All About Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks
Occupation Description 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.
Life As a Desk Clerk: What Do They Do?
- Post charges, such as those for rooms, food, liquor, or telephone calls, to ledgers, manually or by using computers.
- Compute bills, collect payments, and make change for guests.
- Issue room keys and escort instructions to bellhops.
- Transmit and receive messages, using telephones or telephone switchboards.
- Date-stamp, sort, and rack incoming mail and messages.
- Keep records of room availability and guests' accounts, manually or using computers.
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Things a Desk Clerk Should Know How to Do
These are the skills Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks say are the most useful in their careers:
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.
Time Management: Managing one’s own time and the time of others.
Other Desk Clerk Job Titles
- Hall Clerk
- Hotel Night Auditor
- Night Auditor
- Motel Front Desk Clerk
- Front Desk Agent
Is There Job Demand for Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks?
In the United States, there were 252,600 jobs for Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerk in 2016. New jobs are being produced at a rate of 4.4% which is below the national average. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 11,200 new jobs for Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerk by 2026. The BLS estimates 40,900 yearly job openings in this field.

The states with the most job growth for Desk Clerk are Idaho, Utah, and Oklahoma. Watch out if you plan on working in Missouri, Kansas, or Wisconsin. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.
Salary for a Desk Clerk
Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks make between $18,090 and $34,040 a year.

Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks who work in Hawaii, District of Columbia, or Nevada, make the highest salaries.
How much do Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks make in different U.S. states?
State | Annual Mean Salary |
---|---|
Alabama | $20,690 |
Alaska | $30,320 |
Arizona | $25,210 |
Arkansas | $20,830 |
California | $29,880 |
Colorado | $28,000 |
Connecticut | $26,700 |
Delaware | $25,660 |
District of Columbia | $35,950 |
Florida | $24,890 |
Georgia | $21,100 |
Hawaii | $44,250 |
Idaho | $22,710 |
Illinois | $24,690 |
Indiana | $21,670 |
Iowa | $22,180 |
Kansas | $21,120 |
Kentucky | $20,190 |
Louisiana | $20,900 |
Maine | $25,440 |
Maryland | $26,360 |
Massachusetts | $30,770 |
Michigan | $23,710 |
Minnesota | $25,160 |
Mississippi | $20,950 |
Missouri | $23,300 |
Montana | $23,650 |
Nebraska | $24,010 |
Nevada | $30,360 |
New Hampshire | $25,360 |
New Jersey | $25,390 |
New Mexico | $22,740 |
New York | $33,860 |
North Carolina | $22,920 |
North Dakota | $26,120 |
Ohio | $21,990 |
Oklahoma | $20,570 |
Oregon | $26,410 |
Pennsylvania | $22,960 |
Rhode Island | $25,470 |
South Carolina | $22,060 |
South Dakota | $23,310 |
Tennessee | $21,860 |
Texas | $22,570 |
Utah | $24,250 |
Vermont | $28,320 |
Virginia | $22,300 |
Washington | $28,400 |
West Virginia | $21,550 |
Wisconsin | $23,010 |
Wyoming | $26,090 |
Tools & Technologies Used by Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks
Although they’re not necessarily needed for all jobs, the following technologies are used by many Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks:
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Office
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft Publisher
- Delphi Technology
- Yardi
- Incident tracking software
Becoming a Desk Clerk
What education or degrees do I need to become a Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerk?

How Long Does it Take to Become a Desk Clerk?

Where Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks Are Employed

The table below shows the approximate number of Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks employed by various industries.

Other Jobs You May be Interested In
Those who work as a Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerk sometimes switch careers to one of these choices:
- Self-Enrichment Education Teachers
- Data Entry Keyers
- Singers
- Slot Supervisors
- Teacher Assistants
- Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
- Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks
References:
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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