Don't know what they booked

[bhskittykatt]

Being careful to book the wrong room

SC came up to my CW. I was just about to clock out but I stuck around to make sure CW was alright because SC ripped him a new one.

SC: "THIS ROOM IS NOT WATERVIEW! I KNOW I VERY SPECIFICALLY BOOKED WATERVIEW! I DOUBLE-CHECKED TO MAKE SURE I GOT WATERVIEW AND THIS IS NOT WHAT I GOT!"

CW got him calmed down and found him one last waterview room.

The reservation? It was booked online. Meaning everything was laid out nice and neat for the SC. It was not a waterview room that he booked.

The room that doesn't exist but does

So we have standard rooms and "deluxe" rooms. The difference is the "deluxe" rooms have a patio (on the first floor) or a balcony (on the second floor). We recently ran a promotion that was for a standard waterview room.

We are sold-out.

SC: "Hi, I just checked in, and this room doesn't have a balcony? I know I booked a waterview but I also wanted a balcony."
Me: "Let me see...it looks like you booked [promotion] that comes with the standard waterview room. Our deluxe rooms have balconies for an extra cost, but unfortunately I am sold-out of them this evening."
SC: "I don't understand. We've stayed here before under the old owners and we always had a balcony. I've never seen a room without a balcony before! I thought I had booked one?"
You've stayed here, but have you ever looked at the hotel? It's obvious the top two floors don't have balconies. Surely we must have eliminated them special when we took over.
Me: "I am sorry but I have no balconies tonight. But for future reference, to get a balcony or a patio you will want one of the 'deluxe' rooms."
SC: "This is insane. I've never been in a room without a balcony! I didn't even know rooms like this existed! The whole reason we came was for the balcony!"

You know what you booked even though you didn't book it

We have two types of suites: junior and executive. The executive suites have a separate living room, though there's no door between the two rooms (just a hallway). The junior suite is essentially an oversized room that has a seating area with a fireplace.

SC: "I just want you to know that I booked a junior suite and the room I am in is NOT a junior suite!"
Me: *pulls up reservation* "I see that you are indeed booked into our classic junior suite. What is the problem?"
SC: "There's no separate bedroom!"
Me: "Our junior suites do not have the separate room. They have an expanded living area in the bedroom with a fireplace and library."
SC: "How can you market that as a suite! I am checking your website again because I stay in a lot of hotels and at every hotel I stay at a suite means separate rooms! My assistant booked this and told me I had a classic junior suite! I have a four-year-old and now we have to be extra quiet not to wake him. That's why we wanted the separate room!"
Me: "I am sorry. Only our executive suites have a separate bedroom, but there is still no door between them and I am also sold out of them this evening."
SC: "This is ridiculous! You have ruined our evening! You need to change what you call those rooms because you call it a junior suite and it is NOT a suite!"

Two things. 1) Our website clearly explains our junior suites, with pretty pictures and everything, 2) I know we are not the only resort or hotel to have "junior" suites essentially be studio-style oversized rooms. A quick Google on "junior suite" brought up 5 different hotels with "junior" suites very similar to ours as well as a Business Dictionary definition stating "Junior Suite - Hotel room with a separate living-sitting area (not a separate room) attached to a bedroom." So I don't think it's just us.

Also, if you're that particular, maybe you should book the room yourself instead of having your assistant do it for you.

[Gilhelmi]

That Jr. Suite sounds nice. I stayed in many hotels, and the only suite I ever saw that had doors on them, was when they ran out of "enlisted" hotel rooms at an Air Force hotel. So I got bumped up to a "Captain" (air force, so only O-3) room that had two bedrooms, each with their own lock (their key card system was interesting, the key would let you in the front door, but only one of the inside doors). Nice, new, had 3 TVs, and a kitchenette.

The enlisted rooms were converted barracks. Two rooms with a bathroom in-between (it was one 'room', but you had to go through the bathroom to get too the bed room). Old, 5 floors (no elevator), but did have a DVD player.

I would love to see the fit your customers would have if they had too stay in a military 'hotel'.

[dalesys]

...I would love to see the fit your customers would have if they had too stay in a military 'hotel'.

With that lurvley blargle chune "Re-Vile" blared from tincan speakers loud enough to levitate Amenhoteps I-IV to "Ten-Hut!" in less than 10ms at oh-fark-hundred.

[sms001]

I didn't even know rooms like this existed!

Must. Not. Say.

"Well! You learn something new every day."

Out. Loud.

[manybellsdown]

The whole reason we came was for the balcony!

I ... what? I don't even ...

