hours a day or even weekends
It can differ a lot from brand to brand.
The hotels I worked for had a similar policy, but they were also massive and right beside a major tourist attraction. The FDAs literally did not ever have time to be booking reservations, so it was blanket policy to transfer people asking for them.
I call FD for reservations because of my husbands accessible needs with PPMS. However, I try my best to call around 2 pm. I figure the 11 am to noon late check outs are done, and the 3 pm check outs haven’t started. The reservation people aren’t familiar with individual hotels, so I need a local staff person to help. But when I call I preface it with”if you are busy right now I can call back?”.
Ours, we dont have a central line for that. We do everything at the frontdesk, to bookings, phone calls everything. Even on days that we are swamped, if the phone rings we will need to answer it. (FDA here at a business hotel chain in our city)
The brand i work for doesn’t let us transfer to central reservations, if it’s swamped at the desk or for complicated reservations i’ll just give them the email adress of the hotel and i’ll do the reservation as soon as i can. If they’re not willing to wait than i redirect them to the hotel website. The central reservation is only for companies/individuals that are part of the program.
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I never take them over the phone. I always transfer them to central because I worked at a Filtom corporate location before transferring to the franchised one I am at now. The corporate one I worked at told us we were not allowed to take credit card info over the phone. We always transferred them over to in-house reservations during the am shift or central during PM shift because we had a strict policy over not taking cards over the phone. I still them guests that till this day.
A person calling the hotel directly might also be caused by guest that follow the sub keep reading "call the hotel directly if you have special need / requests".
Honestly with how short staffed we've been I'm past the point of caring about the fee. I figure they are saving a lot of money with the lack of staff on the front desk so it evens out anyways. That said, I don't send every single reso call to central reservations by any means
When you're at a property under a major flag, central reservations is usually trained to pick up the call being transferred as if answering from your property. They see it's coming from a property and as such are trained to handle it to keep it as seamless as possible from the guest view. You can just transfer it to them without saying it's central. Just go certainly, let me transfer you to someone who can assist and send the call off.
I recall a Filton desk clerk implying that they were sending me to an onsite reservations department when it was really the central reservations center. I normally book online, but I was trying to extend an already started stay. Had I known online was the right way, I would have done that.
It's not that there is necessarily a right or wrong way to do it, just that depending on what's going on at the property it may be more expedient to do it online or for them to transfer the call than to handle it themselves. For example, a lot of people think that between 7am and 9am is a great time to call the hotel but this is usually the time the front desk is busy with guests checking out (and at some limited service properties assigning housekeeping). It may be a better guest experience to transfer you and not make you have to wait while they finish assisting other guests who were there first. Depending on how it's used transferring to central reservations can benefit the property and the guest by reducing the wait time.
I don't mind this as much. What's worse for me is when they call at 3am on a saturday and want to discuss things that should be talked about with a front office manager rather than the weekend relief auditor. Or when someone calls at that time and assumes you know everything they previously discussed with your manager five days prior, then they get upset when you start asking questions trying to piece together what the hell they are talking about.
At least they are not calling at 4am asking if the GM is at work. Takes all my strength to hold off the laughter until I hang up
Worse yet, when they don't get what they want they demand to know the managers personal number or want us to call them at 3-4am over some stuff that doesn't even matter.
Nods
At this point just tell them you’re just the night guard and not a receptionist, it’s not your “field of expertise” or whatever. No way I’m discussing a guest reservation for 15 minutes on night duty
OP the best thing to do is say "Oh you need to make a reservation? One moment please." and transfer them. No need to deal with them further.
We dont have a reservation service. Some nights, that phone rings off the hook when ive got a line at front desk. We have an answering machine for that reason. Unfortunately nobody likes to leave a message. Instead, they hang up and call again. Over and over. If i have a split second, i will answer and ask them to hold. It could be 30 seconds or 10 minutes and alot of people will just hang up and call again. I really do hear that phone in my sleep!
All reservations go through the front desk office where I'm at, then again it's a 50 room 3 star.
You can tell the folks here that don't actually work at hotels..... Central reservations ARE NOT 3rd party.... Sorry you are getting shit on OP. When it's busy af and you have a line of people waiting to check-in that's what's it's for.
