Hotel California
Jeff is famous for bad hotel experiences. The following does not approach some of his adventures in traveling, but I thought it was blog worthy.
My husband was scheduled to take a test in Edmond, just north of Oklahoma City. He was to be at the testing facility at 7:15 Saturday morning. He booked a hotel online that was literally three minutes from the facility. Friday afternoon, we drove to Edmond, checked out the building where the test would be administered so that he would know where to go next morning, ate supper, and went to the hotel to check in, carrying the printout confirming our reservation.
Girl behind desk, whose accent I could not place: "Can I help you?"
Us: "Yes, we have a reservation."
Girl: "What is the name?"
We told her. "I don't have that name in the computer."
Us: "We made the reservation last Sunday night. We have the reservation number."
Girl: "You have a reservation number?"
Us: "Yes, it's . . ."
Girl: "I don't need a reservation number. Your name isn't here."
Us: "We have a confirmation number."
Girl: "You have a confirmation number?"
Us: "Yes, it's . . ."
Girl: "I don't need a confirmation number. I don't have your name here. How did you make the reservation?"
Us: "Online."
Girl: "What website. We only do hotels and travel." What?
Meanwhile, another woman had wandered in and was listening to the conversation, looking a little doubtful. The phone rang, the check-in girl answered it, clearly frustrated with our stupidity, listened for a minute and informed the caller that she would have to call him back. She wanted us to go away and we wouldn't, so she called the manager. He came out and she explained that our name was not there and handed him our printout. He got onto the computer to check out the situation and the check-in girl asked the doubtful woman what she wanted and she said a room with two beds.
"I have a room with two beds but it's smoking."
Manager, who had a very heavy accent and was kind of hard to understand: "I have a non-smoking room with two beds, but you can't lock it from the outside."
Woman: "But I would be safe from the inside, right?"
Manager: "Yes, but you can't lock it from the outside, so your belongings would not be safe if you went to dinner. You would have to bring them to the office for us to watch. Would you like to see the room?"
Woman: "Yes, please." She took the key and left.
Check-in girl: "The man in 211 can't get into his bathroom. He's locked out of it."
Manager: "Oh, yes that lock is problem. I will go in a minute and show him how to get in." As he says this, he holds up a paper clip that he has straightened out, indicating that this is the magic that will allow Mr. 211 to get into his bathroom.
He had figured out the problem, but the only room he had left was the executive suite. Which was forty dollars more, but he comped us the forty bucks and apologized profusely for the misunderstanding. The interesting thing was, when check-in girl realized manager wasn't going to make us go away, but was actually going to be nice and accomodating, her demeanor changed completely. All of a sudden, she went from "I don't have your name!" to "Oh, I'm so glad you didn't come later or the room would have been gone." Yeah, right.
Since this is already getting quite lengthy, I will save the rest of the story. Tomorrow, DUN, DUN, DUN! The Executive Suite!
My husband was scheduled to take a test in Edmond, just north of Oklahoma City. He was to be at the testing facility at 7:15 Saturday morning. He booked a hotel online that was literally three minutes from the facility. Friday afternoon, we drove to Edmond, checked out the building where the test would be administered so that he would know where to go next morning, ate supper, and went to the hotel to check in, carrying the printout confirming our reservation.
Girl behind desk, whose accent I could not place: "Can I help you?"
Us: "Yes, we have a reservation."
Girl: "What is the name?"
We told her. "I don't have that name in the computer."
Us: "We made the reservation last Sunday night. We have the reservation number."
Girl: "You have a reservation number?"
Us: "Yes, it's . . ."
Girl: "I don't need a reservation number. Your name isn't here."
Us: "We have a confirmation number."
Girl: "You have a confirmation number?"
Us: "Yes, it's . . ."
Girl: "I don't need a confirmation number. I don't have your name here. How did you make the reservation?"
Us: "Online."
Girl: "What website. We only do hotels and travel." What?
Meanwhile, another woman had wandered in and was listening to the conversation, looking a little doubtful. The phone rang, the check-in girl answered it, clearly frustrated with our stupidity, listened for a minute and informed the caller that she would have to call him back. She wanted us to go away and we wouldn't, so she called the manager. He came out and she explained that our name was not there and handed him our printout. He got onto the computer to check out the situation and the check-in girl asked the doubtful woman what she wanted and she said a room with two beds.
"I have a room with two beds but it's smoking."
Manager, who had a very heavy accent and was kind of hard to understand: "I have a non-smoking room with two beds, but you can't lock it from the outside."
Woman: "But I would be safe from the inside, right?"
Manager: "Yes, but you can't lock it from the outside, so your belongings would not be safe if you went to dinner. You would have to bring them to the office for us to watch. Would you like to see the room?"
Woman: "Yes, please." She took the key and left.
Check-in girl: "The man in 211 can't get into his bathroom. He's locked out of it."
Manager: "Oh, yes that lock is problem. I will go in a minute and show him how to get in." As he says this, he holds up a paper clip that he has straightened out, indicating that this is the magic that will allow Mr. 211 to get into his bathroom.
He had figured out the problem, but the only room he had left was the executive suite. Which was forty dollars more, but he comped us the forty bucks and apologized profusely for the misunderstanding. The interesting thing was, when check-in girl realized manager wasn't going to make us go away, but was actually going to be nice and accomodating, her demeanor changed completely. All of a sudden, she went from "I don't have your name!" to "Oh, I'm so glad you didn't come later or the room would have been gone." Yeah, right.
Since this is already getting quite lengthy, I will save the rest of the story. Tomorrow, DUN, DUN, DUN! The Executive Suite!
posted by Mom Thumb at 4:00 PM
7 Comments:
I commend you for actually staying, me? no so much!
Yeah, I think I would've looked for a different place to stay!
Oh I can't wait to hear about the executive suite! LOL!
carla - It was a pretty big deal to be close to the testing facility, so we put up with some stuff.
heather - So if we had to go to the other place for thirty bucks would we get a guy dressed like his mom and stabbing people in the shower?
tracy - You'll like it!
I could top that several times but I won't go into details. I will just say we have left at least 2 motels without even asking for a refund, because we wanted to get out of there FAST!!!And I NEVER plan on going back to Memphis. Elvis and Graceland were not worth it!!!!
Oh, I think this story ranks right up there with my "suite" of hotel horror stories.
Thank you. I don't feel so alone now.
di - Wow. If Elvis and Graceland weren't worth it, it must have been pretty bad!
jeff - I guess misery loves miserable company, huh?
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