I Feel Like I'm A Better Traveler Now After Reading These 19 Hospitality Worker Secrets

Recently, I asked the BuzzFeed Community to share the secrets of their jobs that everyone else should know. Hospitality workers came through divulging little things about their industry that I found overwhelmingly compelling. Check these out:

1."I work at a Vegas 'resort.' That service fee you're paying when you order room service does NOT go to me. It goes to my boss. The 20% auto gratuity also does not go to just me. It's split between all the servers by the hours they worked. The best way you can tip us is with cash."

2."What kid doesn't love bunk beds at a fun family resort? YEAH, DON'T DO IT. I've worked for different family resorts and the bunk beds are always the most unclean beds we have. Housekeeping is often scrambling to get rooms clean, and bunk beds are a pain to clean thoroughly with the crevices, especially the top bunk. Kids often have accidents on them too. Do we change the sheets? Of course. The mattress? Nope. We might swap them between different rooms if someone complains, but that's it. If you must get the room, check that bed up and down, if it's gross tell the front desk immediately so you can get it cleaned and a nice discount or freebie.'

3."I worked at a resort spa. All of us were paid minimum wage, so we had second (and third) jobs at cheaper spas. If you're thinking of spending $300 for a massage at a high-end spa, just go to the cheap place instead. You'll get the same quality work from literally the same therapists."

4."I worked for one of the best French restaurants in Jersey, literally packed every day and their profit margin was only 18%, so just imagine...chefs aren’t paid well for the amount of work being done! Be kind and always send compliments to the chef whenever the food is good. We rarely get recognition or bonuses. Your compliments drive and inspire us to keep doing what we do!"

5."If you see a bartender grab glasses by the inside of the rim instead of the outside, don't drink anything they try and serve: A) that's just asking for severe cross-contamination and B) that bartender is the type to just wipe their hands on their pants and call them 'clean.'"

6."Flight attendant here for a major airline! People think being a flight attendant is all luxurious and fun traveling everywhere, but it’s really not. You’ve to put in the time in order to have a flexible schedule and good pay. It’s all based on seniority and there are people who just never leave, I’m talking about 50+ years of seniority. So when you first start, you’re on 'reserve,' which means on-call 24 hours, and when you get called whenever they need you to work, you must be available and work whatever schedules they give you. Flight attendants who have less than five years of seniority are overworked and underpaid! So please be nice! Oh, and we only get paid when we’re in the air literally — just the flight time."

7."People always seem to underestimate how much power the front desk really holds. If you're nice to me on the phone the day you're expected to arrive, I'll try and give you a free upgrade/better view/put you in one of our nicer rooms. If you yell at me, demanding your room be ready six hours before check-in time because that's when you'll be arriving at the hotel, I can guarantee that you will not step foot into your room before the designated check-in time."

8."Always be nice to hosts at restaurants because we will purposely seat you with the worst server possible or skip you on the wait list."

9."Massage therapist here. We really don’t care if you didn’t shave your legs, if you fart, or what your body looks like. No need to apologize, especially for that last one. That being said, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, do not show up with filthy feet. We don’t expect you to be shower fresh, but if you’ve been gardening barefoot for three hours before your massage, wash your feet! We will spend as little time as possible touching them if they are dirty."

10."I work in a dish room at a kitschy venue that offers cooking classes (painting and wine but you cook small plates/snacks beforehand). The sheer amount of food waste that we get just from one class is insane. I’ve had to dump entire plates and charcuterie boards in the trash before just because someone took a few bites. Please just ask for a to-go box. Hundreds if not thousands of dollars worth of food gets thrown in the trash if you don’t."

11."10 years in the hotel industry...demand that 'resort fees' and 'tourism fees' are removed from your bill at check-out. These are just charges we automatically tack on to every reservation (every night), and it’s fluff money. They are literally fees for 'being at a resort' or 'being a tourist.' Every single desk agent has the power to remove these from your bill and they will not fight you on it. We know it’s a bullshit charge and it’s not worth fighting you on."

12."I have worked at a few hotels and just know this: Linens on the top are put back on for about a week if there are no stains on it. Also, if there’s a double bed and only one was used [the other is] not getting changed."

13."You know that pricey winter vacation you take where everyone signs up for a ski lesson? Please know that the younger and newer the instructor, the less they are being paid. You might be paying $300 for a half- or full-day group lesson, but your instructor is often getting paid only $18–20 an hour, no matter how many kids or adults are in their class. Recognize that it’s expensive to live in a mountain town and please TIP your instructor! We are professionals responsible for your safety, your kids' safety, and making sure everyone learns and has fun."

14."I was a restaurant server for 10 years. Even if you’re rude to us, we do not f**k with your food. The absolute last thing we want is for you to complain about something (again) or, even worse, get sick. Both of those things make our lives even more difficult than you have already made them. What we will do is make sure you get absolutely nothing extra. You won’t get a little dish of something the chef is testing in the kitchen, or a glass of the wine a distributor gave us. And your kid won’t get one of the little jars of Play-Doh I keep in my bag for them. Most servers actually like people and want to make them happy, so don’t be a jerk."

15."I worked as a housekeeper for one of the best hotels on the Las Vegas strip. Housekeepers work hard to make sure you come stay in a clean room and are only given about 30 minutes to strip and clean your room NO MATTER how nasty the previous guest left it. Making beds and scrubbing tubs and showers is back-breaking work only to be left with NO TIP."

16."Worked in hotels for two years. Comforters/quilts were never washed. Only saw them washed when one was visibly stained (blood). Extra linens weren’t washed, and those blankets were folded back up and stuck back up on the shelf. I will always travel with my own blanket and pillow if possible!"

17."I work in the spa industry, and I would never book in for a hot stones massage. The stones are made from volcanic rock and are porous like human skin and that's how they retain heat. Unfortunately, it also means that people's dead skin and sweat and oil get into them and because treatments are booked back-to-back, they are never cleaned properly and are reused. Only at the end of the day, if a therapist can be bothered to do a proper job are they cleaned with soap or disinfectant, and most of the time they're not even scrubbed properly with some form of a brush to get into the crevices."

18."I have worked for county clubs for 14 years. Members who pay a lot of money monthly to belong to the club need to know that my job is to make you feel important and that you 'belong' so you keep spending money. We carry small iPads and can type in your name or your membership number to get information about you. The bartender doesn’t really remember your favorite drink, the pool attendant doesn’t really remember that you went on vacation last week. We are just trained to find information, to chat with you, and make you feel more special than you really are."

19.Finally, "Restaurant owner here. If you want to maximize the tip you give your server, pay it in cash. Not only do credit card companies take a 3% cut of the tip, but the restaurant has to pay a payroll tax (mine is 10%) when they give it to the server. The server gets less and I have no choice but to raise the price of the food to cover the extra 13% in fees."

The form is still open! If you have a secret from your job, tell us in this totally anonymous Google form for your secret to be featured in an upcoming BuzzFeed Community post.