In the past 16 years I have working many different types of hotels, from 5 star hotels to hotels that had bullet proof class at the front desk, I have come to realize that most if not all hotel guests are the same in one way or the other.

Most of them are very nice, some nicer than other, while this can also be said for the reverse, some are meaner and rudder than the others.

I have compiled my top 5 list of what I like to call ‘etiquette rules" for guests during their stay at any type of hotel.

1. Yelling at the front desk clerk because you don't like the rate you are getting, is like yelling at the waitress because you food was cooked wrong, it's not their fault.

Now I totally understand when staying at hotel/motel you try to get the best rate you can for yourself which may not necessarily be the best rate for the hotel. But the level that some guest take it to can be extreme.

In the 16 years I have worked at front desk, I have been screamed at, had things thrown at me, been told I am going to get fired because I refused to give the guests the rate they demanded.

One guest coming in around 3am, demanded I give him the room for 26$, no tax, just the 26$, "at least you will be making something for the room rather than letting it just sit empty," what most guests don't know, is that the hotels has to rent the room for a certain amount, if they go below that, they lose money on the room.

The 26$ room rate demanding guests than refused to stay after I informed him of this and told him my bottom line room rate, He than informed me he was going to call my owner and corporate office and have me fired because I refused to sell him a room.

What guests also may not understand is that owners set the rates not desk clerks, and each hotel is independently owned, so a hotel in one city will not necessarily have the same price as a hotel in another city that is owned by another company, and telling the desk clerk that you got a room for 50 dollars and it had a view of the ocean and since this hotel does not your room should be cheaper isn't going to help.

Just like wait staff and cashiers; you cannot go into a grocery store and demand they lower the price of milk. So try to be a little more understanding.

2. Try to be a little less confusing when it comes to your room preference.

"I want a room on the first floor not near an ice machine or vending or elevator or near any noisy people or noisy cars or trucks and way from the highway and street and I don't want to be facing the back and I want to be near the pool and I need a frig and microwave and I have to be close to the lobby and if I'm on the first floor can you make sure not to put anyone above me so I don't have to hear them walking around".

All this said all at one time where everything runs together. Desk clerks know that guests want to be as comfortable as they should be, starting off by giving such a long list will only confuse the clerk and they will wind up putting you in a bad room, simply saying "I want a quiet room on the first floor with a micro and frig." will let them know all you need, and desk clerks know a quiet room is not near vending or ice machine or elevators.

In a perfect hotel stay we would make rooms sound proof so anyone walking above you, you wouldn't be able to hear.

3. Unless you work directly for the city you are staying in or hotel corporate office of the hotel you are stay in, telling a desk clerk what the "rules" are for that hotel will really only make you bad.

"I thought all (insert hotel name) had to have to elevators". "I thought all (insert hotel name) had to have valet parking". "It's the LAW; you have to have handicap rooms with walk in showers".

Hotels for the most part are individually owned, meaning they often have their own set of rules to follow, but still have to follow corporate rules.

Also, hotels in different cities have different city rules, one hotel that is over 25 years old that has not had an outside structure work done to itself falls under what is called the ‘grandfather clause' meaning it does not have to have what a newer hotel would have to have when it comes to handicap rooms, the same is with elevators, certain city's do not require a hotel that is only two floors to have an elevator.

So unless you work directly for the corporate office of that hotel you are staying at or the city in which you are staying, you are really not informed on this subject as you think you are.

4. Yes, hotels in small towns and town you have never heard of do get sold out.

I have worked in large cities and small city and each of them have had sold out weekends and weeks. I find it funny when a guest will walk in and I will say sorry we are sold out.

One guest even laughed at me, "No, really I need a room". Then stood there with his credit card sitting on the counter. I repeated that we were sold out. He again laughed "No really, not funny, please check me in".

Again telling him we were sold out. "What do you mean you're sold out? isn't this (insert city name)". Yes, and tonight we are sold out. "How can you be sold out"? Even after I give them reason, a ball team, a wedding, a concert, because it is summer and we are near a lake.

They still look ever confused and sometimes even get mad. "Well, what am I suppose to do now, I need a room". Yes, hotels in small towns that you have never heard of do sell out.

5. This sign means what it says.

This is my all time favorite and important rule when staying at a hotel. "Do not enter". "Employees only". "I have stepped away from the desk, I will return shortly". "Hours to pool are 10am to 10pm". "For security these doors are locked after 7pm and unlocked at 5am".

I think some guests believe these signs are just a suggestion. To protect and for the safety of the guests these signs are meant to assist the guests in their stay. Each of these signs have their reason and rules as to why they are, pool hours are set in some hotels because of the closeness they are to rooms and this can cut down on the noise after a certain hours of the night.

I have seen guests jump over fences or pick locks or just flap out demand the keys to the pool after closing time "I don't care what time the pool hours are, I want to swim now." The smaller hotels are the less staff they have at night, so most lock side and back doors; this is so the front desk clerks can see who is coming into the hotel, one hotel I worked at had side doors that were locked after dark, there is always that one guest that would start pounding on the door, these doors was along a hallway and the pounding could be heard by the front desk and the guests on the second floor.

"I know the front doors of the hotel are unlocked but I want to come in the side doors so do not lock them while I am here". No one wants to walk up to a front desk and having no one there and not know what is going on. That is why the sign about having stepped away. I have on several occasions walked back to the desk after having been away because I was helping a guests or because I had to do something, and a guests is repeatedly POUNDING on the desk "HELLO, THERES IS SOMEONE HERE THAT WANTS TO CHECK IN".

In full view of the sign saying I will return shortly and even after seeing me walk back up, the guests will be shocked, "oh, there you are". Hotel signs are important and put up for reasons; they are there to help the guest have a better stay.

So the next time you stay at a hotel, whether it be 5 star hotel or a mom and pop place try and remember that we are all in need of a little patience and to have as much understanding as you can.

Cathy received her associates in business finance from the university of Phoenix online in 2011 and is currently studying for her bachelors in Cultural Anthropology. Cathy began working in the hotel industry in 1996,  and loves being able to work with people from all over the world.  cathy_rose2000@yahoo.com