Diary of an Innkeeper

This past Thursday George was doing some minor construction in our Suite. He was putting up kitchen cabinets and there was some construction debris in that room. We had a couple checking in for four days but they weren't arriving until Friday. Or so we thought.

That Thursday afternoon while we were in the lobby a couple walked in. "We're here!"  the husband said as they walked in. George looked at me and said "Who's here??"  I quickly ran to the computer and NO, I got it wrong. This couple was not checking in on Friday, they were checking in on Thursday, AND in the suite. That same room that, the last time I checked, George hadn't exactly finished cleaning up his construction mess.

Me, being the opposite of calm, tried to put on my best face and said that the room was just about ready and it would only be about ten minutes. As I ran as fast as I could with cleaning rags in hand to see the disaster that is Construction George, I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't anywhere as bad as I thought it would be.

As I was cleaning the room, unbeknownst to me, George was being totally upfront with our new guests. "Truth be told, Tina thought you were checking in tomorrow." Thanks George. I'll get you back tomorrow morning! This was just the first of our innkeeper faux pas that we were about to unleash on these poor people.

In the beginning of our season, there always seems to be a few kinks that we need to iron out. And this weekend, they seemed to happen all at once. To this one couple. Now I have to say that this could have been a bad TripAdvisor review waiting to happen, but somehow we all got along very well. Even after George forgot to turn their hot water heater on. That next morning Michael and Sharon did not seem to share our concern for energy savings. They actually wanted a hot shower. Strike two.

Then when they were having breakfast waiting for their water to heat up, they commented on how there was no Internet. Hmmm, maybe it had something to do with George getting annoyed with our computer the night before and shutting off the power strip that the modem was plugged into. Strike three. And yes, I threw George under the bus for both strike two and three. Now mind you, Michael and Sharon never seemed to complain about any of these things. And they had every right to.

On to strike four. The next morning Michael told me about how his Galaxy 4 turned into a remote control and this was good because the remote in the room didn't work. Ugh! I forgot to check all the remotes in the rooms to make sure they worked before we opened. There's too much to check!! Two remotes, clocks, refrigerators, microwaves, emergency lights, irons x 12 rooms. I'm exhausted already. Well, thank you crazy cell phone technology. No one wants to get up and down to change the channels! That is so 1975! 

All this (and I am probably leaving out a few things) and never once did it seem like they were complaining. I don't think this nice couple was going to let anything bother their vacation. Thank you Michael and Sharon for being so understanding. I enjoyed our morning laughs and if you happen to be back in the area, I can guarantee that there will be a room ready, hot showers, available internet, and a warm and friendly face to greet you at the door!