My Turn Again!

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Don Draper

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Weird Innkeeper Happenstance for the Day:
Ran out to grocery store, got back to a phone message from a woman apologizing for not being there at 1 pm when she said she'd be, but she will still be coming in today. Huh? We are expecting 2 check-ins today, both couples and both at 3pm. Frantic paging through the schedule book and re-listening to the phone message several times and we realize this is a woman who is scheduled for NEXT Tuesday, for a 2 night stay. We have a room but not the one she booked, good thing she called because if we had gotten everyone else in and she wasn't here we certainly wouldn't have been looking for her.
WHEE!!!!
 
Had that before they booked for the 29th of March but turned up 29th of Feb luckily we did have the twin they had booked but had been trying hard to sell it so they would have been jiggered if i had!
 
I now have on the SUBJECT LINE in reservations prgm "DOUBLE CHECK YOUR DATES" I had this happen yesterday. If it is going to happen, I hope it is always when we have a room open!
 
I wonder what a hotel would do if you booked May but really wanted June? (we all know)
It is the guest responsibility to double check when they book. A few years ago we had booked 2 stays at a hotel in Seatle. The stays were 10 days apart and were prepaid through Expe-dia or something. Well we still do not know the real reason, but when we arrived at close to midnight, they had no reservation for us - this after being picked up by their shuttle service. They thought that 'we' had book for the wrong time as they had our 2nd reservation handy. Thankfully they finally gave us a room, worked out details later.
 
I now have on the SUBJECT LINE in reservations prgm "DOUBLE CHECK YOUR DATES" I had this happen yesterday. If it is going to happen, I hope it is always when we have a room open!.
Its also why i put saturday the 13th of August for 2 nights because they have no clue what day they have put either! (reply come back oh no we wanted the friday!)
 
Honestly, we are busier this week than next and as long as we have a space for her I'm content...I plan to do some outside painting next week if the weather permits and this is one less check-in we'll have. I'm not even going to charge her because I have to give her a larger room than she booked. See, I CAN be nice
tounge_smile.gif
 
A hotel would tell you to get stuffed. I had it this week couple from south africa booked sat for 5 nights turned up on sunday for 5 nights was expecting them as the stay was paid for by their university (they are lecturing for the nursing conference) but wish I had known as I could have resold the saturday several times over. can't win em all but anywhere else would have charged them an extra night.
 
Had that before they booked for the 29th of March but turned up 29th of Feb luckily we did have the twin they had booked but had been trying hard to sell it so they would have been jiggered if i had!.
Had a mix up once (they arrived a day earlier & thus wanted to leave a day earlier in a peak time), so now our confirmation states: length of stay, arrival date, & departure date.
 
Had that before they booked for the 29th of March but turned up 29th of Feb luckily we did have the twin they had booked but had been trying hard to sell it so they would have been jiggered if i had!.
Had a mix up once (they arrived a day earlier & thus wanted to leave a day earlier in a peak time), so now our confirmation states: length of stay, arrival date, & departure date.
.
We have that info as well. Doesn't even slow them down! Last one not only showed up a day early and left after their 2 days were up but I had to move them to a different room during their stay. This was a case where I was completely happy to see them go. They expressed no embarrassment at showing up a day early. They were drunk when they arrived. They were totally ill-suited to stay at my kind of B&B. (Which is to say, a beach-side, anything goes kind of B&B would have suited them just fine.)
He kept alluding to not knowing what day of the week it was, where he was, etc.
 
Simple, around here in the summer, show up on the wrong day and there is nothing that I can do to help you. Last July, I had ten room nights available... 95% occupancy. You have to book for mid-June if you want a weekend and the next weekend available after that is mid-July.
My confirmations have the dates clearly written. I send out reminders four days before arrival. I haven't yet had someone show up a day late or a day early. I have had one person call me about a reservation and when I asked him for the confirmation number (because I didn't see it on my books) he didn't have one. Turns out, he never his the submit button... just filled out the form and expected it to magically move from his screen to my reservation system. But it only happened once.
I have one reservation next week, where the man didn't have an email address to send a confirmation. It's the first time that I have a reservation without so much as an email address. Even paid the telephone booking price instead of the online discount, because he doesn't have one of those highfalutin' computers. I can't wait to show him indoor plumbing and my fancy eating table.
 
Remember the wedding couple who showed up a day late. He was so apologetic and we had the room so we allowed it (after waiting all night - you never really sleep when guests are due in). People deal with a lot of stress, we never know what is going on 'out there' in their realm.
PS I have a good one from today, but can't share it is too specific. It was one of those TMI moments. Why oh why do people call and tell a stranger personal details as such! It bugs me.
 
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