[DGoddessChardonnay]

With that lurvley blargle chune "Re-Vile" blared from tincan speakers loud enough to levitate Amenhoteps I-IV to "Ten-Hut!" in less than 10ms at oh-fark-hundred.

I think that would be reserved for those customers who require a wake up call at 0500.

And I can imagine the complaints and the lawsuits threatened when they whine about needing medical attention b/c they've jumped so high out of their bunks they hit the bottom of the one above them!

[blas]

I like hotels that offer free makeup remover wipes, ya know, because I don't always remember to bring those, or I'm out of town and have been drinking and need a place to crash.

[wolfie]

I stayed in many hotels, and the only suite I ever saw that had doors on them, was when they ran out of "enlisted" hotel rooms at an Air Force hotel. So I got bumped up to a "Captain" (air force, so only O-3) room that had two bedrooms, each with their own lock

Would be interesting if due to unusual circumstances they ran out of "officer" rooms and only had "enlisted" rooms for the overflow. I can just imagine someone pitching a shit-fit, demanding that someone of lower rank be "bumped" down to an "enlisted" room so HE could get the "officer" room - and someone who outranked HIM (and was also an "overflow") commenting "I guess that means we'll be neighbours".

Of course, in a situation like that, I'd imagine that the staff, on seeing that there were more officers booked than there were "officer" rooms, would sort things out (even manually) before people arrived, rather than waiting until a given class of rooms was full and sorting based on arrival time (which could lead to SC behaviour on learning that someone junior to the latest arrival got a better class of room).

Example: Hotel has 2 "Colonel and General" rooms, 10 "Major and Lt. Colonel" rooms, 20 "Lieutenant and Captain" rooms (counting each of the separately-locked bedrooms in a suite as a room), and a bunch of "enlisted" rooms.

There is a training event, with a Major, 15 Captains, 15 1st Lieutenants, and 10 2nd Lieutenants being booked. Assume no other officers are booked during the event.

Hotel staff sorts them out by rank. Since there are more officers than "officer" rooms, the Major and the Captain with the most time in rank get the 2 "Colonel and General" rooms. The Captains with the 2nd through 11th highest time in rank get the "Major and Lt. Colonel" rooms. The Captains with the 4 lowest times in rank, all the 1st Lieutenants, and the 2nd Lieutenant with the highest time in rank, get the "Lieutenant and Captain" rooms. The other 14 2nd Lieutenants get "bumped" to "enlisted" rooms.

In this case, the only people getting rooms "below their grade" would be the 2nd Lieutenants - if they complain, the desk clerk can honestly state "We have 32 officer-grade rooms, and the 32 most senior officers booked tonight got them". I'd assume that the people being given rooms "above their grade" would have been told on check-in "We have more officers booked than we have officer-grade rooms, so we have assigned the rooms based on seniority. You are one of the officers with the highest seniority booked tonight, so you have been moved to a room which would not normally be available at your rank due to shortages of the room class your rank would normally warrant". This would be to avoid "I got a MUCH better room last time" complaints in future.

[Silent-Hunter]

Me: "Our junior suites do not have the separate room. They have an expanded living area in the bedroom with a fireplace and library."

A library? What kind of books would a hotel room library have?

And I actually stayed in a very small motel in the middle of nowhere in California once, only ten rooms. All of them had a full kitchen, and two separate bedrooms WITH a door between them. It was so weird!

[AccountingDrone]

With that lurvley blargle chune "Re-Vile" blared from tincan speakers loud enough to levitate Amenhoteps I-IV to "Ten-Hut!" in less than 10ms at oh-fark-hundred.

My dad retired from the Army after 30 years ... the lake our summer cottage was on had a YMCA camp that played reville every morning at 0600

[dalesys]

My dad retired from the Army after 30 years ... the lake our summer cottage was on had a YMCA camp that played reville every morning at 0600

Oiving sang it...

[bhskittykatt]

A library? What kind of books would a hotel room library have?

It's very small, just a handful of books per room. Not sure what all is in there, but they looked boring. I think there are some Reader's Digest-style anthologies and maybe some birdwatching books. I know the main library off the lobby has old books on economics and stuff that are probably just there to look pretty...I don't know who would actually read them.

[Sapphire Silk]

I would love to see the fit your customers would have if they had too stay in a military 'hotel'.

I've stayed in BEQ a couple of times. Very basic, but serviceable and clean. Definitely not fancy. Not what I would go out of my way to stay in unless I was really traveling on the cheap . . . which I've done. The BEQ at Langley was on par with some of the smaller truck stops I've stayed at when driving cross country.

