“You won’t blog about this, will you?…”
Clutching my pearls I shook my head…”Noooo! Of course not.”
You see, it seems that “we” made surprise dinner reservations for New Years Eve at a fancy schmantzy hotel — but “we” didn’t notice the web portal when reserving a table and “we” made the dinner reservation for December 30th and not Dec. 31st, 2014.
Upon our arrival, we were received by two tuxedoed men who checked our coats. Soon thereafter Haley, our hostess greeted us and asked us if we were non resident guests of the New Year’s Eve party.
We looked at each other… looked at Haley… and shook our heads.
“We just made dinner reservations!” we chirped with confidence.
Haley asked if we would mind if she checked the guest list.
Of course not! We were bemused.
Haley sat down next to us on the sofa and softly said, “your name is not on the list…”
List? We had an e-receipt on our email which proved that we made reservations for New Years Eve.
We showed it to Haley.
“Oh dear,” Haley said, “These reservations were for last night…”
We shifted in our seats uneasily. We felt shocked…embarrassed. It seems that the hotel was having an exclusive party for New Years and there were no dinner reservations to be had.
Haley held up her hand…”just a minute…let me see if there’s something I can do…”
We were left alone on the sofa in the lounge. We began to warm to the idea of a Chinese take-away at home, in front of the TV. Just as we were convincing ourselves that a take-away was much more favourable, Haley returned with the news that we could have a meal in the cocktail lounge. Even though the lounge was closed to non-residents, they made an exception just for us.
We skipped up the stairs to the lounge and were seated in an alcove next to the window. We watched the revellers arrive…men in tuxedos and women in glittering gowns. We were served food and drink and we laughed and talked. Here’s a photo!
We finished our meal and thanked the staff profusely.
We walked out of the lounge and into a fantastical exclusive New Year’s Eve party..
…but as we were replete and even a little bit tired, we made our way to the lobby, collected our coats, wished the staff a healthy and happy New Year and went home and watched a DVD.
The next day we wrote a letter to the management of the hotel and gave kudos to Haley, who was a star.
Sometimes mistakes have the best outcome.
Dragonlane Artisan Jewellery 
Brava! Haley.Just the sort of happy story I love.
Health and happiness to you and Andy, too, Kim.
And to you!!
You should mention the fancy schmantzy hotel, they deserve the recognition. Unless that is the name of the hotel. Hotel Fancy Schmantzy.
Great way to start the new year! I’m glad you saw it in with laughter and love.
Mistakes like that are fabulous. You will remember that New Year’s Eve for a long time. Our most memorable Christmas was when we flew in to the UK on what seemed like a bargain… significantly reduced airline tickets on Christmas Day to Heathrow. Yee Haw!! Oh — then we realised why. Everything is shut on Christmas Day. Not just shops… all restaurants. The tube. THE TUBE IS SHUT?!!! Taxis are impossible to get… buses don’t run! What a mistake we made! We got a student shuttle (we weren’t students) to Oxford, checked into a B&B and then walked the town for three hours on Christmas Day, ravenously hungry. Not even a Tesco Express was open! Finally, exhausted, we saw a mirage. It was a kebab stand, open, standing in the shadow of a lovely old church. It was a Christmas Miracle! We got two greasy kebabs, with chips and returned to our B&B to eat them while watching British Christmas Specials. It was my favourite Christmas EVER!
Best wishes for a Happy and Healthy New Year.
J.
Hi Julia!! So nice to see your comment. You are so right – nothing is open on Christmas except petrol stations on the motorway. What luck that you made it to Oxord and found a B&B — lovely story. I hope you’re well.
Super story and beautifully told.