New 22-year-old hire forced to work the front desk at luxury hotel on his first day after coworkers assigned to train him failed to show up: 'I feel so bad for the young man'

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Nov 6, 2025 4:00 PM EST

Imagine showing up to work on your first day, ready to learn, only to find out that you have been effectively thrown into the deep end.

For this new hire at a luxury hotel, he was forced to check in a series of entitled customers on his own with zero knowledge of the system and a completely absent manager. How did this happen? Well, there were two coworkers who had been previously assigned to train the new guy, but they both just so happened to come down with something that day. 

Was it a total coincidence that both guys got sick? Were they perhaps playing a ruthless prank on the new guy? I suppose we'll never know, but Tony had to stomach a ton of criticism and stress on his first day when all of this could have been properly prevented had he been given some proper guidance. 

Furthermore, when people call in sick, that's management's responsibility to work out a possible solution, so the absent manager is just as much at fault here as the coworkers who allegedly fell ill. 

Thankfully, after dealing with some disgruntled customers, Tony was lucky enough to come across this generous author at the front desk.

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  • A young male front desk agent behind a concierge desk welcomes a couple in a hotel lobby.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • This author clearly had the decency and empathy to understand what it must be like to be in Tony's shoes. You would think other folks would be able to sympathize with Tony's predicament, but unfortunately, far too many regular customers at this hotel seem to lack the ability to imagine that the roles are reversed. Instead, they lead with entitlement… always. 

  • I do not work in the hospitality sector. If this is the wrong subreddit for posting this story, I apologize. Staying at a chain hotel in Moab, Utah tonight. Went to a National Park and hiked a few trails. Arrived at the hotel and walked to the front desk to check
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  • in. The front desk employee greeted me. I informed him I was here to check in and I had booked the room on the chain's website. He then states "Sir' here's the problem." I Immediately think this isn't going to be good.
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  • He stated that this was his first shift working at the hotel and he couldn't check me in because he was having computer issues and he wasn't sure how to proceed. I
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  • informed him that I could wait. He then stated that he didn't know how long it would take because he was waiting on his manager to come in and train him. I asked if
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  • his trainer didn't show up for work today. He stated that BOTH of the employees who were supposed to train him didn't show up.
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  • I began to laugh and apologized. I told him that I personally thought he was handling this very well considering that I was sure some guests were upset. He was trying very hard to make sure I wasn't going to be upset.
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  • I made him a deal. The wife and I would go eat and gave him my number to call me when the room was available. We went and ate.
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  • The employee, a early 20's young man named Tony, called me during dinner and informed me the room was ready and he had everything set up for us to just sign in.
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  • When we arrived at the hotel he had everything ready and under control. I informed Tony, with the manager present, that he conducted himself well and did an exceptional job.
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  • Tony, you did a fantastic job of dealing with a very cr situation. I truly hope your shift goes well.
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  • A young male front desk agent behind a concierge desk welcomes a couple in a hotel lobby.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • DogsandCatsWorl... Really feel for Tony, he was in a really bad position. Good for you for being understanding and making sure the manager knew how well Tony did.
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  • Awkward_Vari... OP. I have been reading this subreddit for a while and am constantly amazed at the amount of B.S. the hospitality employees have to deal with. My first thought when this happened was that I was going to have to post the story.
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  • Flassourian Thank you for being a good customer! That young man. will definitely remember your kindness and understanding.
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  • Thismomenthere You are the guest that will be spoken of well to the other staff. When people are kind we tend to try and do what extra we can to be nice back to you. Thanks for being kind.
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  • The crew I work with always say "If you're kind I'll try ten things to help you, if you're rude I'll do ten things to f ya over and tell every staff I see that you're an a hole."
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  • Poor Tony though. My first week I was put on a double back to back shift. Other staff had h govers... I mean flus. lol.
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  • Awkward_Variation952 OP. I felt so bad for the young man. He is holding down the front desk of a chain hotel while having absolutely no clue as to what he is supposed to do. He did a great job of explaining the situation, all while being willing to take the blame for the problem. I am sure he will excel in this industry.
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  • A young male front desk agent behind a concierge desk welcomes a couple in a hotel lobby.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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customer service hotel guest employee hotel front desk customers tales from the front desk overworked-employees
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