Front desk employee rants about two boomer men who made a reservation for the day before their arrival without notifying the hotel, they respond saying: "You should really do a better job at keeping people's reservations"

Author image for María Cetra
María Cetra • Writer
Sep 27, 2026 1:00 PM EDT

Boomers are getting dragged once again. 

I will not particularly judge this guest due to their age, because I don't actually feel as if that was a defining factor in this situation, even though it certainly made other boomers get mad. I will judge them on their behaviour and lack of self-awareness. The way they didn't think. They just expected, like entitled people do. I will also judge the hotel, which I don't usually do, as I feel that they already have to put up with too much. But, in this case, it seems fair to be equal in the determination of who's right and who's not. A little spoiler: of course the front desk employee is right, but it's not THAT simple.

We have a severe case of entitlement coming from two older men who made plans to stay in a hotel but did not disclose their plans to said hotel. All started because they booked two rooms at a hotel. One for the right day, the other for the day prior AND the correct day. They thought that, as the hotel was full, the smartest idea was to reserve the extra room one day prior but no-show, and then come in on the correct date, assuming that the reservation was still counting as it was for two days. What they didn't know was that not showing up for the reservation makes them from getting the room. They just lost a room that they paid for. Of course, this could have been fixed if they had called to disclose their plans. But not only didn't they, but they also complained when it was explained that hotels work like this. They act entitled and mean towards the employee who was just breaking the news for them. This could have just been solved if they called and explained their master plan. 

On the other hand, I do think that there is something wrong with how the hotel is managed. If you have a no-show, you don't call them? At least to check if everything is okay. It feels wrong not to do so. On the front desk employee's part, I get her annoyance fully. This situation was completely mishandled, and if the hotel had called the guest or the guest had called the hotel, then all of this could have been avoided. 

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  • 01
    I've gotten some pretty stupid guests, but this particular guest really did suprise me. This happened a while back, and I still think about it laugh. Its not the worst but its hilarious. To set this up, I'm going to use the dates November 1st and 2nd as placeholder dates to use in telling this story. They aren't the real dates, though. All of this happened during a very
    via HieronymusBotchedIt
  • 02
    A woman relaxing in a hotel room. Licensed media provided as editorial context.
    via Anna Rosar

    A woman relaxing in a hotel room.

    Licensed media provided as editorial context. 