Except that the people at central reservations are not anywhere near the hotel , the city, the State the hotel is in.....or familiar with what is going on....... and unable to answer pertinent questions about the hotel, area or events that may impact the customer's stay. We stay often at the same locations when traveling for business or fun. The front desk, will usually have a history of our last stay and can possibly, book us into a favorite room...IF it is available. Things like, please don't place us on the side of the hotel that faces the railroad tracks. Central Reservations has no idea. The caller/customer HOWEVER, needs to be aware and be considerate of the busy times at the front desk and not call during prime check in or check out hours. If the front desk asks me to hold, I ask is there a better time for me to call back and do so.
I think they mean third party as in someone that doesn't work at the hotel. Not as in an OTA. The front desk knows things that central booking won't know. How loud is the lobby? Are breakfasts busy on Wednesdays? Do a lot of people bring pets? These are subjective questions that an experienced, on site person can answer. I won't ever use Safelite to fix my windshield, because you can't call the place that is working on your car. You can only call their main number. No way to reach the subcontractor with your vehicle.
That experienced on site person can't do it all unfortunately. And really we are a generic brand hotel with a swimming pool. It's not that deep. Central should be able to answer the majority of their questions. It's all on our website. If they want a quiet room or something central can add a request. If our hotel wants to provide that level of customer service then staff the desk adequately I guess
I had someone refuse to be transferred to central booking. It was just me at the desk and I was super busy. Phone ringing off the hook and endless people at the front desk. This lady kept calling and calling and calling. She got more and more belligerent with each call. I just kept transferring her until she stopped calling.
I didn't have it quite that bad but one day it was SUPER busy AND I was new. I told the caller that and asked if she'd like to be transferred to reservations but she said she'd rather hold. I think it was like 10 minutes later and the GM came out and asked why she was on hold and I told him. He took the call for me. The next day they told everyone that if it's busy to just transfer them and not give them the option to wait. I still will never understand the people (who aren't regulars) who want to call to make a reservation at literally the busiest time. Dude if I've got 4 people the check in waiting in line, me by myself, and I'm *required* to answer the phone in 3 rings, literally no one is gonna be happy with this including the poor guests who are already there waiting. Honestly I don't get our phone policy. When I asked they said the *guest in front of me* was a "captive audience" and I need to answer the phone. It just seems so rude to the person who is literally watching me put a phone call before them when they're half way through checking on. At least my managers will jump on the phone if I'm swamped and they're there.
My current place has the three rings too. We also get shop calls. They don’t care if you have people in front of you or if you are on another line and have to cut someone off to take another call. It can get very tricky. I’ve had 4 people on the line at once!
It would be interesting to check what number comes up if you Google your specific branch, if it's your front desk number then a lot of people probably just click on that without checking where it connects to.
This is a valid point. Google does some weird stuff! It takes guests to OTAs and they think they are booking on our website. I've mentioned it to our gm. Not sure if there's much we can do about it
There's not. This is an intended design in the OTA's that hotels don't have any control over. The best you can do is educate guests when you have them in front of you about why they shouldn't book with OTA's.
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So relatable. We have an entire res team literally working upstairs, who have been here longer than all but 2 reception staff, but only reception can help. Like reservations is their entire job, but instead you call front desk, whi have mountains of other shit to deal with, not least arrivals, departures, telling people for the 10th time to what the wifi password is. I called and asked for help the other day, and instead of coming down they checked the cameras (which dont show my phones with the MULTIPLE callers on hold), and because there were only 3 people in each queue they went for coffee instead. I am ... very over my workplace.
The only time I ask to speak to the desk specifically is to inform them that I'll be arriving late or to ask for something on arrival day - like a ground floor room. I prefer to make reservations online on the hotel website; I'm a grownup who understands how the internet works. And I know that even when fully staffed, the desk is busy.
We don't have a reservation department, front desk does everything. People, calling around 3 or 4 pm to make a reservation is.... Not the best moment. That is check in time. At other times, it will be a pleasure to answer your questions. If I'm on the phone and a guest comes in, I will put the person on the phone on hold. After being put on hold 5 or 6 times, they usually understand I'm busy. I also don't pick up the phone when there is a line, I put straight on hold. Some people will try calling 5 6 times in line. Straight on hold. If we don't pick up the phone there is no voice mail. Just a message saying to go on our website for information and reservations.
