When Chaos Meets Compassion

Charlotte Hansell,

Front Desk Manager at the Hampton by Hilton York Piccadilly

15tht December 2025

Hospitality is constant. From food checks to room requests, the reality of the job can make it incredibly difficult to meet expectations, but when there is a core and genuine passion for kindness at the heart of everything you do, the chaos becomes a place where you can thrive, and where small moments can leave lasting impressions.

When I started working in hospitality, it wasn’t a career for me. It was simply a job while I got through my degree. Then one day, one moment, and one act of kindness changed my perspective entirely.

I was working on an incredibly busy day at a tourist attraction during York’s free tourism weekend for residents. Queues were long, and the automation of getting people through the line had set in. An older gentleman walked in with tears in his eyes. I stopped for a moment, and the “humanness” came back to me. I asked what was wrong. He told me it was the first year he had visited without his wife and that it was important for him to honour their tradition. I listened to his worries and did what I could to make sure he was okay. Before he left, he thanked me for taking the time to be kind. From that day, everything changed for me.

Finding Beauty in the Busy

Now, I work as a Front Desk Manager. In a family-owned, focused-service franchise hotel, that role might look different than you’d expect. I oversee the front desk team and support the wider operation—helping with rotas, stepping into departments that need support, and making sure our days run as smoothly as possible. No two days are ever the same. Over the weekend of the Christmas Markets, for example, I’ll be dressing up as Santa to give guests an extra-special welcome. It’s hectic, unexpected, and sometimes a little chaotic—but it’s also what makes this job such a joy.

I am a manager, a chef, a kitchen porter, a housekeeper, a maintenance worker, a receptionist, a concierge, a bar worker and more. Though it’s not just me. It’s everyone I work with, from my front desk team to my general manager.

Days can be chaotic and beautiful at the same time. You might wonder how that’s possible. A while ago, I would have asked the same question. The answer lies in the incredible honour of creating moments of kindness amid the chaos.

Maybe it’s running around at breakfast and noticing a child’s toy tucked away somewhere unexpected or finding a way to fix a guest’s shoe so they’re not late to an important meeting. These moments mean everything to our guests, and it’s our responsibility as people in this industry to notice them.

When someone walks through your door, you never know what they’re going through. I learned that the day that older gentleman walked through mine. Now, I make sure to find kindness in everything I do, no matter how hard the days get.

The People Who Lift Me

Kindness doesn’t just go outwards—it comes back to you through the people who support you. My boss is one of those people. Any time I want to learn something new, he takes the time to teach me, show me, and push me forward. My best friend is there for the moments when the job gets heavy, reminding me I’m not carrying things alone and my godfather in America is one of my biggest cheerleaders, always encouraging me from across the world.

It takes a village to thrive in hospitality, and I’m grateful for mine every single day.

To Young People Considering Hospitality

If I could give one piece of advice to anyone young and unsure about their next step, it would be this: dive in. Let yourself be fully submerged in everything hospitality has to offer, and don’t dismiss it as a “job for now.” It might surprise you. It certainly surprised me.

And to the parents—let them. Hospitality and tourism is one of the biggest growing global industries, and it will only continue to rise. It’s full of opportunity, growth, skill-building, resilience, and connection. It’s a career that shapes you as much as you shape it.

 

 

What I Hope to Gain from the Hospitality Junior Board

Joining the Hospitality Junior Board is a step I’m incredibly proud of. I want to gain confidence, resilience, and a deeper understanding of the industry beyond my own hotel walls. I want to learn from people across different sectors of hospitality and take that knowledge back with me, using it to grow, to lead, and to create more moments of kindness for both guests and my team.

 

Hospitality is a human industry. Once the chaos shifts from automatic to conscious, kindness has the space to grow. Hospitality wasn’t meant to be a career for me, but now it is, and it’s one built entirely on the power of kindness.