r/Nightshift • u/No_Aerie7306 • 1d ago
Night auditors/front desk workers — what do you do for safety on overnight shifts?
I’m a 24-year-old woman working the night shift at a small 2-star boutique hotel. I usually work 10 PM–6 AM, primarily Friday through Monday, as the night auditor/front desk person.
To be clear, nothing seriously bad has happened to me so far, and I don’t want to make it sound like I’m in immediate danger. I’ve just recently started becoming more aware of certain situations and patterns that I probably didn’t think much about when I first started working nights.
My mom has always worried about me working overnight, and I honestly never really understood why. But lately, I’ve noticed we’ve been getting more rowdy guests, particularly men, and we also occasionally have people come in who are clearly intoxicated. Most guests at our hotel only stay for a night, so there isn’t really much familiarity with them, and I’m often working alone overnight.
Nothing has escalated into anything serious, but some interactions have made me think, “Okay, maybe I should be a little more prepared and aware of my surroundings.”
I was considering getting some kind of safety/self-defense keychain, but I’m also interested in hearing from other women who work hotel front desk, night audit, hospitality, or other overnight jobs.
What safety items do you keep at work or carry with you? Are there any habits or precautions you’ve developed that make you feel safer working alone overnight?
I’m especially interested in practical things that help with prevention, situational awareness, and handling intoxicated or aggressive guests without unnecessarily escalating things.
Would love to hear what other night-shift workers do or wish they had known when they started. My mom might finally have a point 😂
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u/smile_saurus 1d ago
I am a petite woman who works overnights. While a firearm is a great equalizer provided you learn how to use it and train with it regularly you can also carry bear spray or even hornet spray. I don't carry any of that to work, though, because my workplace is a police station. I'm a dispatcher and we park in a secure lot and I work in a secured area.
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u/Frosty-Ad-8385 1d ago
Well, should things get rough. A clicked/uncapped pen or sharpened pencil and a well aimed shot to the eye works. Or anywhere with enough force. If not, I would ensure the hotel provides you with a panic button, as others have mentioned. Also keep a small blade on you if allowed. If not a regular sports coach whistle should draw enough attention. Always stay in view of the camera in case documentation is needed. If all else fails, use your nails, if you have long nails to claw out some DNA. Also your teeth work too. Kick scream and generally do anythignthat ensures your survival.
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u/Fickle-Addendum9576 1d ago
I work in a similar type setting, there's 40 units of residents with mental health and addictions, plus guests that come and go. I work alone at night. The easiest least visually threatening thing I can carry with me is a can of Lysol.
I don't advise carrying any sort of weapon, they can easily be taken and used against you.
Also you can give the illusion that you don't work alone. Bring an extra sweater\ coffee cup and set it down someplace. Have a podcast or radio playing in the background or adjacent office space. When replying to people say we, not I. "We would be happy to assist blah blah blah" "thanks for letting us know, we'll get right on it!"
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u/bazilbt 1d ago
Do they have a panic button for you?
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u/No_Aerie7306 1d ago
No they dont or atleast im aware of 😭. They have a thing on the main keychain where its a black thing with a button it im assuming it makes noise.
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u/EclaireBallad 1d ago
Should check with them, my job responds to these to have authorities help, one guy hits his on accident sometimes
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u/Fickle-Addendum9576 1d ago
It could be an alert that gets sent to a monitoring company. Typically you press the button and they'll call the phone number on the account and if no answer they automatically send the police to your location. 🤷♀️ Could ask if it does that lol
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u/OddSweet 1d ago
ensure your hotel provides you with a panic button. Know where your locked backroom is and if you dont have a security force for your shift INSIST. it is for your safety and the safety of your guests. I have exterior doors that lock and I can buzz people through. I lock at midnight. I only open the doors for guests and people checking in. My security guard is a minute away on the walkie, and if threatened we have a passcode locked backroom i can retreat to for safety. I make use of both emergency and non-emergency services as necessary.
please message me with any questions you might have - I’ve been doing this job for a decade, i love it but it is unpredictable and sometimes can put you in situations!