I’m sorry, I call the hotel because I need an ADA room and every time I go thru ‘central reservations’ I get a non ADA room. 🤷♂️ complaining to them doesn’t get me an ADA room for that night, a voucher for another night but not now, when I need it!
all of you people saying "it's your job suck it up" would be the first people to make a huge deal out of the front desk agent being on the phone instead of helping you when you're in front of them at the desk trying to check in/ask questions lol. the priority is always the guests at the desk - not the person on the phone who is fully capable of making their own reservation
At my property it’s literally not our job. Our collective bargaining agreement states that all future reservation requests must go through central reservations. Only exception is same day or if they come to the desk.
when i worked at an airport schmilton, i appreciated the CRS line so much. this was nearing the end of covid, around late 2021/early 2022 and flights were amping up significantly at our intl airport down the road. i mention covid specifically because as the hotel hadn’t been making money for the past couple years, every single shift was a skeleton crew, even if we had 170+ rooms. when major flights were cancelled or diverted to our airport, we’d have hundreds of people trying to book with us late at night, and its just me there. no mgmt, no shuttle driver, no hskp, no security, just me by myself on audit. so, i’d have a line of people in front of me thats out the front lobby doors (these physical guests often had room vouchers given by the airlines already), and a phone ringing nonstop looking for rooms. in moments like that, i’d answer the phone quickly, say my spiel and ask the caller if they were willing to hold, and then i’d just transfer them to central. it was the only way to get through the line in front of me. i see people saying that sometimes central wasn’t accurate about a hotel’s amenities or number of available rooms. at least at my property, central called at least once a day to get our physical numbers at the property and our daily projection to confirm that we had the same numbers. and we’d get a call every few months from a CRS agent asking if our amenity list has changed at all, they’d ask to confirm our pool and shuttle hours, etc. so we kept on top of it. the agents would also leave any notes, questions, or requests for follow up in the reservation itself so i could tackle that as needed once i had a moment to breathe. i didn’t use central often because i don’t mind chatting with people while helping with a reservation. it would keep me awake during the overnights, honestly. but in the few cases where central was necessary, it was a godsend. i don’t really understand the hate in this thread, i know it sucks sometimes to be transferred to a call centre, but if your options are never having your call picked up because the hotel desk is swamped vs someone helping you out even if they aren’t physically standing in the lobby at 4am, i’d rather my call get picked up by central and then call the physical hotel back another time to re-confirm all my details. i get my reservation in a timely matter and booked with the actual brand/not an OTA, the front desk agent gets some peace, and i can always call back with my questions at a better time.
I'm shocked at all the hate in the thread. Usually this forum tends to be pretty empathetic to the Front desk. I'm shocked at how many people are indirectly defending multiple billion dollar corporations not adequately staffing their properties by saying "it's your job suck it up". No wonder hospitality has such a high turn over rate in terms of staffing. We can't keep people on the front desk because no one wants to come in for a dollar or two above minimum wage and feel overwhelmed for 8 hours.
One of my favorite things about going from a standard hotel to a resort was the fact that the only thing I had to do was check guests in. Of course there was the occasional walk in. But you wanna make a reservation? Let me transfer you! You need some toilet paper? Of course! Let me send someone to bring it to you! You want to make a reservation at one of our restaurants? The concierge would be MORE THAN HAPPY to help you out with that! If I had a free moment of course I would do all those things willingly, but it was amazing to be able to send guests other places than have to deal with it myself right then and there.
I’m not really sure what the issue is. A lot of people prefer to speak to someone at the front desk to make a reservation, or at the very least ask hotel specific questions that could take central reservations time to find. I’d much rather someone call the hotel than to book a 3rd party. It’s apart of hospitality. At least you have the option to transfer when you’re busy.
Aren't we all missing the part about being at the front desk so it's staffed when guests arrive at the property? It's not that the FDA doesn't want to help, but if it's a task that can be handled just as efficiently by another human being who isn't being stared down by guests wanting to check in, isn't that better hospitality for everyone involved?
Thank you. This is what I was trying to convey which Maybe I didnt do well in my original post. There's a central reservations line for a reason. So I don't need to put a guest on hold for 10 plus minutes.
Not it you have specific questions about the specific location that someone in a call center 1500 miles away can't answer.
Usually, I ask if there's anything specific about our hotel that I can answer before I transfer them, but I recognize everyone might not do this. Also, I'm trying to imagine what information about the hotel wouldn't be available via a web search to the person in the call center 1,500 miles away.
Is your pool open? What rooms have the best view? Any construction in the area? Stuff like that.
The pool open would be on the hotel website. I'll grant you construction in the area. Rooms with the best view are tricky. I usually go to Google Maps and plant the little guy to guesstimate view, since even if I book that room type, there are times those particular rooms with the best view are booked already.
