“We have to take care of them”: front office workers and the secret sexual encounters of guests in high-end hotels
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-12-2020-0535 |
| Published date | 20 January 2022 |
| Date | 20 January 2022 |
| Pages | 913-925 |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
| Author | Fabio Gaspani |
“We have to take care of them”:
front office workers and the secret
sexual encounters of guests in
high-end hotels
Fabio Gaspani
University of Milan–Bicocca, Milan, Italy
Abstract
Purpose –In line with the escapist dimension of hospitality settings, the article investigates how the front
office staff of high-end hotels deal with clients’secret sexual encounters.
Design/methodology/approach –The article draws on data collected through a participant observation
study conducted in two high-end hotels in Milan (Italy), during which the author held the role of front-line
receptionist.
Findings –The research illustrates the ways in which workers frame events and conduct operations to
guarantee the appropriate conditions for guests’extra-marital adventures and paid sexual encounters. In
revealing the role of shared knowledge as well as non-formalised procedures in meeting guests’needs, the
article shows how employees seek to protect their own work and the hotel’s image.
Originality/value –The article sheds light on the very features of high-end service work by illustrating how
workers satisfy clients’secret needs and unexpressed demands.
Keywords High-end hotels, Front office workers, Guests’sexual encounters, Front-line service work,
Commercial sex
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
In the social imaginary, hospitality spaces are frequently understood as protected settings
where individuals can freely live the dimension of sexuality (Pritchard and Morgan, 2006;
Alexander et al., 2010) in the form of romantic affairs, furtive adventures and commercial sex.
Within the industry, high-end hotels are particularly suited to these kinds of experiences as
their service is based on the philosophy of guest sovereignty (Wang, 2016) and is
characterised by extensive personalisation, needs anticipation and a willingness to break
rules (Sherman, 2007). As Roberts et al. (2019, p. 1138) observe, “the more guests pay, the more
services they expect, whether those services are objectively right or wrong”. In this regard,
front office workers are requested to carry out several tangible and intangible work activities
to satisfy clients’needs, including those indirectly related to the sexual sphere. However, the
literature on sexual behaviours in hospitality settings, as well as that on the subjectivity of the
people who buy and sell sexual services, has often paid little attention to the venues where
such services occur. Furthermore, in focusing on the dynamics underlying sexual encounters,
research often glosses over the operations workers conduct to guarantee the appropriate
conditions for such encounters.
Focusing on high-end hotels, this article investigates the ways in which front office
workers deal with guests’secret sexual encounters. The notion of community of practice
(Lave and Wenger, 1991;Wenger et al., 2002;Wenger and Trayner, 2015) is proposed as a
heuristic tool for understanding how tacit and explicit knowledge are applied and specific
We have to
take care of
them
913
The author thanks Prof. Giovanna Fullin, Prof. Ivana Fellini (University of Milan-Bicocca) and Prof.
Sylvie Monchatre (University of Lyon 2) for helpful discussions on the first version of this article.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0142-5455.htm
Received 9 December 2020
Revised 3 January 2022
Accepted 4 January 2022
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 44 No. 4, 2022
pp. 913-925
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-12-2020-0535
To continue reading
Request your trial