Back in the early 1980s, a prime-time soap opera called Hotel showcased
the lives and loves of staff and guests at a fictional hotel.
Though their work has proven slightly less glamorous, Sean Cannard, Skye
Dack and Edward Keenan all thrive on the excitement, occasional drama and
constant stream of characters they experience from behind the front desk.
A graduate of Boston College's business program, Cannard now manages
front desk operations at a five-star hotel in downtown Boston.
"I don't have a lot of experience working outside of hotels," he says.
On his one break from the industry, he worked for a health insurance firm
and "was bored silly."
Cannard learned to appreciate other cultures early on in life. "I was fortunate
enough to move around a lot as I was growing up," he says. "And I got to see
a lot of the world." His ability to relate well to different kinds of people
has proven invaluable in his current position.
"As a hotel desk clerk," he says, "you get to meet people from all over
the world and all walks of life. One minute you'll be talking to a blue-collar
worker and then the next guest could be a celebrity or royalty."
Dack works as a hotel desk clerk. She checked in to the job hoping she
could brighten someone's day.
"The front desk is a central area that guests know they can always come
to for anything, be it an extra key for their room or getting their pants
stitched back together," she says.
As the hub of the hotel, the front desk is also ground zero for guests'
gripes. Dack says, "They can vent their anger about anything from room service,
the lounge or housekeeping to the weather, airlines, national debt or their
wife. Anything goes, so you can't take it personally."
No matter what their attitude, though, she always tries "to go the extra
distance to make their stay memorable.
"If they come in, have had a hard day and are upset," she says, "I am given
the welcome challenge of changing their mood in the five minutes that I interact
with them."
When she does succeed, "it's a great feeling."
Keenan works at a motel. "I started in the hotel industry...as a dishwasher,"
he says. "From there, I was promoted to bellman, then front desk agent, then
night auditor and finally, front office manager."
He attributes his advancement to "hard work, being flexible in hours available
and taking pride in providing the best guest service possible. I also endeavored
to learn more than what was required of me as desk agent, such as yield management,
sales, leadership, teamwork, scheduling, forecasting and budgeting."
Everyone agrees that dealing with complaints is the most stressful aspect
of the job. Even so, says Keenan, it can often have a happy ending.
"The most wonderful thing about this industry is that there is nothing
that we cannot fix, unlike some jobs," he says. "We can always save face and
ensure that the guest is satisfied."
Cannard has often gone to extraordinary lengths to satisfy guests. "My
mom always tells me I should write a book," he jokes.
Once, for example, he helped make arrangements for a guest who wanted to
pop the question to his girlfriend in front of 35,000 fans at a nearby Boston
Red Sox game. Fortunately, she said yes.
If working at a hotel does sound a little like a soap opera, no episode
is more captivating than when a celebrity makes a guest appearance.
"It's interesting to see whomever might be a celebrity and you see
them as just an ordinary person in front of you," says Cannard. "It's
tough not to be overly excited and not to step over professional bounds.
"It does seem to be the trend that rock stars do trash a lot of their rooms."
"In this job, you see everything," says Dack. "You meet a lot of very extraordinary,
interesting people, sometimes famous people."
"There is no greater reward than having a guest tell you that their stay
couldn't have been better, and that they have stayed in various hotels
during their trip and that this is the best one yet," says Keenan.
"The hotel business doesn't pay as much as other businesses,"
says Cannard. "But on the other hand, I find it extremely rewarding. There's
nothing like when a guest remembers you from before, or when you get a beautiful
letter thanking you for what you did for them. There's a rush you get
just working with people."
Dack agrees. "This may sound cheesy, but it is so true: making a difference
in their day and seeing them appreciate it makes everything worthwhile."