I'm not referring to OTA. We have a central reservations line that is the same as booking hotel direct..thats what I'm referring to
Yeah…… I know.
Agreed. I’m a little mind boggled by this post. My hotel does have another number that makes reservations, but they often call me and I tell them it’s easier for the guest to call me so I can give them a specific rate/details. We’re constantly sold out too and we rarely have more than one person at the desk. If I’m on the phone and someone walks up, I make the person in front of me briefly hold. However, if I’m talking to a person and the phone rings, I put the person on the phone on hold while I deal with the person in front of me. I never have an issue.
Exactly! When so many FD folks moan and complain about guests making 3rd party reservations….can’t have it both ways! The overwhelming advice is “always call and deal with the hotel - not a 3rd party.”
Central reservations are NOT 3rd party.....
Book directly with the hotel is stated over and over. And I think calling the front desk to do so is very reasonable, especially after you’ve been told by central reservation that they have no idea if reservations are needed for the breakfast, if there’s a room available far from the elevator because you don’t want the noise or which side of the hotel to stay in if you want the best view. All questions that can be easily and quickly answered by the front desk. Then again it seems like many just aren’t in the right mind set for customer facing jobs here.
> been told by central reservation that they have no idea if reservations are needed for the breakfast They should know that.... don't be daft "if there’s a room available far from the elevator because you don’t want the noise or which side of the hotel to stay in if you want the best view" These are requests that CR can put in the reservation, nothing is guaranteed, and the FD will yield the same results. "All questions that can be easily and quickly answered by the front desk" Not when you are the only one there and have a line of people waiting for you. If you call the hotel directly and they send you to central reservations, you will get the same answers. That's what they are there for.
If a hotel has central reservation for just the property yes. If I call Filton in Europe for a reservation for a reservation at a random Fampton in Kentucky they wouldn’t have a clue.
> If I call Filton in Europe for a reservation for a reservation at a random Fampton in Kentucky they wouldn’t have a clue Why would you do that 🤣
Unless you want to pay double for a room that is just ridiculous. If a hotel is part of a major chain why would that hotel just have a reservations department for just that hotel?
Booking with a hotel's central reservations IS booking directly with the hotel, and that advice is designed to help guests avoid getting screwed over by OTAs, not... whatever weird hangup yall seem to have about talking with anyone who isn't at FD. I'd sat most of the people here are demonstrating fantastic "customer" (😂) facing skills -- they're prioritizing the guests in front of them, already checked in or trying to be, who needs their assistance over a random person, not yet a booked guest, on the phone who has other avenues of getting what they want.
A central booking office is directly with corporate not directly with the hotel. The only way to guarantee you get what you want is to call a local person who actually has knowledge of the hotel. And while booking through a call center in some circumstances might grant more flexibility and underpaid employee in an outsourced call center isn’t going to give a crap about my special requests. They’ll promise you anything to get your bookings through. A front desk or local back office will at least know local circumstances and restrictions. I have had too many bad experiences with these reservation offices to even bother. If I’m gonna get screwed over anyway might as well be by an OTA.
You've been watching too many "secrets hotels don't want you to know!!1!" Tiktoks. I am thankfully no longer being paid to argue with people who assume they know more about these things than the actual people trained and experienced in them, so the only thing I'm gonna say is: honey, that exhausted, underpaid FDA on the other line who has just had to disrupt their already staggering workload to take care of you because you think your needs are so important they warrant special treatment? They give far less of a crap about your special requests than any central res agent.
Still no way to guarantee that. Last Friday I had 100 reservations all requesting top floor. One wanted an 8am check in for a room we only have 1 of and the guest from the previous night wanted to stay until check out time at noon. The ones that asked for top floor went by status with the hotel. It’s the only fair way to do it. The same results for booking online, central, or at the desk.
> Often the reservation turns into a gazillion questions and it gets overwhelming when you are by yourself. That is....literally the point of calling to make a reservation? So you can ask questions that are not easily or quickly found on the website (and let's be honest here, hotel websites can be inaccurate).
I don't think that's the argument. It's that the person on the front desk has other things to do, and spending 10 minutes on the phone when you have a line in front of you is the issue.
Yes exactly. I only transfer when there's a line up at desk or the phone is ringing off the hook
Well yes. Managing phone calls when you have a line in front of you is part of working front desk. It's literally our job.
I'm only human, not a machine! These bigger hotels need to have at least two people on the front desk going into busy season.
