Imagine googling hotels near me one second and then running the operations of one the next. That’s exactly what happened to a group of friends who went on a trip to celebrate one of their birthdays earlier this September. The trio booked a stay in a Nashville hotel, expecting a receptionist to welcome them upon arrival. However, when they got there, the front desk was unstaffed and the lobby was filled with angry guests demanding assistance for hundreds of dollars charged in their cards.
For fun, birthday celebrant Aaron Howard posted the situation on TikTok, showcasing the series of their adventures in the hotel after discovering that the entire facility was, in fact, unstaffed from the front desk to the backfield. He captioned the post, “When you arrive [at] the hotel and there is no staff, so now you have a job. We’ve been working for two hours.”
The group then decided to volunteer, assisting aggravated people, calling shuttle services, and even searching the kitchen for breakfast to serve around 6 a.m. once the place started filling in with hungry guests. The trio filmed and shared the experience online, which quickly gained attention, the first post reaching a million views.
Turns out, the employee on duty decided to leave the overnight shift prematurely without notifying the management. When the hotel was asked for their statement, they informed that the employee in question no longer works with them.
In another TikTok video, the trio said that a staff finally arrived after hours of volunteer service. However, when asked to be assisted to their rooms, they were required to pay a $20 fee. It did not feel right, so they contested, and luckily, a manager from a nearby Holiday Inn came to assist. The manager asked them about what happened and appreciated their hard work by letting them at the hotel free of charge. Surprisingly, the night does not end there. When they opened their room, an elderly lady was already occupying it. The manager was also in shock and decided to let them stay at the Holiday Inn instead.
In an interview, Kenzie Brooks, one of the trio, said, “People, at the end of the day, really just need to hear that it’s going to be okay… We just tried to comfort all the customers in any way that we knew how.”
The story was featured in numerous news channels, admiring how the group handled the situation.
They admitted that the task was stressful and hectic, but it is surely one they will never forget.
Talk about making the most out of a situation.