Front desk agent vs guest services agent

The differences between front desk agents and guest services agents can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a front desk agent has an average salary of $31,008, which is higher than the $29,063 average annual salary of a guest services agent.

The top three skills for a front desk agent include reservations, team work and guest service. The most important skills for a guest services agent are reservations, computer system, and hotel services.

Front desk agent vs guest services agent overview

	Front Desk Agent	Guest Services Agent
Yearly salary	$31,008	$29,063
Hourly rate	$14.91	$13.97
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	96,392	94,858
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 42%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Average age	37	37
Years of experience	-	-

What does a front desk agent do?

Front desk agents are usually the first hotel employees that the guest encounters upon entering the hotel. They greet and welcome guests. They are in charge of checking and validating the guests' reservations and issuing their room keys. Front desk agents are responsible for collecting any applicable fees from the guests and ensuring that only the registered guests stay. Front desk agents also coordinate with the housekeeping team and any other team to ensure that the guests' stay is the best.

What does a guest services agent do?

Guest services agents are the ones who communicate with hotel guests who want to reserve or cancel bookings. Their job includes welcoming guests upon arrival, assigning them their rooms and suites, issuing their room keys, and collecting payment information. They organize housekeeping, transport providers, porters, and kitchen staff to meet the requirements of guests. They also resolve issues and deal with disappointed guests' complaints and coordinate third party services, including taxis, rental cars, tour guides, and airport transfers.

Front desk agent vs guest services agent salary

Front desk agents and guest services agents have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Front Desk Agent	Guest Services Agent
Average salary	$31,008	$29,063
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $37,000	Between $23,000 And $36,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	Washington	Washington
Best paying company	Brookhaven National Laboratory	East-West Center
Best paying industry	Hospitality	Hospitality

Differences between front desk agent and guest services agent education

There are a few differences between a front desk agent and a guest services agent in terms of educational background:

	Front Desk Agent	Guest Services Agent
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 42%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Front desk agent vs guest services agent demographics

Here are the differences between front desk agents' and guest services agents' demographics:

	Front Desk Agent	Guest Services Agent
Average age	37	37
Gender ratio	Male, 31.2% Female, 68.8%	Male, 33.6% Female, 66.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.7% Unknown, 6.8% Hispanic or Latino, 22.1% Asian, 9.9% White, 50.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5%	Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 7.0% Hispanic or Latino, 20.3% Asian, 10.3% White, 50.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.6%
LGBT Percentage	13%	13%

Differences between front desk agent and guest services agent duties and responsibilities

Front desk agent example responsibilities.

Train new associates to Hyatt standards and the most efficient way to accomplish the day's tasks.
Work as front desk, PBX, and make error free reservations for a full size hotel consisting of 123 rooms.
Welcome guests into the 2nd largest Hyatt in the world.
Receive recognition for dependability and a``can-do"attitude.
Inform members and guests of current sales and promotions while accounting for an accurate POS drawer
Coordinate request for dry cleaning pickup/drop off, pet walking, housekeeping, grocery, delivery, etc.

Guest services agent example responsibilities.

Train new associates to Hyatt standards and the most efficient way to accomplish the day's tasks.
Assist customers with booking hotel rooms and handling on-site complaints about rooms, service or billing issues.
Execute strong customer service by facilitating reservations, room amendments on an individual and corporate level, including agencies.
Process special reservation requests in the LMS database.
Maintain room booking lists and directly provide guests with the requested information concerning the facilities locations and surrounding area.
Operate the PBX equipment by accepting incoming calls, assisting outgoing calls, scheduling wake-up calls and supporting room service departments.

Front desk agent vs guest services agent skills

Common front desk agent skills

Reservations, 23%
Team Work, 8%
Guest Service, 6%
Customer Service, 5%
Computer System, 4%
Guest Satisfaction, 4%

Common guest services agent skills

Reservations, 24%
Computer System, 10%
Hotel Services, 9%
Cash Handling, 7%
Room Reservations, 7%
PBX, 5%

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Front Desk Agent
Front Desk Agent vs Guest Services Agent

Updated January 8, 2025

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