Debutante Ball debriefing.
Sep. 7th, 2003 09:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kuangningDuring the height of the Ball, with the hotel bursting, a foreign couple arrived, she with her head covered and he in American jeans but with poorer English than hers. I asked for photo ID, and got told, "We have none." I asked incredulously, "you have nothing with a picture?" She shook her head, and pushed an email confirmation letter across the desk. I turned to Shannon. She looked over her shoulder, and asked, "you don't have a license, a passport, nothing?" The woman's eyes brightened. "A passport? Yes, we have passports." She produced them in one practised gesture, I checked the photos and the names, handed them back, and began to look for their reservation. I tried three variants of the name before stopping. I looked at the email confirmation letter again, and blinked.
"Ma'am, your reservation's not for three more days!" She nodded, and shrugged. "So?" Daima, walking behind me right at that moment, gave her a look of pure shock. I heard Shannon try to stifle a giggle, and fought hard to keep a straight face myself. "So, the hotel is full. We don't have this room for you. Would you like a smoking room?" She shook her head definitely. "No, no smoking." "Then I'm afraid I can't help you." There was a quick conference in a foreign language. Then she turned back to me. "We will take the smoking room." I nodded, and began to check her in. She insisted the reservation be extended to the original exit date, then argued over the reservation's rate -- which was the $155 she had contracted for! "They tell me if I stay longer, I get a discount," she said firmly. "Who told you, ma'am?" "My manager tell me," she said. "I'm afraid that's not correct." I finished checking them in, confirmed their checkout date, the rate, and room number, and the man turned to me with a last-ditch effort. "No discount?" "Sir, you're already at a discounted rate. I'm afraid I haven't the authority to discount it further." They wandered toward the elevator.
The phone rang. It was Daima, upstairs, and she was laughing almost too much to speak. "Did she say, "So?!?" " I grinned. "She certainly did." Shannon piped up from behind me, "It's a good thing it wasn't me dealing with her. My response would've been, "so march your butt around the corner to the Clarion!"
Every now and again, someone pipes up, "So?" It's kept us sane over the weekend. And this morning, I really really needed that.
We walked most of the airlines to other hotels for the weekend. Indeed, after last year, Southwest had it included in their contract that they would be hosted elsewhere on this weekend. Continental and Northwest went without much fuss. One America West crew took one look around and then walked out. The crew that remained, who insisted on remaining, apparently expected that we could curb upwards of a thousand people for their convenience. They were mistaken. We had a dozen phone calls during the night from disgruntled crew members. One of them, a female flight attendant, was on the floor that proved worst for noise. Yet, when we offered to move her, she refused. "No! Can't you just make them be quiet?!?" "I can send security up, ma'am." "Fine." and she slammed the phone down. I send Trevor up, and we heard nothing more from her until 5 AM, when she appeared at the desk holding up her room key. "Can you rekey this? It isn't letting me into the business center anymore." I looked at the clock. "There's an hour yet before the business center opens, ma'am, and it's time locked. Your key will not work there until then." "Can't you make an exception? I've been up all night thanks to those fucking kids!" Now, on a weeknight, Robbie has a master key to override the time lock. But it's his personal key, and contract security isn't issued one. I began to explain that to her, and about three words in, she threw the key at me and stormed off.
My jaw dropped. I picked up the key, set it on the desk near Shannon, and began laughing. I know I was audible throughout the lobby. It was even worse when, a minute or so later, she returned to the desk! "On second thought, give me that key back. I'm going to go back to the room for the next hour."
I thought about throwing it at her, honestly I did. Instead, catching the eye of the male guest who was staring at her, I politely handed her back the key, then put my head down on the counter and completely lost it for a moment. I laughed until I cried.
I'm sure she'll call her company to complain. I'd just love to be a fly on the wall for the conversation when they call the hotel. And I have a sneaking suspicion their room rates will be higher next time they renegotiate that contract...
"Ma'am, your reservation's not for three more days!" She nodded, and shrugged. "So?" Daima, walking behind me right at that moment, gave her a look of pure shock. I heard Shannon try to stifle a giggle, and fought hard to keep a straight face myself. "So, the hotel is full. We don't have this room for you. Would you like a smoking room?" She shook her head definitely. "No, no smoking." "Then I'm afraid I can't help you." There was a quick conference in a foreign language. Then she turned back to me. "We will take the smoking room." I nodded, and began to check her in. She insisted the reservation be extended to the original exit date, then argued over the reservation's rate -- which was the $155 she had contracted for! "They tell me if I stay longer, I get a discount," she said firmly. "Who told you, ma'am?" "My manager tell me," she said. "I'm afraid that's not correct." I finished checking them in, confirmed their checkout date, the rate, and room number, and the man turned to me with a last-ditch effort. "No discount?" "Sir, you're already at a discounted rate. I'm afraid I haven't the authority to discount it further." They wandered toward the elevator.
The phone rang. It was Daima, upstairs, and she was laughing almost too much to speak. "Did she say, "So?!?" " I grinned. "She certainly did." Shannon piped up from behind me, "It's a good thing it wasn't me dealing with her. My response would've been, "so march your butt around the corner to the Clarion!"
Every now and again, someone pipes up, "So?" It's kept us sane over the weekend. And this morning, I really really needed that.
We walked most of the airlines to other hotels for the weekend. Indeed, after last year, Southwest had it included in their contract that they would be hosted elsewhere on this weekend. Continental and Northwest went without much fuss. One America West crew took one look around and then walked out. The crew that remained, who insisted on remaining, apparently expected that we could curb upwards of a thousand people for their convenience. They were mistaken. We had a dozen phone calls during the night from disgruntled crew members. One of them, a female flight attendant, was on the floor that proved worst for noise. Yet, when we offered to move her, she refused. "No! Can't you just make them be quiet?!?" "I can send security up, ma'am." "Fine." and she slammed the phone down. I send Trevor up, and we heard nothing more from her until 5 AM, when she appeared at the desk holding up her room key. "Can you rekey this? It isn't letting me into the business center anymore." I looked at the clock. "There's an hour yet before the business center opens, ma'am, and it's time locked. Your key will not work there until then." "Can't you make an exception? I've been up all night thanks to those fucking kids!" Now, on a weeknight, Robbie has a master key to override the time lock. But it's his personal key, and contract security isn't issued one. I began to explain that to her, and about three words in, she threw the key at me and stormed off.
My jaw dropped. I picked up the key, set it on the desk near Shannon, and began laughing. I know I was audible throughout the lobby. It was even worse when, a minute or so later, she returned to the desk! "On second thought, give me that key back. I'm going to go back to the room for the next hour."
I thought about throwing it at her, honestly I did. Instead, catching the eye of the male guest who was staring at her, I politely handed her back the key, then put my head down on the counter and completely lost it for a moment. I laughed until I cried.
I'm sure she'll call her company to complain. I'd just love to be a fly on the wall for the conversation when they call the hotel. And I have a sneaking suspicion their room rates will be higher next time they renegotiate that contract...
