Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks
Hospitality and TourismO*NET 43-4081.00United States
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.
- Median annual earnings
- $35,041
- Projected change
- +5.9%
- Typical education
- High school diploma or less
- Employment
- 263.57K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
76% of the workforce
Growing to 279.23K by 2035
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The work
What hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- 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.
- Verify customers' credit, and establish how the customer will pay for the accommodation.
- Make and confirm reservations.
- Keep records of room availability and guests' accounts, manually or using computers.
- Post charges, such as those for rooms, food, liquor, or telephone calls, to ledgers, manually or by using computers.
- Review accounts and charges with guests during the check out process.
- Record guest comments or complaints, referring customers to managers as necessary.
- Compute bills, collect payments, and make change for guests.
- 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.
- Perform bookkeeping activities, such as balancing accounts and conducting nightly audits.
- Clean and maintain lobby and common areas, such as restocking supplies and watering plants.
- Prepare for basic food service, such as setting up continental breakfast or coffee and tea supplies.
- Date-stamp, sort, and rack incoming mail and messages.
- Arrange tours, taxis, or restaurant reservations for customers.
- Deposit guests' valuables in hotel safes or safe-deposit boxes.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $27,021
- 25th percentile
- $29,721
- 50th percentile
- $35,041
- 75th percentile
- $38,118
- 90th percentile
- $45,541
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $35,041 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+5.9%average or slower
2025263,573 jobs
2035 projected279,230 jobs
15,657 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- High school diploma or less
- 76%
- Some college
- 10.8%
- Associate degree
- 6.2%
- Bachelor's degree
- 4.6%
- Certificate
- 2.4%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Front Desk Agents18,690 postings
- 02Night Auditors10,847 postings
- 03Guest Services Agents5,744 postings
- 04Hotel Night Auditors2,925 postings
- 05Front Desk Clerks2,890 postings
- 06Hotel Front Desk Agents2,794 postings
- 07Front Desk Associates2,650 postings
- 08Guest Service Representatives2,636 postings
- 09Guest Services Associates1,777 postings
- 10Hotel Front Desk Clerks1,181 postings
- 11Guest Services Specialists1,138 postings
- 12Front Desk Agents/Night Auditors1,078 postings
- 13Front Desk and Night Auditors1,037 postings
- 14Lobby Attendants909 postings
- 15Guest Experience Specialists820 postings
- 16Night Auditors/Front Desk Clerks777 postings
- 17Auditors661 postings
- 18Front Office Agents656 postings
- 19Hotel Guest Service Agents648 postings
- 20Guest Experience Leaders613 postings
Top employers
- 01Marriott International5,372 postings
- 02Hilton4,327 postings
- 03Holiday Inn2,412 postings
- 04French Lick Resort1,403 postings
- 05Aimbridge Hospitality1,393 postings
- 06Hyatt1,085 postings
- 07ESA Management922 postings
- 08Extended Stay America913 postings
- 09Best Western Hotels & Resorts900 postings
- 10Mister Car Wash778 postings
- 11Park Hotels & Resorts670 postings
- 12McDonald's466 postings
- 13Highgate Hotels454 postings
- 14Schulte Hospitality Group449 postings
- 15Hilton Grand Vacations425 postings
- 16Hotel Management And Consulting403 postings
- 17La Quinta Inn & Suites369 postings
- 18Drury Hotels358 postings
- 19Omni Hotels & Resorts354 postings
- 20Homewood Suites336 postings
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