As some of you may know, I now work for the Elongated Hexagon brand of chain hotels, which itself is part of chain of luxury hotels and their affiliated brands. We're the low man on that particular totem pole, but I have learned that though this may be the case, only certain types of people tend to stay at the hotels that are part of this big, happy family.
These certain people are used to a certain standard of accomodation and amenities.
This is a problem.
Why is it a problem? It's a problem because I live in a city that is the metropolitan hub of a region which welcomes nine million tourists a year (according to the latest figures), of whom three million stay overnight. What this means is that from Memorial Day in May, to whenever the last leaf falls off the trees in November after leaf season, it is quite unwise to visit this area on a weekend without some prior planning. Yes, we may have upwards of ten thousand hotel rooms, but you still stand an excellent chance of finding that every single one is full.
No, according to one assumption I got thrown at me, hotels do not keep "one or two" rooms free even after filling up. Why would you think that, and would logic not dictate that if the five people in front of you were not special enough to get those super-duper special rooms, you're not special enough either?
Now, if President Obama were to come in demanding a room, as one person asked, would I give him a room? No. The president has enough sense to plan ahead and anyway, he doesn't stay at the Elongated Hexagon. He stays at the Grove Park Inn when he comes to town. Also, I'm pretty sure the president wouldn't want the negative publicity from throwing someone out of their hotel room so he could take it. Unlike you.
There were no rooms to be found within a fifty mile radius of my hotel last night. I know this because I'm sure I called most every hotel within that radius. I found a grand total of two free rooms in the course of my calls, which undoubtedly vanished within minutes, but these rooms, at a Super 8 two counties away, and at an America's Best Value Inn in a reeking paper mill town one county over were refused. Then the people who refused them got on the phone with the central reservations office only to be told the exact same thing I had just told them.
One woman was near tears. "You mean to tell me there is nothing anywhere in this whole area?! I live at the beach and we have rooms there!"
Yes, I'm sure you do. In the summer, everyone from there comes here and everyone here goes there. It's a mutually benificial relationship, but bear in mind, we're also halfway between the Midwest and Florida, so we get all those people too, plus what feels like the entire populations of Florida, Atlanta, and every big city and largish town in both Carolinas.
The woman said she would sleep in her car. She is quite welcome to do so, but not in our parking lot. We have security guards.
People came and went looking for rooms until 6:30 in the morning. That last one at 6:30 said he would just take his butt home when told we had nothing. What am I supposed to do with that information? Am I supposed to care? No time. I'm cooking preprocessed eggs in a bag for more than two hundred people.
Such is summer, and yet again tonight there will probably be no rooms to rent -- or at least nothing our caliber of guest would lower themselves to take -- anywhere within an hour's drive of us. Have fun driving to Tennessee, South Carolina, or Charlotte. I can't help you.
These certain people are used to a certain standard of accomodation and amenities.
This is a problem.
Why is it a problem? It's a problem because I live in a city that is the metropolitan hub of a region which welcomes nine million tourists a year (according to the latest figures), of whom three million stay overnight. What this means is that from Memorial Day in May, to whenever the last leaf falls off the trees in November after leaf season, it is quite unwise to visit this area on a weekend without some prior planning. Yes, we may have upwards of ten thousand hotel rooms, but you still stand an excellent chance of finding that every single one is full.
No, according to one assumption I got thrown at me, hotels do not keep "one or two" rooms free even after filling up. Why would you think that, and would logic not dictate that if the five people in front of you were not special enough to get those super-duper special rooms, you're not special enough either?
Now, if President Obama were to come in demanding a room, as one person asked, would I give him a room? No. The president has enough sense to plan ahead and anyway, he doesn't stay at the Elongated Hexagon. He stays at the Grove Park Inn when he comes to town. Also, I'm pretty sure the president wouldn't want the negative publicity from throwing someone out of their hotel room so he could take it. Unlike you.
There were no rooms to be found within a fifty mile radius of my hotel last night. I know this because I'm sure I called most every hotel within that radius. I found a grand total of two free rooms in the course of my calls, which undoubtedly vanished within minutes, but these rooms, at a Super 8 two counties away, and at an America's Best Value Inn in a reeking paper mill town one county over were refused. Then the people who refused them got on the phone with the central reservations office only to be told the exact same thing I had just told them.
One woman was near tears. "You mean to tell me there is nothing anywhere in this whole area?! I live at the beach and we have rooms there!"
Yes, I'm sure you do. In the summer, everyone from there comes here and everyone here goes there. It's a mutually benificial relationship, but bear in mind, we're also halfway between the Midwest and Florida, so we get all those people too, plus what feels like the entire populations of Florida, Atlanta, and every big city and largish town in both Carolinas.
The woman said she would sleep in her car. She is quite welcome to do so, but not in our parking lot. We have security guards.
People came and went looking for rooms until 6:30 in the morning. That last one at 6:30 said he would just take his butt home when told we had nothing. What am I supposed to do with that information? Am I supposed to care? No time. I'm cooking preprocessed eggs in a bag for more than two hundred people.
Such is summer, and yet again tonight there will probably be no rooms to rent -- or at least nothing our caliber of guest would lower themselves to take -- anywhere within an hour's drive of us. Have fun driving to Tennessee, South Carolina, or Charlotte. I can't help you.
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