Could I Have Received a Better Perk for this Minor Inconvenience at My Hotel?
My family and I just returned from a very brief Spring Break trip to the Wisconsin Dells. Although we only stayed for 2 nights, I was determined to "beat the Dells". (It's a little problem I have with trying to make perfect better).
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/http://www.wisdells.com/media/images/Wis_Dells_Indoor_Waterpark.jpg)
Due to my determination to "win" this trip, we left before dawn on Sunday morning. The resort at which we stayed had a ton of amenities including an indoor waterpark, a high ropes course, go carts and an arcade. There are also several other resorts in the area offering tons of kid friendly activities.
My goal was to pack in approximately 7 days of fun into 2 1/2 days (I told you I have a problem). As a result, every moment counted. I made sure that we pulled into one resort's parking lot at exactly 8:58 AM. This was a mere 94 seconds before one the the indoor attractions was set to open (this one was a magic wand based activity called 'Magic Quest"). This would allow us just enough time to play the game, eat lunch and be first in line at our hotel's registration desk.
Thanks to my expert planning (translation: "mania") it went off without a hitch. I had called the resort earlier in the week to confirm we could start using the resort amenities directly after pre-check in at noon. Since official check-in is not until 4:00 PM, this bought us an extra 4 hours of fun.
Mania 2 (I gave myself another point for playing the wand game early)
Normal behavior 0
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://i.imgflip.com/fkia4.jpg)
The desk assured me that the room would be ready before 4:00 PM and we could enjoy the resort until they texted me with the room number. I smirked as I thought of all of those regular families who didn't bother getting there until 4:00 PM. Don't they know how to "beat" a resort? Suckers! (Oh wait. Maybe they just think vacations are for relaxing. Maybe they are the smart ones).
My family followed my masterfully devised plan and spent two hours having fun at several of the dry activities ("dry" as in no pool water not as in npc booze... I think we were the only sober adults in the joint).
With less than two hours to go before my "guaranteed" check-in time, I felt it was safe for the family to hit one of the locker rooms and change into our swim suits. Because I knew we would be called any minute, we decided to take all of our belongings to a small table at the pool.
I proudly walked by a bank of $10 per day lockers and thought to myself, "$10 lockers!? That is no way to 'beat' a resort!" My familiar smirk returned as I watched parent after parent shove their belongings into the expensive lockers. "Suckers"! (Oh wait. Maybe they just wanted to be able to relax and have the whole family go into the water at once. Nah. I'm smarter than they are).
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://media.makeameme.org/created/i-am-so-7gtovh.jpg)
Once at the table, we began to unload. As we each began to put our loads on the table, the pile seemed to grow at a magical rate. How did we manage to carry all of this stuff in? Did my wife have a magical bag like Hermione Granger? Had my son become a master illusionist? Had my daughter brought every stuffed animal she owns? (Actually that one is true).
As my kids handed me their belongings, I proceeded to create a perfect (and gigantic) replica of Deivl's Towers. Not only did this pile contain all of our coats, shoes, and clothes, it also included things of value such as our cell phones, wallets, keys, birth certificates, social security cards, passports, steemit keys, deed to our house, the only pictures of my great grandmother, an autographed Babe Ruth baseball and one baby zebra.
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://mytornadoalley.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/clothes.jpg)
This was just the clothes portion of our pile.
My wife and I took turns playing with our kids while the other guarded our ridiculous tower of possessions. On at least 22 occasions, a nice person approached us to let us know that there were lockers conveniently located approximately 8 feet away. I thanked these kind people but assured them that we would only need to maintain the tower for a few minutes. Then I called them "suckers" under my breath as they happily strolled back to their areas like they didn't have a care in the world (Because they didn't. They were smart enough to get a locker.)
Stating at 3:00, I checked my phone every 12 seconds for the nonexistent text that would confirm my next victory over the resort. It never came. I figured they did not have my correct number and called. They had the number alright, they were just "running a little behind". An urge to give in and spend the $10 on a locker began to rise inside me. But I fought it off! I stood my ground. Channeling my inner Smaug, I stayed at my table guarding my loot.
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/http://tesseraguild.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Weta-Smaug-Breakdown-1.jpg)
This is valuable enough to guard... but not to pay $10 for a locker. That's crazy!
Finally at 5:30, I received the notification that I had won! Our room was finally ready.
The next morning, as we went to breakfast, I approached the empty registration desk. A smiling employee approached and asked if she could help. I wasn't angry (at anyone but myself). I simply said, "Hello I am one of the guests who could not check in on time yesterday due to the delays. I am not angry but it was an inconvenience. I was trying to think of a way that you could make it up to me. How about you allow me to check out 2 hours later tomorrow?"
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://merovee.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/oliver-e1458143575911.png)
After a brief chat with the manager, she agreed.
I just scored another two hours at the water park!
I love the smell of chlorine in the morning. It smells like.... VICTORY!
Mania 3
Normal behavior 57 (It was a long 3 days.)
So steemit community, do you think I should have held out for a better perk? Was I a whiny jerk to ask for what I did? How should I have played this?
Did you notice that I didn't ask if I'm an idiot or not? I already know the answer to that one.
Getting the extra hours was good. Not sure you would have been getting much more than that anyway, unless you were willing to press very hard. Are you that guy? I've found that sugar wins more often than vinegar anyway. I was at the Wilderness Resort last weekend as well.
