When someone is richer than you
In the 25 years of writing this column I have never dumped on a business because anyone can have an “off” day. I’m going to break that rule today for two reasons.
First, the business is a multi-million-dollar resort which brags about its high standards. Second, when I booked my one-night stay and paid $1,105.00 (no you didn’t read that wrong, 11-hundred bucks for one night) they had a box for me to explain the reason for the visit. I wrote that I was coming to celebrate my wife’s birthday and I was a journalist and blogger with 140,000 followers and planned to write about the experience.
This wasn’t done to curry favor but be up front about my intentions, so no one could say I “sand bagged them” later.
The place we stayed which left me angry and disappointed was the Chatham Bars Inn in Chatham, on Cape Cod.
Before I get to our stay let me explain something. I don’t spend that much EVER on a hotel room. Normally the wife and I go to Las Vegas in June. The airfare, hotel, shows, food and everything else usually runs us about 2K, all in. When the pandemic hit, I had to move our Vegas trip from June until August. When it was clear things weren’t better, I cancelled it entirely.
So, we had no vacation and nothing special for my wife’s birthday.
I’ve been going to Cape Cod since I was a teenager and I’d driven by the Chatham Bars Inn many times. It was always that someday if we hit the lottery kind of place you promise yourself; you’d stay if you were rich. Since we had saved money for Vegas, I decided to surprise my wife by splurging on one night at the Chatham Bars. Their website is very clear that check-out time is 11 a.m. and check-in is at 4 p.m.
A bit late for check-in in my mind but fair enough, those are the rules. 4 p.m. Got it.
The wife and I drove over on Wednesday, timing it so we would reach the resort at 3:30 sharp. I hoped the room would be ready a bit early but if not we wouldn’t have to wait long, after all they charged me more than a thousand dollars for one night, certainly the room would be ready as they promised.
At the front desk a young woman told me that another guest decided to stay very late in my room, and they would try to have it ready by 4 p.m. I held my tongue, left and waited by the room, which was not in the main building but a few hundred feet down the road. We drove down but the parking spot they promised would be available was not and we had to drive past our building to another lot and walk with our bags.
At 4:10 p.m. when they hadn’t called to give me the keys, I knocked on the door to our room and heard music blasting. A maid, not wearing a mask, answered and told me she’d need more time. How much? Probably fifteen minutes she said. We went back to the car and drove back to the main building and front desk to complain.
The same young lady told me, quoting now, “The previous guest was a platinum card American Express card member and they don’t have to check out like everyone else, they get special permission to stay well beyond the 11 a.m. checkout.” When I told her, I paid for a room at 4 p.m. and it was now pushing 4:30, she told me it was just “understood” by people that rooms aren’t always ready. Understood by whom? I told her the website didn’t mention this flexible check out time for the wealthy when they took my 11-hundred dollars and I asked her if I could stay beyond 11 a.m. the next morning to get back my time lost? She told me my regular credit card didn’t afford me that luxury. So, I’d get the room late but had better be out when they told me. Nice. A manager apologized and offered to buy us breakfast the next day.
When we got to the room it was beautiful with a nice view, but the welcome cheese and cracker platter looked old and inedible. There was a bottle of white wine in an ice bucket filled with water, the ice had melted.
I’m not sure if that was for us and the maid was rushing and didn’t have time to get ice or the platinum card holder just left it. Because we were 30 minutes late getting in the room, we didn’t have time to explore the resort, walk on the beach, shower and make our dinner reservations which I secured 3 weeks earlier.
My wife said, “John, I don’t want to give these people another $200 of our money,” so we left the resort and got pizza.
So, to recap. Check-in time- fail. Catering to one clientele over another with less money? Bingo. Parking? Sorry, you’ll have to walk. Arguing with a guest rather than just saying you are sorry bingo again!.
I didn’t even get into the stain on the rug in the hallway or someone coming in the room when we were out eating pizza and moving around my wife’s make-up.
Real smart during a pandemic guys, touching our things.
I can only hope the guy with the platinum card got fresh cheese and ice.
John Gray is a news anchor on WXXA-Fox TV 23 and ABC’S WTEN News Channel 10. His column is published every Sunday. Email him at johngray@ fox23news.com.