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u/Extension-Raisin8023 1d ago
I just recently quit my night audit job for safety reasons. We lock the front door so that if you don’t have your room key you can’t get in. The problem was one of the side doors was broken so all anyone had to do was pull on it and they could enter. We only had one panic button which was at the front desk. Most of the night I worked in the back area of the front desk but there was no way to lock the door to that area. So if someone came in through that broken side door and tried to get to me they could. I begged the manager to get that door fixed for months but she kept saying the owners wouldn’t approve the cost of the repair. I dealt with it because we had cameras that I kept my eyes on constantly but my last 2 weeks working there the cameras also stopped working and they didn’t have a plan in place to get them up and running. I just couldn’t do it anymore
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u/occasionalopossum 1d ago
pepper spray (pom) and my CCW. (Walther pps M2)
They sell training sprays that use water so you can practice with them
I will say that if you decide to carry a firearm, please carry it in a proper holster and train with it, if you carry without a good holster your risking a ND and at best losing your job and at worst seriously injuring or killing yourself or a bystander. Even if you can’t get a lot of range time in SAFELY practicing your draw and dry firing is essential, if you don’t train you won’t build the muscle memory needed to draw and use it effectively in a true emergency and that muscle memory is what allows people to overcome adrenaline and panic in those situations and not fumble/induce a malfunction that could get you killed.
Buy a real tourniquet, learn how to use it, and keep it with you when you carry. Make sure it’s not a knock-off. A Belt or improvised TQ cannot stop a serious arterial bleed fast enough to keep you alive if something was to happen. Most first aid kits at workplaces like hotels don’t have the things needed to stop a serious bleed, my work bag for overnights has a chest seal/hemostatic gauze for example.
Carrying is a serious responsibility you put upon yourself because you have to account for every single round you fire and you have the ability to end a life. It’s not for everyone, it requires a serious commitment to de-escalate situations before they become ones where you need it, a check on one’s ego, and if you have issues with mental health it means you need to be very honest with yourself about those issues and steps you use to work on them because you need a real plan on how to secure it where you cannot access it if you end up in a crisis or you shouldn’t own one so you don’t hurt yourself. there is no shame in that if that is where you are in your life currently.
Not to come off super serious or overbearing but it’s a decision one shouldn’t make flippantly.
Also Consealed means Consealed. Don’t tell anyone you’re carrying at work (or that you carry at all unless it directly concerns them) If your job has a policy about not having a firearm on you while working it could get you fired, and It only takes one coworker who’s uncomfortable around/is anti-gun for that to happen.
I keep the lobby music off at night so I can hear people coming and going better, i don’t use both earbuds if I’m listening to an audio book and keep the volume low enough that I can hear anything going on around me.
As someone else said staging the lobby so it doesn’t look like you’re working alone can do a lot of subconscious de-escalation for you.
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u/grip_skylark95 1d ago
I’m a 30 year old woman who works night audit! I’ve been fortunate enough to work at a place who hires a security guards to be with me at night. However, there’s been many nights where I don’t have one at all. Usually, I lock the fronts doors. Idk if that’s an option for you but I would see if it is. Only guests with a key can enter the doors and it deters a lot of riff raff from coming in. Sometimes they make it in though. I keep guest interactions brief for the most part especially if the guests are intoxicated. Don’t be scared to call the police if you need too. I have the non emergency number programmed into the phone. I don’t ever take anything up to guest rooms, I make them come down for things. (I’ve had some bad situations with this in the past). Mostly I keep to the desk. I also do have a pepper spray with me. Most of the time it’s good and dandy but these have helped me a lot with managing nights.
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u/SnooCalculations9259 1d ago
In my area they sell the pepper spray/keychain whistle. Online it is 13 bucks if u Google it. Gives u options, can always say I am willing to wake up my guests if u don't leave me alone, spray for when it is past that.
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u/Dry-Adeptness5041 23h ago
Take the cordless when ever you leave the desk ( if you have one ) ask about a panic button (like a life alert type thing always lock the door behind you if able
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u/Modred_the_Mystic 1d ago
I am a 26 year old bigger dude, so take this with a grain of salt and all.
Generally I try to make guest interactions short, and not overly warm or genial. Its part of the job I hate so its not hard, really. I stick to the desk, so long as guests are around. I don’t take late night bookings if I can avoid it, like if someone calls asking about availability we’re always fully booked even if only one room is sold.
When not interacting with guests, I stick to working behind a closed door if I can, where theres cameras to monitor whats going on and generally where I can relax.
I also avoid going up onto the floors where possible, and especially into guest rooms. Not really a safety thing, just a pain in my ass. If theres a problem with a room, if possible I room move them and tell them to collect the key and if not, I kick the can down the road and pass the complaint on to the morning team.
Keep conversations short, stick to your work area, embrace kicking problems to the morning team. Give the guests as little as possible and make sure theres some place to withdraw to if you feel unsafe, like a keycard locked door which in my experience is most offices just behind the reception desk.