I spent a decade working hotel front desks — these are the 9 things guests do in lobbies that annoy staff the most

A few years ago, I was staying in a little boutique hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Late one evening, I found myself chatting with the front desk staff — a woman in her early thirties who’d worked in hotels across Asia and Europe for more than a decade.

She had stories. The kind that made me laugh, shake my head, and think about how differently people behave when they’re away from home. But her stories weren’t just about travel. They were about human nature.

Entitlement. Patience. Respect. Or, in some cases, the lack of it.

I asked her what the most annoying things guests do in lobbies were, and she rattled off a list like she’d been waiting years for someone to ask.

What she shared with me stuck, and I think it reveals something about all of us.

Demanding a check-in before rooms are ready

She told me this one with an exasperated laugh.

Guests often arrive hours before official check-in and demand a room on the spot. They don’t want to hear about housekeeping schedules, maintenance checks, or the fact that other guests haven’t even checked out yet.

They just want their key card — now.

What they don’t realize is that a hotel isn’t sitting on piles of empty rooms, waiting to be unlocked. Each one has to be turned over carefully, cleaned thoroughly, and checked for issues. Staff don’t want to deny people early access, but it’s not always possible.

She admitted that this behavior wears staff down quickly. It makes them feel like they’re constantly in battle mode, defending themselves against accusations of “holding out” on guests.

Patience, she said, is one of the rarest luxuries in a lobby.

Hovering at the desk while the staff handle other guests

She described this in detail: a guest standing just a few feet away from the desk, shifting their weight from foot to foot, staring holes into her while she helps someone else. Sometimes they sigh loudly.

Other times they tap their fingers on the counter. The message is clear: “Hurry up. I’m waiting.”

This doesn’t speed things up.

In fact, it makes the staff member more flustered, which can actually slow the process. She said it always amazed her how people lost all sense of patience once they stepped into a lobby. Instead of sitting down, grabbing a glass of water, or even just checking their phone, they’d hover like impatient shadows.

And here’s what she said that stuck with me: “Impatience is contagious.”

One person hovering creates an atmosphere of stress that spreads to other guests and even the staff.

Treating the lobby like a personal office

She rolled her eyes when she told me this one.

Business travelers, especially, were guilty of spreading out across the lobby like it was their personal coworking space. Laptops open, papers scattered everywhere, and phone chargers stretched across walkways. Some even moved furniture to create a “workspace.”

The issue wasn’t that the hotel minded people working. Many hotels actually design their lobbies to encourage it. But it became a problem when guests acted like they owned the space.

They’d glare at families with kids for making noise, ask staff to turn down the music, or complain when other guests chatted nearby.

Her words were blunt: “You’re not renting the lobby. You’re just borrowing it.”

She said the best guests were the ones who worked quietly, packed up neatly, and remembered that the space was for everyone, not just them.

Snapping fingers or whistling for attention

This one made her visibly cringe even as she told me.

Some guests actually snapped their fingers or whistled to get her attention. Others waved their hands dramatically as though she couldn’t see them standing three feet away.

It’s not just rude — it’s dehumanizing.

She said these gestures cut deeper than most insults because they reduced her role to something less than human, more like a servant who exists only to respond on command. She said she learned to keep her cool, but inside, it chipped away at her respect for people who behaved that way.

Her comment reminded me of something I’d once read from Maya Angelou: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

And that works both ways — staff remember who treated them like people, and who didn’t.

Asking for exceptions to every rule

She told me she lost count of the number of guests who tried to bend the rules in their favor.

• “Can I get breakfast even though I booked the cheaper rate?”
• “Can my cousins use the pool even though they’re not staying here?”
• “Can I check out at 5 p.m. instead of 11?”

One request wasn’t a big deal. But when dozens of guests each pushed for exceptions every single day, it created a culture of entitlement that wore her down.

The funny thing was, she said, that the guests who got most upset when she said “no” were often the ones already getting the most privileges.

Her insight was sharp: “The happiest guests were the ones who accepted boundaries. The angriest ones were the people who thought rules were written for everyone else but them.”

Ignoring queues completely

This one drove her crazy.

A line of guests could be patiently waiting, and then one person would march straight to the desk, announcing, “I just have a quick question.”

The truth, she said, was that everyone always had “just a quick question.”

That excuse was used so often it became a cliché. It wasn’t about the question being short; it was about not respecting the fact that others were waiting their turn.

She said staff could usually tell within seconds what kind of guest someone would be, based on whether they respected a queue. “Cutting in line is never about time,” she explained. “It’s about ego. It’s saying, ‘My time matters more than yours.’”

And while she handled these moments with a polite smile, she admitted that every single person in line was silently annoyed, not just the staff.

Leaving trash in the lobby

She shook her head as she told me about the things she’d cleaned up from lobby tables and couches: empty coffee cups, fast-food bags, half-eaten sandwiches, and even — unbelievably — dirty diapers.

The lobby isn’t a park bench. It’s the heart of the hotel, the first impression for anyone walking in. And when people leave their garbage behind, it forces staff to scramble to clean, all while still answering phones, checking guests in, and solving problems.

She said what frustrated her most wasn’t the trash itself but the assumption behind it.

Guests acted like someone else would take care of it, as though their responsibility ended the moment they stood up. “Leaving trash isn’t just lazy,” she said. “It’s a quiet way of saying: ‘My mess isn’t my problem.’”

Talking loudly on speakerphone

She laughed when she described this one, but you could hear the frustration underneath. Some guests would hold full-volume conversations on speakerphone, pacing the lobby like they were in their own living room.

It was disruptive not just for staff, but for other guests trying to relax, check in, or enjoy a quiet moment.

She said it always baffled her that people who would never yell on a train or bus thought nothing of doing it in a hotel lobby.

Her advice was simple: “Use headphones. Or step outside.” But what she really wanted to say was: “Remember you’re not the only one here.”

The lobby, she said, is one of those spaces where self-awareness is everything — and sadly, it’s often in short supply.

Treating staff like servants instead of humans

This, she said without hesitation, was the single most draining part of the job.

• Guests who refused to make eye contact.
• Guests who never said “please” or “thank you.”
• Guests who treated every interaction like a transaction with someone beneath them.

She told me that the most memorable guests weren’t the ones who tipped heavily or asked for nothing. They were the ones who treated her like a human being. The ones who remembered her name, or who asked how her day was going.

“Hospitality is emotional labor,” she explained. “You’re giving your energy and patience to hundreds of people every day. A small gesture of kindness from one guest could fuel me for hours.”

And that line stuck with me: kindness doesn’t just matter — it multiplies.

Final words

What I took away from her stories wasn’t just how bizarre and frustrating some guest behavior can be. It was the reminder that how we act in small, everyday moments says more about us than we realize.

A hotel lobby is just one stage where our character shows up.

Do we wait our turn? Do we respect shared spaces? Do we treat people with dignity? Or do we act entitled, impatient, and oblivious to how our behavior affects others?

The truth is, most of us don’t mean to be annoying.

We’re stressed, tired, or distracted. But awareness changes everything.

A smile, patience in line, cleaning up after yourself — these little acts ripple outward.

And when you treat staff like humans, not servants, you’re not just making their day better. You’re becoming a better version of yourself.