  • 03
    busy time of the year for the hotel. A lot of stuff was happening in the area, so we were extremely busy and had limited availability. There were multiple days when we were booked solid. Of course, we'd get people angry they couldn't get a room on our full days. Some even acted as though we were lying. Lol. This is not a story about those people.
    via HieronymusBotchedIt
  • 04
    It's November 2nd. The hotel is fully booked and busy. Two older men show up. I'd say at least mid fifties, graying, wearing clean trucker hats, boomer vests on, and equipped with unwarranted older manish baby attitude to accessorize. You could smell the entitlement. The main guest says he's here to check in. I found his reservation and checked his ID.
    via HieronymusBotchedIt
  • 05
    I verified that his reservation was for one night. The guy nods but quickly adds he's got a second reservation. I look. There isn't a second reservation. I'm confused and say I don't see a second reservation. I also ask if the second reservation was under a different name. The guy scoffs and starts giving attitude and repeats he's got two reservations under HIS name. I
    via HieronymusBotchedIt
  • 06
    tell him I only see one reservation with his name on it for tonight. The guy snidely asks me what's going on. I tell him I'm not sure, but if he has a confirmation number I can look up the second reservation. Of course, he doesn't have it. They seem to never have it. So, I told him to give me a few moments and I'll try a different search. The guy gives out an
    via HieronymusBotchedIt
  • 07
    annoyed impatient sigh. I'm thinking, look dude, calm yourself. These things don't just suddenly happen. I am sure there's a very good explanation for this. Oh I found it. After my search, I did find the second reservation. It was for yesterday Nov. 1st! So the guest did book two
    via HieronymusBotchedIt
  • 08
    reservations. One for Nov. 1st for two nights, and the second for Nov. 2nd for one night. It's the 2nd. That means the guests essentially did a no show for the other reservation. SO, I know where this conversation was going to go. I braced myself thinking the guys going to argue about the dates.
    via HieronymusBotchedIt
  • 09
    I let the guest know his second reservation was for yesterday. The guest looks at me and nonchalantly says this. "Yeah, I know it was for yesterday, but we couldn't make it, so we just decided to go ahead and just check into that room for tonight." I was floored. He knew that reservation was for yesterday, and he made the decision not to show up, or contact us.
    via HieronymusBotchedIt
  • 10
    I still couldn't tell if this was a gaul, stupidity, or both. The guest thought he still had that reservation. So, I asked the guest if he had contacted us to let know he wasn't going to show up last night. The guest shrugged and said no, why would he? Oh my Stegosaurus! I now had to explain to the guest
    via HieronymusBotchedIt
  • 11
    that because he did not show up for that reservation last night, or contact us about not showing up, the reservation was ran through as a no show. AND that because of that, the room was released. Lol, well, I'm sure you know that news didn't go over well. The guest didn't yell. He just switched back and forth from being vehemently annoyed to throwing low-key toxic attitude
    via HieronymusBotchedIt
  • 12
    and backhanded remarks. Of course, he asked why we gave his room away. Again, I had to explain to a grown adult that we had no idea he wasn't going to show up yesterday evening, and because of that, we had to let the room go. The guests friend finally asked him what was going on and the guest tells him the "I gave his
    via HieronymusBotchedIt
  • 13
    room away." He snipped. I quickly corrected that, no, we didn't give it away on purpose. It's that we didn't know what was going on because, again, YOU did not notify us your plans changed. The guest then tells me he didn't think he had to check in last night because the reservation was for two nights. I think I about dropped onto the floor. Lol
    via HieronymusBotchedIt
  • 14
    I didn't feel like having to explain to the guest how reservations work. So the rest of the conversation is basically me telling him that since the room was released, it was already rebooked and taken. Because of coarse he wanted to try and rebook the room right there. Well sorry buddy we're also fully booked for the night as well. Oops!
    via HieronymusBotchedIt
  • 15
    The guests friend would have to book their own room elsewhere. That was stupid to watch because I now had to stand there while two adults try and book a new room online with their phones. Meanwhile I'm waiting to finish checking the guest in under the original reservation. You know, the one they actually showed up for. Finally the guy looks at me and asks why I haven't given him his
    via HieronymusBotchedIt
  • 16
    room keys. I then have to tell him I'm waiting for him to put his card into our machine. He hastily does it. AND THEN he does something that made me want to laugh out loud. He's says, can I give you some advice?" Oh really!
    via HieronymusBotchedIt
  • 17
    "Sure," I say, smiling despite I want to badly roll my eyes. Oh I wanted to roll them! Anytime I have ever been "given advice" I want to say "no, but would you like some?" That advice is usually, "go away." Lol "You should really do better job at keeping people's reservations instead of just canceling them like that." He said it so casually, and with the tone and ego of a father who clearly has no clue why his
    via HieronymusBotchedIt
  • 18
    adult children don't call him any more. I smile more, "well, generally, if the guest is having any kind of trouble they usually notify us, by phone, on what is going on. That way we can then see what we can do to assist them better." The guest acts like he doesn't believe me. "Right, okay." Suddenly he stops for a moment. "Was I charged at all for this?"
    via HieronymusBotchedIt
  • 19
    "Yes, you were charged one night's rate for the no show." The guest gives me this look of contempt. Then walks away. You want to know the irony of all this everyone. The reservation in question was the kind where I could make changes to it. Some reservations you can't edit, but this one could have been.
    via HieronymusBotchedIt
  • 20
    If the guest had called me I could have changed the nights from two to one without any charge or anything. That would've saved him some time and money. But yes, please give me some unwanted advice.
    via HieronymusBotchedIt
  • 21
    A fancy hotel lobby.
    via Zoshua Colah

    A fancy hotel lobby.

  • 22
    ChicagoLaurie OK, don't beat me up for this. And let me add the disclaimer that I have never no-showed for a reservation. But I didn't know you had to call the hotel by midnight or whatever if you won't check in by then. I don't remember that popping up the last few times I made reservations on a hotel site. But maybe it was in the fine print. So this rule may not be as widely known among the general public as you think.
    via ChicagoLaurie
  • 23
    miniskunk Next thing this genius will try is to guarantee a room with a CC he knows won't authorize the day off to avoid a no show fee. Wait until he finds out what happens then! Keep a watch out for charge disputes too. We see a lot of people try to weasel out of the terms they agreed to.
    via miniskunk

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hotel guest reservation tales from the front desk boomers service industry
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