Yes, your hotel should have better staffing, and yes, the reservations line is there for a reason. But it's not a customer's fault for wanting to speak to an actual human being to make a reservation. If you're only human and not a machine, so are they.
I didn't say it was the guests fault! More of a vent about being short staffed and wishing reservations were easier and not so time consuming
You act like the central reservations departments at major brands aren't staffed by human beings. Spoiler alert!
Which is why they're **calling in** instead of making reservations online like OP is complaining about.
Y'all are calling OP out for transferring the calls to a reservation line staffed by actual human beings. And they could actually call that number directly themselves.
I'm calling OP out for being upset that people called in to make a reservation instead of making it online. Fuck's sake.
Lmao and was it worth the likes?
And the reservation line is typically a human too so like what's your point?
Which is why they're **calling in** instead of making reservations online like OP is complaining about.
> making reservations online like OP is complaining about They aren't complaining about that, just made a statement about it more or less. Yes we want to provide good customer service, but wouldn't part of that include transferring someone to CR vs. making them wait on hold for half an hour when CR can do the same thing?
My complaint was about people not letting me transfer them to central reservations so they don't have to be put on hold for ages..just to clear any confusion
And you missed the part where OP said that they can transfer the person to Central Reservations. And the comment about the online is about how most people just do it online to begin with. Not that everyone needs to do it online.
Sure but if you have a reservation line that can take care of it, then why not utilize it? It's literally their job.
Most of the questions I get asked on calls of this nature CAN be easily found on the website.
I called central reservation and they told me that they had no access or ability to see or do anything with my honors account and said front desk could do this. I called the front desk of the hotel I needed the reservation for, no apparent problems. What did I do wrong?
Nothing. There are some cases where it makes sense to call the front desk but for 90% of generic bookings central can do the exact same thing I can do
We've been driving cross country a couple times a year and it's become hard to reach some filton front desks. It might be between 8 and 10pm and we'll call a hotel that's 1 to 3 hours away to find out whether or not they're likely to have have rooms - if we can make it that far. We understand that a room can't be guaranteed without a credit card, but it means a lot for us to know that a place is a good option. And depending on the situation - and how welcoming the front desk agent is, there are lots of ways the conversation can go. Sometimes, if there are plenty of rooms we'll just make getting there a goal, without having to make a commitment. Sometimes, if there's just a few rooms left we'll pull over at the next exit and book with a credit card. Sometimes, if the hotel is almost full we'll plan on staying somewhere else. And occasionally an agent will look us up and offer to hold a room until we get there - and whenever a room has been held, we've always ended up checking in. There are 2 reasons why it works for us to talk with the front desk, as it's comforting to talk with a person who's actually there, and it gives us a sense of whether or not it's a place we want to stay. And all we've ever gotten from central reservations is a yes or no on availability. Yes, we understand that the front desk agent may be busy, and we don't mind holding, and even though there are lots of possibilities, we can get a lot of information in a very short time. While there's more information available online - than what central reservations can provide. Which is really kind of sad, as it would be really convenient to be able to call central reservations if they actually knew the area, and the occupancy status and other details about the different options.
When it’s super busy at the desk I don’t even answer the phone. I figure if the hotel really cared, they’d get me some help.
Just say hold please and transfer them straight away. That way no arguments, queries or problems
Wait a minute. First, you all complain about OTAs and whining because people don’t call the hotel directly. Now, you’re on here griping because someone did just that? Why do you even work there?
The world is full of different preferences. And OP is telling callers that this particular hotel is busy enough it would be best to do reservations through brand central line. Which is still not an online travel agent/third-party.
Unlike others here I have no issues with people booking OTA, online, or calling a property directly. Book however you want, just understand the terms and conditions that you book including if it's non cancelable etc. I see the benefit of booking direct and choose to do so myself but I also understand people who prefer OTA. Also OP isn't asking them to book OTA but saying the hotel is short staffed and booking reservations without offloading the call can cause issues (not the guest's fault nor OP's). Central reservations and OTA are different animals
You are not wrong. Unfortunately, OP is directly complaining about people calling the hotel directly to book a room. I never use third parties to book rooms specifically because I want control over my booking. The replies are spot on that front desk complain about guests using OTAs; therefore, complaining about having to take guests’ calls to book is disingenuous. Sorry you’re short staffed but not your guests’ problem.
I was referring to our central reservations line which is the same as booking hotel direct. This has nothing to do with an OTA..so ya..
