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Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks
Accommodate hotel, motel, and resort patrons by registering and assigning rooms to guests, issuing room keys or cards, transmitting and receiving messages, keeping records of occupied rooms and guests' accounts, making and confirming reservations, and presenting statements to and collecting payments from departing guests.
Also Known As:
Desk Clerk
Front Desk Agent
Front Desk Associate
Front Desk Clerk
Front Office Agent
Guest Service Agent
Guest Service Representative
Guest Services Agent (GSA)
Night Auditor
Wages
Annual wages for Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks in United States
Job Outlook
Average
New job opportunities are likely in the future
United States
2034 Projected Employment
274,000
4% Change From 2024
Explore File Clerks video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Verify customers' credit, and establish how the customer will pay for the accommodation.
- Record guest comments or complaints, referring customers to managers as necessary.
- Perform bookkeeping activities, such as balancing accounts and conducting nightly audits.
- Record guest comments or complaints, referring customers to managers as necessary.
- Date-stamp, sort, and rack incoming mail and messages.
- Deposit guests' valuables in hotel safes or safe-deposit boxes.
- Make and confirm reservations.
- Review accounts and charges with guests during the check out process.
- Keep records of room availability and guests' accounts, manually or using computers.
- Plan, schedule or supervise the work of other employees.
- Compute bills, collect payments, and make change for guests.
- Compute bills, collect payments, and make change for guests.
- Clean and maintain lobby and common areas, such as restocking supplies and watering plants.
- Compute bills, collect payments, and make change for guests.
- Arrange tours, taxis, or restaurant reservations for customers.
- Issue room keys and escort instructions to bellhops.
- Greet, register, and assign rooms to guests of hotels or motels.
- Advise housekeeping staff when rooms have been vacated and are ready for cleaning.
- Answer inquiries pertaining to hotel services, guest registration, and travel directions, or make recommendations regarding shopping, dining, or entertainment.
- Contact housekeeping or maintenance staff when guests report problems.
- Prepare for basic food service, such as setting up continental breakfast or coffee and tea supplies.
- Transmit and receive messages, using telephones or telephone switchboards.
- Post charges, such as those for rooms, food, liquor, or telephone calls, to ledgers, manually or by using computers.
- Plan, schedule or supervise the work of other employees.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")