Why travel time weighs more in hotels than in other sectors
Hotels run at times when public transport is thin: early breakfast shifts, late evening shifts, night reception and weekends. Many hotels also sit in city centres with expensive housing, or outside town near an airport, on the coast or in the mountains. As a result, staff often live further away. A journey that takes twenty minutes in the daytime can take an hour at 23:30, or be impossible altogether. Ignore that and you will see it in late arrivals, swap requests, sick calls and people leaving in their first months.
Weigh travel time from the start of hiring
Start with the job ad and the first conversation, not once someone is already on the floor:
• State start and finish times honestly: write “shifts from 6:00” or “closing around midnight” in the job ad.
• Ask concretely about transport: how does the candidate get to the hotel at 5:30, and home again after the late shift? Ask them to actually check the route.
• Check weekends and public holidays: timetables are often thinner then than on weekdays.
• Be clear about what you can offer: a travel allowance, a bike, shared transport or a fixed shift that fits the last connection.
A candidate who has tested the journey in advance is less likely to drop out in the first weeks.
Align the roster with transport
Small roster changes often do more than a higher allowance:
• Link shifts to connections: let a late shift end ten minutes earlier if that makes the last bus or train reachable, and organise the handover around it.
• Group staff by direction: people who live near each other can travel together or carpool when their shifts match.
• Do not mix early and late in one week: a late shift followed by an early one leaves someone with a long commute too little sleep.
• Fixed early or late teams: some staff prefer always working early or always late because their journey becomes predictable.
Record per employee which shifts are feasible with their own transport, so planners can take it into account.
Practical arrangements that work
There is no standard solution, but these measures come up often in hotels:
• Travel allowance: simple and easy to explain in a job ad. Check what is tax-efficient in your country.
• Bike or e-bike: useful within a few kilometres, including when public transport stops in the evening. Provide safe storage.
• Taxi or ride home after the last shift: limit this to shifts that genuinely end after the last connection, with a clear agreement on who books it.
• Staff shuttle: worthwhile for hotels outside town or near an airport with many staff on the same times.
• Parking space: for staff who drive, a free or affordable space is often decisive.
• Staff housing: for seasonal work or remote locations, housing sometimes solves the travel problem in one go.
Safety on late and night shifts
Travel is not only about time and money. Staff who walk alone to a station or car park after midnight do not always feel safe. Agree that colleagues leave the building together, make sure the staff entrance and bike storage are well lit, and say who someone can call if the last connection is cancelled. Raise the subject in team meetings; staff rarely bring it up on their own.
Signs that the commute is costing you staff
Look for patterns rather than single incidents:
• Repeated lateness on the same shift: often the first shift of the day or on Sundays.
• Many swap requests for late shifts: especially from staff who live outside town.
• Leaving shortly after probation: exit interviews then mention “the journey became too much”.
• Candidates who drop out after the roster talk: the work fits, the hours and the journey do not.
Ask explicitly about the commute in stay and exit interviews. It is one of the easiest reasons for leaving to fix.
Checklist for HR, department heads and general managers
• Are start and finish times stated honestly in the job ad?
• Do you ask in the interview how the candidate travels for the earliest and latest shift?
• Does the planner know per employee which shifts are feasible with their own transport?
• Is there an arrangement for shifts that end after the last connection?
• Are the staff entrance and bike storage safe and lit?
• Do you ask about the commute in stay and exit interviews?
When AXXAZ Hospitality helps
AXXAZ Hospitality supplies reliable hospitality staff to hotels across Europe. For early, late or remote shifts we already look at where candidates live, how they travel and when they are available during selection, so they can actually make the shifts. That is based on a clear staffing brief. Get in touch.
In one line
Factor in travel time from the job ad onwards, align late and early shifts with the last and first connection, and have a fixed solution for shifts that fall outside them.
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