I am definitely not "that guy" lol. I figured it couldn't hurt to ask. And since it really didn't cost them or any other guests anything, I figured I'd give it a shot. Based on the looks of things as we left i don't think it inconvenienced the staff either. I need to get a "steemit" shirt so that if I'm ever at a place with a ton of people, maybe I can actually meet a fellow steemian face to face. Hope you had a great time!
You should always ask for some food or at least a cookie or a cake. Even if you don't deserve it. It is only a cookie for god's sake, they could afford it. Now I'm starting to be hungry...
Ok this is just an excellent strategy in life. I think I will start asking for cookies everywhere I go. Post office? Sure. DMV
? Of course! Toll booth? Why not? Even if I never get a cookie I bet some of the people will laugh. Thank you! This made me laugh!
I think I like what everyone else was doing better.... although, I would have just gone to the beach instead of a hotel/waterpark...
The Beach... best 2 hours drive I will ever make. At least from here, wish I was closer... maybe one day.
2 hours from the beach! That sounds awesome. I wish you luck being able to move closer. I hope you are able to do it. I too would prefer the beach, but there are not a lot of beach options in Wisconsin in March. Well I guess we could go, but it would be hard to do anything with our full winter outfits. ;)
This.
Thanks!
@hanshotfirst, you're a master of the deal! Screw lockers...guarding your life's treasures is more fun. Way to get the two hours.
You smell that...that extended stay? This vacation is going to end, but on my terms.
LOL. Thanks! I honestly only wrote this to poke fun of myself a little bit.
@hanshotfirst, you're a very clever writer. I appreciated your story. Still smiling my friend.
It helps when you do an endless amount of things that make you laugh at yourself.
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@RRF is the man. Always.
I don't think you should have pushed for more than you did. After all, you don't want to be the jerk who pushes too hard and earns the hatred of the staff.
I think your request for extra time was reasonable.
That is an excellent point. I knew that it was just a busy day. Its not like they purposely wanted to go slow. I figured if it didn't cost them any money to give us a little boost, it couldn't hurt to ask. Even if they had said "npc" I would not have been mad. It will be another story for my kids to laugh at me about when they are older. I like those stories!
I would like you to challenge your mania and see if you can now find the missing R -- in this post
hahahahahahaha!!!! and go!
Got it!
"Stating at 3:00"
Nice catch! I'll have to fix that later. Thanks!
Haha I think you played it well.
Thanks. I didn't want to be a jerk but it was a minor annoyance. Plus I really just wanted to use this post as an excuse to poke fun at myself a little.
A whiny jerk, lol. Actually the funniest part is that I would have done EVERYTHING you did exactly the way you did it, right down to the extra two hours bit.
Yeah I figured it was a pretty harmless thing to ask for. We got a little extra pool time and I got to laugh at myself. Winning!
Most of our staff has worked in hospitality and hotels, after experiencing that you definitely could have got a better deal. The key is that you have to be cool about it, but a bit demanding at the same time. One of the secrets of hotels is that the front desk wields a huge amount of power when it comes to making guests experience.
Was it an all-inclusive resort? If it was not, most of the time for that delay you could have received some amount of food and beverage credit. Hotels will often dole that out like candy.
Did you check your luggage with the bell desk? Checking luggage with the bellman can be an excellent way to store your unwanted luggage and go play until you are ready to check in without paying the annoying fee.
If you still needed a locker you might have been able to improve the experience by asking the front desk if they could offer you a complimentary locker for the day. Ding $10!
Alternatively if you didn't need to go back to the room and you were able to dump all of your stuff with the bellman you could have asked for an all day extension at the water park for your last day and got even more than 2 hours and not have to get a locker.
Someone mentioned a cookie, and if the hotel did offer cookies for purchase that is definitely something that the hotel would offer.
Approaching it the front desk staffer like a human being was the best way to go and the surest way to get free stuff. Some lady once called one of our staff no better than a chair or a lamp and claimed she could buy him and would toss him out with the trash because she made so much money.
Solutions like the ones above are "soft-solutions" and hotels are stoked if you had a problem and your solution is something that costs them nothing, yet makes a big impact on your experience.
Bottom line you get what you give to people in hospitality. If you are a really jerk and de-humanize people at check in they will flag you and you may just find that there is a "system glitch" with the automated wake up call system. That is why you received a wake-up call at 2am, 3am, 4am, and 5am or your room isn't ready for 4.5 hours rather than 2 hours later. You will know when the staff starts repeatedly calling you sir multiple times in the same sentence, and their tone is no longer casual.
My mom always taught me to "take care of the people whop take care of you". I thought of the food thing but really didn't want to be too greedy. Honestly, the only thing we can't make more of is time. They gave me a bit of extra carefree time at the pool (our passes lasted all day but this way we got to take leisurely showers and change into fresh clothes in a comfortable way). I do appreciate all of your tips. It sounds like as long as you are nice, they will be nice back. I like it when things work that way!
That's the general rule for anyone who works in hospitality. The culture really is a respect based culture and so long as you respect someone who works in hospitality as a person they will give you the world. It is good to see that they hooked you up with a late check out. Glad your family had a good time regardless since most people get pretty mad when their rooms are not ready on time.