Career
Hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks
Check guests in and look after them during their stay.
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Make and confirm reservations.
- Greet, register, and assign rooms to guests of hotels or motels.
- Verify customers' credit, and establish how the customer will pay for the accommodation.
- Post charges, such as those for rooms, food, liquor, or telephone calls, to ledgers, manually or by using computers.
- Issue room keys and escort instructions to bellhops.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
AI
BLS now cites artificial intelligence in this occupation's outlook: “share decreases as artificial intelligence (AI) software is increasingly used to assist guests with routine enquiries, and self-service kiosks and mobile applications allow guests to complete check-ins and check-outs without a clerk present.”
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on information & systems, then people & care?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Make and confirm reservations.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Speaking, Social Perceptiveness, Service Orientation, Active Listening.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though short-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $35,070 a year and 35,500 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- NO MATCHCIP 99.9999
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Lodging Managers$69,250 · +3.8%
- Concierges$38,950 · +2.6%
- Receptionists and Information Clerks$38,010 · -1.7%
- Locker Room, Coatroom, and Dressing Room Attendants$36,300 · +6.4%
- Counter and Rental Clerks$41,300 · +3.0%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.