Getting Exactly What You Asked For

My sister is a desk clerk in training at a big hotel. One weekend, they are overbooked due to a combination of a new booking system and a massive semi-annual conference that happens in April and October.

An older couple shows up on Friday and they are told about the snafu. You’d think someone in their fifties would know mistakes happen, but NOOOO! They keep yelling that they have booked a double room, and that’s what they are gonna get. My sister’s manager is there, trying to get a word in edgewise, but they keep replying, “Double room!” Eventually, the manager finds a way to excuse herself and speak with another group in line, a family with two kids about ten years old.

She speaks loud enough for the older couple to hear.

Manager: “I know you’ve booked a double room, but there’s been a problem. Instead, we would like to take your double room and upgrade you to our presidential suite. It has four bedrooms, 2,000 square feet (185.806 square meters), and an on-call, twenty-four-hour butler.”

She lists some other perks, like the free juice minibar, one meal a day for the party in the hotel restaurant (run by a Michelin-starred chef), and a private lap pool.

The family is ecstatic. My sister relayed to us later that their original room was likely a cheap Internet special and all they could afford. The new room and amenities they are being offered are usually in the neighborhood of $1,500 a night. The manager takes their basic room keys and has my sister show them to the private elevator that opens to their suite.

My sister overhears the older couple complaining as she leaves, and she gets the full details of what happened upon returning.

Couple: “We should have been offered that room! We were here first!”

Manager: “I tried several times, but you declined to let me finish. Here—”

She handed them the basic keys the family with the kids had.

Manager: “—are the keys to the double room you wanted. Check-out is at 11:00. Can I assist you with anything else?”

They took their keys and stormed off.

A few hours later, my sister laughed uncontrollably when she saw the butler bringing up free ice cream the size of a dinner plate to the room. ENJOY, KIDS!

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