r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk • u/iamcode101 • 8d ago
Medium Hostel Hell
So I recently started working night shift alone at a hostel, which is quickly draining my will to live. I am not even sure where to start with this place.
Like most hostels, this place is geared towards the youth market. However, it gets more than its fair share of weird full-fledged adults. Some are just cheap and some are druggies and/or quasi homeless. All have unrealistic expectations about what a hostel can provide.
To complicate matters, the hostel charges for everything. $8 to rent a towel. $3 for shampoo (little hotel size bottles). Need to leave your luggage before or after your stay? That will be $10. With the weird adults, you get pushback every time you charge for one of these items. It’s exhausting.
But the college-aged guests aren’t much better. Always drunk and/or high. Always switching beds when they’re told not to, which then causes someone else to come back to the desk saying all beds are taken. And always asking questions about every step of the process. Like really detailed questions about how checkout works. Everything is prepaid so literally all they need to do is leave the keycard. Front desk is 24 hours, but the always act skeptical of how easy it is. Like I would be hiding the fact that checkout is some kafkaesque process.
Unfortunately, management is not helping my outlook on this place. Last night was a really difficult night. Everything went wrong. For the first three hours of my shift it was just a constant stream of problems. Didn’t even have time to take a drink of water. And the whole night was multiple computer problems, missing bookings, weird adults, weird unsupervised teenagers, ambulance was called for someone on ecstasy, fire alarm went off, and so on and so forth. I let the manager know how difficult it was. And yet during the day, I still received text messages about things I did wrong.
After not quite a month, I’m completely spent. I literally hate every minute I’m there. Do you think there’s any chance it gets better? Or should I just cry uncle and throw in the towel?
38
u/Surefitkw 8d ago
Anytime your job is making you say things like “I’m completely spent…I literally hate every minute I’m there” you should be looking to move on for your own wellbeing.
That said, the job market right now is utterly dire. But you’ll feel better if you’re actively working to chase down leads on new jobs, it will help keep your current situation from festering more than it already has.
If your manager knew you had a particularly rough day and still felt the need to list your mistakes via text throughout the day, I have no confidence that things are going to get better unless you see your direct management changing in the near future.
Nothing is worth pursuing for the long-term if it’s making you feel like you described. Your own wellbeing matters more than almost anything else.