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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.
- Perform bookkeeping activities, such as balancing accounts and conducting nightly audits.
- Make and confirm reservations.
- Verify customers' credit, and establish how the customer will pay for the accommodation.
- Record guest comments or complaints, referring customers to managers as necessary.
- 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.
- Clean and maintain lobby and common areas, such as restocking supplies and watering plants.
- Plan, schedule or supervise the work of other employees.
- Keep records of room availability and guests' accounts, manually or using computers.
- Review accounts and charges with guests during the check out process.
- Compute bills, collect payments, and make change for guests.
- Compute bills, collect payments, and make change for guests.
- Compute bills, collect payments, and make change for guests.
- Arrange tours, taxis, or restaurant reservations for customers.
- Plan, schedule or supervise the work of other employees.
- Greet, register, and assign rooms to guests of hotels or motels.
- Contact housekeeping or maintenance staff when guests report problems.
- Issue room keys and escort instructions to bellhops.
- Post charges, such as those for rooms, food, liquor, or telephone calls, to ledgers, manually or by using computers.
- Transmit and receive messages, using telephones or telephone switchboards.
- Answer inquiries pertaining to hotel services, guest registration, and travel directions, or make recommendations regarding shopping, dining, or entertainment.
- Advise housekeeping staff when rooms have been vacated and are ready for cleaning.
- Prepare for basic food service, such as setting up continental breakfast or coffee and tea supplies.
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.
- 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.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- 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.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- 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.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- 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.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- 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.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- 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.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
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")