Running the centre
Porters' lodge
The porters' lodge is the post by the entrance of a colegio mayor (a Spanish hall of residence) or a student residence where the porter checks who comes in, takes in parcels and post, hands out keys and is the first contact for residents, families and contractors. It often knows who is inside.
Also known asporter's desk · porters · concierge desk · front lodge
What a porters' lodge does
In a colegio mayor (a Spanish hall of residence with a formative programme) the porters' lodge is older than any reception desk: it is the window by the entrance, with the pigeonholes for post, the key board and the internal phone. Its work is less visible than management's and more constant: it lets in whoever has no key, tells people a parcel has arrived, lets in the lift engineer and knows whom to call when something breaks out of hours. In newer residences and in PBSA it is often merged with the 24-hour reception.
- Post and parcels: logging, notifying and handing over against a signature or a name.
- Keys and key cards: lending the master key, lost cards, replacements.
- Departures and arrivals: who is sleeping out, who is back today, who is locked out.
- Contractors and visitors: who is coming, what for and with whom.
Worth knowing
What people take for granted: that whatever is said at the porters' lodge stays said. "I told the porter" is the most common phrase behind a fault nobody fixed: the report was given verbally, at a change of shift, and was never written down anywhere. A porters' lodge works when what comes in through the window ends up in a maintenance ticket or in a log with a name and a time.
Sources
Related terms
- ParcelsParcel handling in a residence is receiving and holding the deliveries that arrive for residents (parcels, letters, courier items, food deliveries) until each person collects them. It means recording what has arrived, telling the person it is for and keeping a record of the handover.
- 24-hour receptionA 24-hour reception is a residence service that has someone looking after the entrance and the phone at any hour, including nights and public holidays. In a student residence it is where forgotten keys, parcels, night-time faults and emergencies all end up.