breakfast conversation

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muirford

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This isn't a life-or-death question, more one about your sense of when to step in and when to leave it lie. We have several rooms at breakfast, some of whom have been to the Inn and our town before and some who haven't. They are all discussing amongst themselves, not really asking for our input, but there is some misinformation flying about. The misinformation isn't really limited to the newbies, but none of it is really derogatory. When do you all step into a conversation - only when asked, when someone is getting the wrong information which might cause them to do something not so good, or do you jump in on the topics that you are informed about no matter what?
 
This happens often here. If I am right there and it's obvious that I can hear the conversation then I will try to step in and correct any misinformation I hear (I'm guessing you're talking about maybe other merchants in your area?). I try to make a little joke and take it from there. You don't want to make the misinformers feel badly, but you do want the new people to have the right info.
 
This happens often here. If I am right there and it's obvious that I can hear the conversation then I will try to step in and correct any misinformation I hear (I'm guessing you're talking about maybe other merchants in your area?). I try to make a little joke and take it from there. You don't want to make the misinformers feel badly, but you do want the new people to have the right info..
Don Draper said:
(I'm guessing you're talking about maybe other merchants in your area?).
It ran the gamut this morning from our theater festival to restaurants to parking in a nearby town to a government training facility.
I only stepped in when I felt it might impact the guest badly, like parking.
 
This happens here as well, miss information is not the best for you or the area. If we are in the room and hear something that NEEDS to be corrected we find a way to slip it in, DH has great about him and sometimes he will use it to soften the corrections.
If you don't see yourself stepping into the conversation but it is worthy enough to get the trouth out, you can try to let them know after breakfast or as they head out for the day. The world is full of miss conseptions and if it puts a tainted eye on your area, let it be known 'that ain't exactly right'.
 
Tough call especially if you are NOT in the room cos then it seems as if you were listening in! You could always talk to the people individually and say "I heard the conversation about...and I just wanted to let you know that in reality...." If you are in the room, I would definitely let them know what you know. If it is about a restaurant I would let it lie as everyone has their own tastes.
 
If I was in the room when someone said something incorrect, then yes I would definitely interrupt and correct it. Otherwise, I wouldn't.
 
"We heard that, too, so we asked the owner/manager what was going on and found out the whole thing was untrue. Just wanted to be sure the rumors don't continue to spread. That's a really good (restaurant, festival, area of town) and we continue to support them."
The guests feel like they got insider info, the ones spreading the untruths understand you undertand it was a rumor that has been quashed so don't bring it up again.
 
Tough call especially if you are NOT in the room cos then it seems as if you were listening in! You could always talk to the people individually and say "I heard the conversation about...and I just wanted to let you know that in reality...." If you are in the room, I would definitely let them know what you know. If it is about a restaurant I would let it lie as everyone has their own tastes..
suellen222 said:
Tough call especially if you are NOT in the room cos then it seems as if you were listening in!
If the guests are in a public space speaking in normal tones of voice it is our job to listen! We're supposed to know what's going on so we can help. With anything. I don't know how many guests I've steered off the highway because they are all using their GPS and GPS avoids 'back roads' (the back road here is a major route that traverses the length of the country!) What the GPS doesn't know, and I do, is that there have been 4 accidents on that highway in the past 10 days due to drivers not paying attention in the construction zones.
It's my job to know the insider stuff and to pass it on when I hear guests talking about this or that route. Or going/not going to this or that place.
Like the other day when a guest who lives in the state claimed that the local big store 'never has a sale' which is blatantly untrue. They have sales at the end of seasons but not weekly like major chains.
 
If I was right there and it was obvious that everyone could hear what was being said, I would say something like, "Excuse me but I couldn't help hearing you say "x" - and actually, there's no problem with this (or it's easy to get to that place, the parking is free, etc.). You know, you can fill in the blank for whatever misinformation is given.
It's really amazing how folks can get things wrong....
 
I do correct when they call ONE lake another lake which is 4 hrs away, so other guests put in the wrong name and drive all day to find a lake that we must be faking that it is really near us. LOL
People are always misinformed, full of B.S. to be blunt, so really it is not our place. We could be in there all day! Hard to take when they tell our other guests the wrong info, but most arrive without doing one ounce of homework anyway...
 
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