People can be pests too...

As these ideas come to me I'm gonna run with it.

Wondering how to deal with drunks.
People who are loud and annoying? I imagine if it's a case of causing a disturbance it'd just be a simple case of picking up the phone and arranging a transfer from your hostel, to a bleaker lodgings with iron bars and filled with lots of drunks. Not that they'd have any intention of going quitely.

What happens if there's damage done - serious damage - to the premises? What are your experiences in these circumstances and what's the normal procedure?

I can imagine all sorts of things go on in hostels and somehow I imagine it's one of those "I thought I'd seen it all but..." professions.
I mean I know, also, that even in shared rooms ppl can still fool around once the lights went out. That'd be something I wouldn't know how to deal with were such a complaint to reach me. Which is more popular, unisex dorms or seperate?

Another thought, but is theft a major issue? I mean sure with cctv and alarms and locks and lockers and all that - but things still go missing. I'd be interested to know if anyone has ever been in the position of catching or even suspecting that one of their customers was stealing either from the hostel itself or from other customers - what did/woudl you do?

To be a manager means sometimes you need to be the badguy and throw the abusive drunk out. It also means you have to protect the drunk from themselves, that means cut them off, preferbly before they become abusive. There is such a thing as "Firing" the guest. If your front desk person cannot observe the common room from the front desk consider haveing an MOD (manager on duty) to supervise the common room and to do security patrols at random throughout the property. Reserve this position for your "Party" nights, if it is a slow night they can always do laundry!