Would be interesting if due to unusual circumstances they ran out of "officer" rooms and only had "enlisted" rooms for the overflow. I can just imagine someone pitching a shit-fit, demanding that someone of lower rank be "bumped" down to an "enlisted" room so HE could get the "officer" room - and someone who outranked HIM (and was also an "overflow") commenting "I guess that means we'll be neighbours".

That's EXACTLY what happens in BOQ. It's all by rank, and if the place is crowded, junior officers can and will be bumped for senior officers. Same thing happens on military transportation as well, and in military hospitals. Malcom Grow Hospital on Andrews AFB (at least when I was training there as a nursing student) had 25 bed open wards for airmen, semi private rooms for senior enlisted and junior officers, private rooms for mid range officers, and suites for senior officers and generals.

My Dad was a Senior Executive with the Federal Government, and worked for years for the Air Force. He was an SES 3, as high as you could go just about. On more than one occasion he'd have to travel for the job, and would often take Mil Air (ie fly out on a military aircraft out of Andrews). Seats were granted based on rank and if a person senior to you wanted to fly, for whatever reason, they got to fly no matter what the reason was they were flying. If there wasn't enough room, the junior person got bumped even if his mission was more important than the senior person's mission.

Often, full bird colonels would try to bump my dad, a civilian. However, Dad had a courtesy rank of Major General, meaning only a Major General or above could bump him. As Dad had been enlisted when he was in the Navy, he enjoyed puncturing the over inflated egos of these colonels

[Ben_Who]

SC: "Hi, I just checked in, and this room doesn't have a balcony? I know I booked a waterview but I also wanted a balcony."

This guy. I love this guy. Let me tell you why I love this guy. Because in a slightly different context, his increasing agitation is essentially one man's untempered descent into the stygian pits of madness.

Me: "Let me see...it looks like you booked [promotion] that comes with the standard waterview room. Our deluxe rooms have balconies for an extra cost, but unfortunately I am sold-out of them this evening."
SC: "I don't understand. We've stayed here before under the old owners and we always had a balcony. I've never seen a room without a balcony before! I thought I had booked one?"

"I've never seen a room without a balcony before." Either he's delusional or his bathroom at home is REAL interesting. I've never stayed at a hotel WITH balconies on the rooms, so I'm not sure how this is a thing. Of course, I'm also cheap.

Me: "I am sorry but I have no balconies tonight. But for future reference, to get a balcony or a patio you will want one of the 'deluxe' rooms."
SC: "This is insane. I've never been in a room without a balcony! I didn't even know rooms like this existed! The whole reason we came was for the balcony!"

He seems to have become completely unhinged not just at the unavailability of a balcony, but at the very idea of the unavailability of a balcony. These are not the words of a man who is thinking clearly.

I am a FAN of this quote. Because I just visualized this guy going on vacation to visit a BALCONY. "Hey, everyone! Where shall we all go on vacation this year?" "The Balcony!" "Okay, load up the car!" "Yaaaay!"

They all drive out to the hotel and run up to the room, and Father opens the sliding glass door to the Balcony...tears well up in the mother's eyes, the children are jumping up and down, "Oh, it's more beautiful that I could have ever dreamed!"

They proceed to spend their whole two week's vacation on the balcony, sunrise, sunset, rain or shine, starry nights and cloudy skies. When their vacation is over, the kids don't want to leave, but they still have their postcards and Polaroids and memories.

"The whole reason we came was for the balcony!" Yeah, well, some people come for the fun fair down the road or the 240 miles of sublime hiking trails or the several attractions along the highway or the retail opportunities in our historic downtown. But if you want to drive 200 miles for a balcony, more power to ya.

Actually, I lied back there. I just remembered that I did stay in a hotel with a balcony, just a few weeks ago. It was kind of rickety, though. I'm sure it was fine, but we'd had a harsh winter, and, well, it seemed kind of loose. So I didn't go out there much.

[Gilhelmi]

Would be interesting if due to unusual circumstances they ran out of "officer" rooms and only had "enlisted" rooms for the overflow. I can just imagine someone pitching a shit-fit, demanding that someone of lower rank be "bumped" down to an "enlisted" room so HE could get the "officer" room - and someone who outranked HIM (and was also an "overflow") commenting "I guess that means we'll be neighbours".
<SNIP>
This would be to avoid "I got a MUCH better room last time" complaints in future.

In the military, even if you reserve a room 2 months out. If someone of higher rank needs that room, you can be bumped out of your reservation.

Say you are a Pvt. reserving a room on orders, but a Master Sargent needs a room and everything is full. They can tell you to go elsewhere for a room.