Hire front desk agents
The front desk agent is often the first and last person a hotel guest talks to. A calm, accurate agent can rescue a bad arrival, and a careless one can cost you a booking and a review. Optihire Staffing recruits front desk agents and night auditors for hotels, resorts and other lodging businesses across the United States.
Contingency Recruitment
You pay a recruitment fee only when a successful candidate is hired, subject to agreed terms.
What a front desk agent does
Front desk agents check guests in and out, take payments, handle reservations and room changes, answer phones and solve problems as they come up. They work in the hotel's property management system and coordinate with housekeeping and maintenance on room status.
Many properties staff the desk around the clock, and overnight agents may also run the night audit, balancing the day's transactions. The job takes patience, accuracy with money and a steady manner with tired or frustrated guests.
What to screen for
The skills, credentials and habits worth checking before you make an offer.
Property management systems
Ask which property management and reservation systems they have used. Experience with your system shortens training, but service skills matter more.
Cash and payments
Ask how they balanced a drawer and what they did when it came up short. Accuracy with payments protects your revenue.
Difficult guests
Ask about an overbooked night, a room that wasn't ready or a billing dispute. Listen for ownership and calm.
Shift availability
Confirm whether they can work overnights, weekends and holidays. A candidate who wants days only won't last on a night shift.
Phone and written manner
The screening call shows how they sound on the phone. If they will answer guest emails or messages, ask for a short written example.
How we recruit front desk agents
Tell us the property type, the shifts, the systems you use and the pay range. We source candidates in your area and judge their manner on the phone screen itself. Your shortlist comes with a note on each person's systems experience, shifts and why they suit your property.
Staffing a new property or a busy season? One brief can cover front desk, housekeeping and kitchen roles together. Our seasonal hiring plan covers the timing, and our guide to the frontline job description helps you write a posting candidates read to the end. See the hospitality and food services roles we recruit for, or our recruitment services.
Interview questions to ask
Open questions that make candidates describe real work. Follow up on anything vague.
Which property management systems have you used?
A guest arrives and their reservation isn't in the system. Walk me through what you do.
Tell me about a time your drawer didn't balance at the end of a shift.
How would you handle a guest who is angry about their room?
Which shifts can you work, including overnights and weekends?
Hiring front desk agents?
Send us the role, the shift and the pay range. You pay a recruitment fee only when a successful candidate is hired, subject to agreed terms.