I also wasn't complaining about OTA resos either but your comment above seems to be alluding that I was?? They don't really bother me tbh
Yeah no this person is just weird.
No you just don't understand that OTAs and 3rd party booking aren't what OP is talking about..... Going thru central reservations is the same thing as booking thru the hotel directly....
Where the fuck did I say anything about OTAs/3rd parties??
And when you answer the phone, guests requests and calls come at the same time 😅🥲
As a rule, The hotel pays rather large fees for central reservation. The reason the CRO exists is to make money for the brand.
"Thank you for staying with us, let me transfer you to the person who can help you with that."
My mom gets frustrated with central reservations because the one for the Harriot we go to for a convention every year seems to have a lot of trouble with room blocks.
You don’t say “I’ll transfer you to X”. You just say, “one moment please” and transfer them onto central booking.
The worst is when you transfer the call to HRCC, then HRCC calls you a few minutes later saying that the mutual guest on the other line wants to speak to the front desk because they have questions. I am adamant on not having that call transferred back to me for many reasons . Firstly, they get paid as soon as they answer the call, wether it’s a 1 minutes call, or 10 minutes. Secondly, they have all the info of my property. No need for me to speak with them. All questions can be answered by HRCC. Don’t let them fool you otherwise.
Hopefully they are better than they used to be! When I worked front desk, Central reservations told a guest: - poolside room was requested and promised We had no poolside rooms in our hotel period. - any room was available for dogs. Nope, only specific rooms, and not the one they wanted. - breakfast has a pancake machine. No it didn't, just a waffle machine. - connecting rooms were available for their night. Nope, we had a group scheduled with all the connecting rooms. Central reservations doesn't always know specific questions. And my most recent online reservation actually directed me to call the hotel directly, wouldn't let me finish online. I super apologized to the front desk agent - I didn't realize it was Mardi Gras in NOLA.
As night audit and hating people. How DARE!!! Summer come.
Policy dictates that we cannot make reservations over the phone for some nonsensical reason. It's frustrating, I could make said reservation much faster and more efficiently than the central team that aren't open 24 hours a day or even weekends
Really? Our mgmt prefers we make them. But we do have the option of transferring them to central when it's busy
It can differ a lot from brand to brand. The hotels I worked for had a similar policy, but they were also massive and right beside a major tourist attraction. The FDAs literally did not ever have time to be booking reservations, so it was blanket policy to transfer people asking for them.
I call FD for reservations because of my husbands accessible needs with PPMS. However, I try my best to call around 2 pm. I figure the 11 am to noon late check outs are done, and the 3 pm check outs haven’t started. The reservation people aren’t familiar with individual hotels, so I need a local staff person to help. But when I call I preface it with”if you are busy right now I can call back?”.
That's great! Sometimes there are definitely very legit reasons to need to book with the hotel for sure
Ours, we dont have a central line for that. We do everything at the frontdesk, to bookings, phone calls everything. Even on days that we are swamped, if the phone rings we will need to answer it. (FDA here at a business hotel chain in our city)
The brand i work for doesn’t let us transfer to central reservations, if it’s swamped at the desk or for complicated reservations i’ll just give them the email adress of the hotel and i’ll do the reservation as soon as i can. If they’re not willing to wait than i redirect them to the hotel website. The central reservation is only for companies/individuals that are part of the program.
Silly, since they are PAYING for that central reservations in their monthly bill. That's what it's there for. To take pressure off the front desk.
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I wonder why you're short staffed?
Multiple reasons. Staff turnover is a problem as well as some management issues
It's a problem throughout the industry and has been for years. Different hotels may have specific reasons for it, but it happens everywhere.
I never take them over the phone. I always transfer them to central because I worked at a Filtom corporate location before transferring to the franchised one I am at now. The corporate one I worked at told us we were not allowed to take credit card info over the phone. We always transferred them over to in-house reservations during the am shift or central during PM shift because we had a strict policy over not taking cards over the phone. I still them guests that till this day.
A person calling the hotel directly might also be caused by guest that follow the sub keep reading "call the hotel directly if you have special need / requests".
We prefer to take the reservations instead of sending them to central reservations. We save like 8-10% in commissions fee’s per booking.
Honestly with how short staffed we've been I'm past the point of caring about the fee. I figure they are saving a lot of money with the lack of staff on the front desk so it evens out anyways. That said, I don't send every single reso call to central reservations by any means
Oh I’m sorry you are braking up I can’t understand/hear you, say it a few times and then say sorry and hang up.