When Entitlement Checks In: Tales from the Front Desk Battlefield
There are few places on Earth where the drama of modern life plays out quite so spectacularly as a busy hotel front desk. From lost keys to wild guest requests, it’s a stage where patience meets performance art—and sometimes, when the stars align just so, pure comedy gold. Today’s tale from r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk is a masterclass in customer entitlement, hotel chaos, and the heroism of hospitality workers everywhere.
Picture this: laundry machines flooding, a pool on lockdown thanks to a missing key, only a handful of rooms left, and into the maelstrom strides a guest so entitled, he could be the Greek god of entitlement himself—accompanied by a bearded “Boy” who is definitely too old for bedtime stories.
The Comedy of Discount Errors: “But My Dad Worked Here!”
Our story opens with a hotel teetering on the brink of chaos: three rooms left, a washer leaking like a scene from Titanic, and a pool rendered inaccessible because the only maintenance key decided to take a sick day. As the original poster (u/MaidenOfTheAudit) returns from battling the laundry beast, they’re confronted by “Ares” (let’s call him that, as the OP did), who’s ready to do battle at the front desk—with his ID, a credit card, and a big-box warehouse membership card (think “Cocost”) at the ready.
When Ares discovers the room rate isn’t magically halved for “Cocost” members, he launches into what the OP dubs “The Ares Monologue™️.” It’s an epic, with greatest hits like:
- “My father worked for your corporate owner for 50 years!”
- “I was a front desk manager for 10 years!”
- “You’re a failure of a person!”
- “You’re going to force a child—” (pointing at the bearded, college-aged Boy) “—to sleep in the STREETS?!”
If you’ve ever worked customer service, you’re probably already nodding along. As one top commenter, u/firekwaker, summed it up: “The sense of entitlement is strong in that one.” And if you think Ares’ “credentials” (his dad’s résumé, his own former glory days) might win him a discount, think again. As u/CheckYoSelf8224 quipped, “Yikes, he was really reaching for that comp night, wasn’t he.”
“Do You Have a Discount for... Everything?”
But Ares isn’t finished. If the warehouse membership card won’t do the trick, surely the “hospital rate” will! Only one problem: he’s neither a patient, nor visiting one, nor able to produce any evidence of affiliation. As OP patiently explains, “I can’t just give him a rate with nothing showing that he’s authorized to receive that rate.” This, of course, triggers another round of outrage.
The comments section had a field day with this. u/Strange-Marzipan9641 was reminded of a classic movie scene:
“What about traveler’s checks, do you take those?”
“Yes! We sure do, do you have some?”
“No, no I don’t.”
And as u/RainbowRandomness vented, “If you’re a member of something that would help give you a discount, you still need to provide me with proof of that! …We, the business, want to make money, you dumb fuck, so no you can’t have 25% off and also 10% on top with this membership and also 15% for some other code you got. Pick the best offer, book it, and fuck off. Or don’t book it and fuck off.”
Even OP chimed in later to note a delightful twist: the next guest, who was simply polite and patient, was rewarded with $20 off the last room—just for being decent.
When the Guest IS the Complaint
Ares, despite his outrage, eventually pays full price—but not before threatening to book through a sketchy third-party site for “$90!!” (OP wisely points out the hidden fees would make it a wash). But the drama doesn’t end with check-in. During his one-night stay, Ares manages to lodge three more complaints:
1. His AC makes a gentle hum (“not a particularly worrying noise”).
2. The pool is locked—at which point he tries (and fails) to break in, denting the door and earning himself the “damaged hotel property” tax, as OP gleefully confirms in the comments.
3. The breakfast attendant runs out of orange juice, which, according to u/puzzled65, “is his karma for such asinine behavior!!”
Some commenters did point out the hotel’s own failings—like u/Alternative_Year_340 and u/cryptotope, who flagged the lack of a pool key backup as a management issue. “There’s no excuse for hotel amenities to be out of service for days at a time because a manager couldn’t swing by the maintenance guy’s place,” they argued. Even OP admitted this was the third time the pool key had gone on a holiday.
But as u/Koolest_Kat observed, “Be Fuckin Nice to FD’s, they can make or break your experience, why are you pissing people off?” The moral of the story, as the front desk warriors of Reddit know well, is simple: politeness pays, entitlement costs.
The Unwritten Rules of the Front Desk
This tale, while hilarious, is more than just a cautionary fable about being “that guy.” It’s a shout-out to every hospitality worker who has ever had to explain, for the hundredth time, that yes, discounts require proof, and no, your dad’s employment record is not a golden ticket. Or as u/RoyallyOakie put it: “I can offer you the f$ck off rate. Your room is behind that door marked ‘exit.’”
So next time you’re tempted to tap your membership card and demand a secret rate, remember: the front desk has seen it all, and the real perk is just being nice.
Have your own front desk horror story or secret tip for snagging a legit discount? Share your best (or worst) hotel moments in the comments below—just don’t forget your proof of eligibility!
Original Reddit Post: BREAKING NEWS: You don't get to stay on a company's rate if you aren't traveling for the company!