7 Ways to enter a hotel

At the hotel reception, you can usually tell whether the subsequent hotel stay will be a success or whether we will be leaving earlier than planned. Professionally and privately, we encounter the following 7 characters at reception – do you recognize them?

1 Mr. or Mrs. Encyclopedia

Mr. or Mrs. Encyclopaedia does not want to receive but to send. They don’t ask how the journey was or whether a drink would be good to refresh their dusty throats, hardly any eye contact.

As soon as the most important information has been exchanged, an almost breathless list of all the details about the hotel begins without being asked: the names and specialties of the hotel restaurants, the opening times of the spa, breakfast times, the WLAN code and more.

The sender is not interested in whether all this information can or wants to be absorbed at that moment and the guest is happy to finally reach the silence of the hotel room to read all the details again in peace and selectively.

2. the great silence

The opposite of this is the receptionist, who only answers the cell phone to give the code to open the hotel door and the room.

The hotel guest thinks this is very efficient and wonders why the staff savings are not reflected in the room rate. He quietly wanders through the mini lobby with his luggage at a counter without a person and looks for the elevator.

This can work if everything runs smoothly. However, if there is only a small deviation from the intended process, the guest communicates with chatbots with increasing annoyance.

In the best-case scenario, a phone call is made to clarify the situation. Good luck if you have to rely on these verbal promises. This usually only saves the hotel time, not the guest.

3. local hero

Here, the person at reception manages to make a difference right from the start. Guests are welcomed with charm and empathy. A glance and a little knowledge of human nature are all it takes to assess whether the guest wants to go to their room as quickly as possible to their laptop for the next video conference and is probably a candidate for room service later in the evening or whether there is time and interest for a nice chat.

In the latter case, there are tips on a pleasant restaurant, a nice café or an interesting bar in the district. The sure way into the heart of every guest.

4. get me out of here

Who doesn’t dream of a dream job? Here, however, he or she makes the guest feel that the job at reception is just a brief interlude before the actual career as an architect, fashion designer or interior specialist takes off.

Until then, you handle the check-in with maximum disinterest and think you are radiating coolness. Here the guest learns immediately that any further questions during the hotel stay are better avoided.

If the hotel still has a concierge, you can safely tick off the frosty reception. If not, you can only hope that your stay at the hotel lasts a maximum of one night.

5. reception a la James Bond

Often practiced in Asia, where discretion and efficiency are valued. As soon as the name is mentioned (and sometimes even this no longer seems necessary thanks to facial recognition), the guest is taken to the room on the double without any further formalities.

Here, after a long flight, it’s all about showing fitness and hurrying along at high speed until, after a deep bow, the door to the room closes again almost inaudibly and after a few minutes the bellboy appears with the luggage.

You can like it – but the hotel gives away the chance to let the guest arrive and absorb the atmosphere of the hotel.

6. cultural program included

The guest is enthusiastically welcomed and immediately integrated into a lengthy welcome ceremony. Candles are lit or wreaths of flowers are placed over the guest with great seriousness. An old gong or a bell, which once announced the arrival of the stranger at the edge of the hacienda, is set to vibrate. Sometimes the guest is sprinkled with mythically charged water or encircled with incense.

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It depends on whether the often jet-lagged arrival feels like the proverbial king or considers these kindly gestures an unnecessary waste of time, standing between a hot shower and an ice-cold gin & tonic. It would be rude to let the latter slip.

7. a little something is always possible

And it’s spot on: an honest-sounding welcome, an interested inquiry that shows interest in the guest who has just walked through the door. An attempt to turn the arrival into an experience, even if the room is not yet ready for occupancy.

This can be the offer to go to the spa after a long flight, to offer a table with a view and a light lunch or to let the guest arrive in a pleasant atmosphere with a glass of champagne or kombudcha before looking further.

Sometimes a warm smile is enough.

A good reception succeeds in turning the arrival into an experience and turning the first-time customer into a loyal guest who would like to extend their stay at the hotel.

Preferably like in the movies. High time for Wes Anderson’s cinematic masterpiece: The Grand Budapest Hotel.

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The Grand Budapest Hotel, 2014 © Cinematic Collection Alamy Stock Photo | Cover picture: Ralph Fiennes