Guest reserved a room and appeared 2 days later than she should, but expected to get the room anyway: ‘The shock on her face when she was informed that no, we didn't "hold onto" her room for her was utterly priceless.’

Author image for María Cetra
María Cetra • Writer
Jul 21, 2026 10:30 AM EDT

Entitlement or just a dumb assumption?

We see and read stories about guests expecting things that they have no reasonable belief to demand all the time. We always focus on how entitled they are or how incredible their request is. We see it as a one-time story, as one funny story about customer service. I think it's more than that. When this many stories appear all of a sudden, one question starts to resonate in your mind. "Where has this type of thing come from?" 


Let's face it, things have changed a lot in the past decade, and customer service has been affected by it. Before, people weren't this entitled, nor did they expect exceptions to be made for them rarely. What changed? Is it how the new generation has been raised? Maybe it's because of all the stories we see online of customers getting exactly what they want and inspiring others to do the same? Or maybe this is like a trend. People are trying it, and because managers approve it, giving them what they want, they continue to do so. So, in this case, it wouldn't be the guest's fault, but instead the manager's, by allowing the situation to escalate until the customer gets their ridiculous demand. 


All the stories, like the one below, make me think that there is no hope. Guests are entitled, and that is never going to change. But that doesn't have to be true. We still can make a change, demand that guests act like adults and accept when they are wrong. We can change the system, but for that we need better managers who have enough character to put up with customers and make them understand that the saying "the customer is always right" is, in fact, not true. The customer isn't always right. They are probably wrong. So bosses, please stand by your employees and set boundaries with the entitled customers who are not only ruining the business but also mistreating your staff. 
 

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  • Night auditor here, had a fascinating experience tonight that I felt the need to immediately relay for the sheer entertainment value. We had a guest arrive tonight at around midnight, in from NYC. She rolls up to the desk, proudly and confidently saying she has a reservation. I check the system, no one under her name due in tonight. No one in house under her name. Then, out of sheer curiosity, I check our no shows.
    via ItsArtDammit
  • A woman reading a magazine in the bed of a hotel.
    via Anna Rosar

    A woman reading a magazine in the bed of a hotel. 

    Representation.

  • She was booked to arrive two days ago. To her own admission, she did not make any attempt to call the desk at any point prior to arriving tonight about her not being able to arrive which, on top of being a third party booking, basically meant that no, we can't do much of anything. The shock on her face when she was informed that no, we didn't
    via ItsArtDammit
  • "hold onto" her room for her was utterly priceless. She spent the next fifteen minutes unable to understand, repeating questions and effectively refusing any answer. Got her booked into a room for the night, but she was insistent that she would be "making calls." To whom, I have no idea. What's more shocking about all of this is that this isn't the first
    via ItsArtDammit
  • A man getting checked into a hotel with the receptionist at the front desk.
    via Helena Lopes

    A man getting checked into a hotel with the receptionist at the front desk. 

    Representation.

  • time recently that I've had this sort of interaction. In years of working audit, I haven't seen this sort of thing be this much of an issue this consistently, and in all cases with folks from the eastern US. Not sure what to make of that, but I'm wondering if y'all have been seeing an uptick in folks just outright refusing to understand how bookings and not showing up for them work.
    via ItsArtDammit
  • stormoftara I live in the Eastern US and I had someone do something a bit similar recently, but in an even stranger way. A company is staying with us with multiple rooms. They had reservations for a month, but they checked out after only a week, very early in the morning, not long after the night audit ran. I confirmed that they were checking out early and they said they were. So I checked them out of the system.
    via ItsArtDammit
  • A couple days later, when my coworker was here for the 3 to 11 shift, some different workers came in from the same company. The other employee couldn't find the reservation, so she asked for the confirmation number. They gave the confirmation number for the reservation that I had already checked out a few days prior. Apparently they thought they could just keep checking into the same reservation again and again until
    via ItsArtDammit
  • the check out date. I really don't understand people at all. My coworker made new reservations for them, but I'm still stunned by their logic.
    via ItsArtDammit
  • Ok_Stuff3189 Omg, I love reading these stories lol. Some people just really don't get it, and it's always so simple to understand. Like one time I had a guest ask me if we had a room for tomorrow night, I said yes and he said "But you have the NO VACANCY sign up? Why is it up if there are rooms available?" and I had to explain that the sign is up for tonight... not tomorrow........
    via ItsArtDammit
  • Vizth If I had a dollar for every guest that booked third party for the wrong date one direction or the other I'd be probably be able to buy my own hotel, or at least a shed i can turn into a rustic airbnb. XD My favorite is when they book 3rd party it in the parking lot and come in 5min after wondering why it isn't either in the system yet or asking if i can fix it when they made a no cancel reservation for a month out.
    via ItsArtDammit
  • Not my problem or job, I can do you as a walk in for full price that's my best offer.
    via ItsArtDammit
  • thanx_it_has_pockets It has been happening in my neck of the woods too! I am wondering where on earth these humans are getting their info. 'I thought it was my room until my departure date' was one explanation from one the other night. I said, 'you still have to come in and check in. We aren't going to just leave it like that.'
    via ItsArtDammit
  • tzimon Kindof related... I'm a freelancer, doing book layout and some writing. Over a year ago, I had someone hit me up, pay a deposit for me to do layout on a book... and then completely ghost. I assumed they were getting the files together, and after two months, I completely forgot about the project and moved on to other clients.
    via ItsArtDammit
  • The other day, they hit me up, saying they had all the files ready and wanted to get the layout done asap. They seemed confused and a bit irate that I wasn't available to immediately put everything together for them, and I had other projects currently ongoing and couldn't guarantee that I would be able to get to their project for at least a month. It felt like they assumed that I would just leave my schedule wide open
    via ItsArtDammit
  • for an indeterminate amount of time waiting for them to get back to me. If I weren't strapped for cash, I'd give them back their deposit and tell them to find someone else.
    via ItsArtDammit
  • madeira_pince-zez And here I am, making a point of informing the front desk that when I return in a few days, it will be on a flight landing just after midnight and I won't be checking in until probably 1am, so please don't give away my room.
    via ItsArtDammit

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hotel guest tales from the front desk hotel room entitled people
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