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Yesterday (ironically, Friday the 13th) was our busiest day of the year. Thousands of bicyclists descend upon our fair town, en route from Seattle to Vancouver. I don't know the exact figure, but in year's past it's topped 3,000. There was plenty of SC and SCW to go around that day.
They're ALL late?!?!
The fun began as soon as I woke up. Literally. I'd been MOD the day before, so I'd spent the night at work. I rolled out of bed and stumbled down to the vending area in my pajamas to purchase some breakfast. On my way, I noted a distinct lack of employee cars (it was 9:30am...our housekeepers were supposed to start early at 9). In the vending area, I ran into CW1 who explained what happened:
HK1 misunderstood and thought she was supposed to call in at 9, not show up at 9.
HK2 slept through his alarm, and CW1 had just woke him up.
HK3, who I prefer to call Idiot F***stick behind his back, in an unfathomable act of forethought, arranged to have Boss Man pick him up so he could be on time for the early start. Boss Man went AWAL in the morning, so HK3 was late.
I don't think we actually asked HK4 to come in early...so he's okay.
What part of Sold Out don't you get?
One guest who's been pissing us off all week long (but that's another story), came in right around checkout time to extend her stay. Problem is, it's our busiest day, we've been sold out since January (Jan. 16th, to be exact, and I'm surprised it went that late), and we can't accommodate her.
SC: But I'm already in a room!
CW1: Yes, but we can't extend you, because we're sold out tonight.
SC: But I have a room, and I just need to extend it!
CW1: Since you didn't reserve the room for another night, we can't extend it, because we're sold out.
SC: But I'm already in the room!
Lather, rinse, repeat.
When she left, her room smelled worse than the perfume hut. HK3 was three doors down, and he cringed his nose at the smell when the door was open.
But your parking lot is empty!
Okay, so about 80-90% of our customers are bicyclists. Some have support vehicles, but most are just on their bikes. They take their bikes into the rooms (we have a stack of drop-cloths we keep specifically for this day for that reason). So yeah, even though we're sold out, the parking lot is going to be pretty empty.
So, we get this all night:
SC: I'd like a room please.
Me: Sorry, we're completely sold out tonight.
SC: What?!? How can that be? No one's here!
Me: *explains event* They take their bicycles in the rooms with them. They don't have cars.
SC: But no one's here!
Me: I'm sorry, but we are sold out.
SC: Then you should have a "No Vacancy" sign!
Ah, yes. You see, Corporate wants us to "interact" with prospective guests, and direct them elsewhere. Of course, when the whole town has been booked since winter, that's difficult to do. So I have to tell them that their SOL unless they want to drive another 30+ miles. Which just pisses them off even more.
And, to the bikers...
Most of them are pretty awesome, but...
1) I know, you requested lower level on the quiet side. However, it isn't happening. Yes, you made that request last September. However, about a dozen other people made the request last August. They beat you. It sucks. I know.
2) Yes, you have to carry your bike upstairs. Less than half my rooms are downstairs, so some of you get stuck hauling them upstairs. You're physically fit enough to do it. Deal with it.
3) I know, you requested to be moved to a nonsmoking room if one became available. One didn't. We extra deep-cleaned the smoking rooms...you should be thankful for that. Hell, you should be thankful you even got a room!
What happens when you don't get a room...
One poor biker ended up 30 miles away at a rather expensive resort because he waited too long to make a reservation. Luckily, his wife was taking him there and back from our city. At least they have a nice spa there...
Bonus situation suck
About fifteen minutes into the ride, one of the bikers hit a pole and crashed pretty bad. He broke four ribs, among other things. No head injuries, fortunately.
His wife was very upset. She'd come up to get the luggage (it gets send up ahead of the cyclists to drop sites here in town) and was at my motel to meet up with some friends. It wasn't anyone's fault. It was just a crappy situation.
Overall, it actually wasn't too bad a night. We have new check-in procedures this year that are faster, so there was never any lines. We got everyone in the rooms quickly. Also, the bikers arrived a bit later than we expected, so even though housekeeping started late, we were able to get everything cleaned in time.
They're ALL late?!?!
The fun began as soon as I woke up. Literally. I'd been MOD the day before, so I'd spent the night at work. I rolled out of bed and stumbled down to the vending area in my pajamas to purchase some breakfast. On my way, I noted a distinct lack of employee cars (it was 9:30am...our housekeepers were supposed to start early at 9). In the vending area, I ran into CW1 who explained what happened:
HK1 misunderstood and thought she was supposed to call in at 9, not show up at 9.
HK2 slept through his alarm, and CW1 had just woke him up.
HK3, who I prefer to call Idiot F***stick behind his back, in an unfathomable act of forethought, arranged to have Boss Man pick him up so he could be on time for the early start. Boss Man went AWAL in the morning, so HK3 was late.
I don't think we actually asked HK4 to come in early...so he's okay.
What part of Sold Out don't you get?
One guest who's been pissing us off all week long (but that's another story), came in right around checkout time to extend her stay. Problem is, it's our busiest day, we've been sold out since January (Jan. 16th, to be exact, and I'm surprised it went that late), and we can't accommodate her.
SC: But I'm already in a room!
CW1: Yes, but we can't extend you, because we're sold out tonight.
SC: But I have a room, and I just need to extend it!
CW1: Since you didn't reserve the room for another night, we can't extend it, because we're sold out.
SC: But I'm already in the room!
Lather, rinse, repeat.
When she left, her room smelled worse than the perfume hut. HK3 was three doors down, and he cringed his nose at the smell when the door was open.
But your parking lot is empty!
Okay, so about 80-90% of our customers are bicyclists. Some have support vehicles, but most are just on their bikes. They take their bikes into the rooms (we have a stack of drop-cloths we keep specifically for this day for that reason). So yeah, even though we're sold out, the parking lot is going to be pretty empty.
So, we get this all night:
SC: I'd like a room please.
Me: Sorry, we're completely sold out tonight.
SC: What?!? How can that be? No one's here!
Me: *explains event* They take their bicycles in the rooms with them. They don't have cars.
SC: But no one's here!
Me: I'm sorry, but we are sold out.
SC: Then you should have a "No Vacancy" sign!
Ah, yes. You see, Corporate wants us to "interact" with prospective guests, and direct them elsewhere. Of course, when the whole town has been booked since winter, that's difficult to do. So I have to tell them that their SOL unless they want to drive another 30+ miles. Which just pisses them off even more.
And, to the bikers...
Most of them are pretty awesome, but...
1) I know, you requested lower level on the quiet side. However, it isn't happening. Yes, you made that request last September. However, about a dozen other people made the request last August. They beat you. It sucks. I know.
2) Yes, you have to carry your bike upstairs. Less than half my rooms are downstairs, so some of you get stuck hauling them upstairs. You're physically fit enough to do it. Deal with it.
3) I know, you requested to be moved to a nonsmoking room if one became available. One didn't. We extra deep-cleaned the smoking rooms...you should be thankful for that. Hell, you should be thankful you even got a room!
What happens when you don't get a room...
One poor biker ended up 30 miles away at a rather expensive resort because he waited too long to make a reservation. Luckily, his wife was taking him there and back from our city. At least they have a nice spa there...
Bonus situation suck
About fifteen minutes into the ride, one of the bikers hit a pole and crashed pretty bad. He broke four ribs, among other things. No head injuries, fortunately.
His wife was very upset. She'd come up to get the luggage (it gets send up ahead of the cyclists to drop sites here in town) and was at my motel to meet up with some friends. It wasn't anyone's fault. It was just a crappy situation.
Overall, it actually wasn't too bad a night. We have new check-in procedures this year that are faster, so there was never any lines. We got everyone in the rooms quickly. Also, the bikers arrived a bit later than we expected, so even though housekeeping started late, we were able to get everything cleaned in time.