A Little Crying Can Go a Long Way

My hubby and I recently celebrated our 18th Anniversary. It ended up being quite the adventure so I just had to blog about it. First of all this summer has been pretty tight for us financially so I wanted to find a way to celebrate our anniversary without spending a lot of money. Traditionally we have always stayed at a nice bed and breakfast or hotel for our anniversaries. I didn't think there would be anyway I could afford that this year, but I started searching the internet for good deals. For some reason felt I should check KSL classifieds since you can find pretty much anything on there, maybe even a cheap hotel room. I came across an ad stating that this guy had some free hotel vouchers that he gets from this hotel that he and his wife frequently go to, they give these buddy vouchers and they still had a few left. So I called up the guy and the only stipulation is that you had to listen to a 90min time share presentation in order to get the 2 free nights. Sounded good to me. So he emailed to vouchers over to me, they were for the Westgate hotel in Park City--very nice. He recomended that I call and make a reservation so I did that so I thought it was all ready to go right? NOT!
When we got to the hotel to check in there was one couple ahead of us in line. We were standing pretty close so we could hear what they were saying and we heard the hotel employee tell them they were lucky since they just got the last room. I looked at Tad and said, don't worry I have our reservation confirmation email right here. So we walked up to the desk and the employee proceeded to tell us that there were not any more rooms. I asked her how that was possible since I had a confirmed reservation in my hand. She said that a bunch of the "owners" showed up at that day because of a wine tasting festival and that they have to give the rooms to them first. I was so mad at her! I started yelling at here and telling her how we drove a long way to get there and it was our anniversary and that they can't just tell people when they get there that they don't have a room, and what horrible customer service that is and how I would never buy into something like that if that's how they are going to treat people. She said the only thing she could do was give a voucher to another affiliate hotel, she said it was a 3 star hotel instead of a 5 star (rubbing it in our face i felt like) she said the vouchers were good for both nights since they didn't have any room the next night either. She also told us if we stayed at the other hotel and didn't like it, we could return the other voucher to them and the would give us $50 for it. I was really upset when we left for the other hotel and when we got there it looked old and dumpy. We checked in and when to our room which was equally old and dumpy and smelled funny. I put my bags down and when in the bathroom which was like a cracker jack box. Locked the door and sat on the toilet and just started bawling my eyes out. I was so disappointed and upset, this was nothing like I had planned or anticipated. Tad finally came to the door and asked if I was ok. I opened the door and told him I was sorry and that I would try to pull myself together. I was about 9pm and we hadn't eaten dinner, so I said lets go get something to eat, then maybe I'll feel better. Tad was so patient with me and he pointed out that even though we didn't get to stay at the other hotel, we were still together, and away from home. We just grabbed something quick from Arby's and went back to the hotel (by the way we ordered these orange creamsicle shakes, they were delicious!) I had brought a few DVD's to watch, but of course, there was no DVD player in the room, big shocker! So we watched some dumb movie on tv and tryed to make the rest of the night as good as possible. The next morning we knew we still had to go the the time share presentation or they would charge our credit card for the crappy hotel. On the way to the presentation, I told Tad that all I already felt bad for the salesman who got us, cause I was not going to be nice! I was expecting some young savvy salesguy to come out like the others I had seen. But and older mexican gentleman came out and called our names. He showed us a little buffet of food and drinks and pointed and a table to meet him at. We just grabbed a drink and sat down. I pretty much sat there with my arms folded and showing no interest. Tad was trying to be nice and listen. After about 10 minutes, the salesman asked us how we enjoyed our stay last night (obviously not knowing what happened) and that was it! I was going to go off on him! but instead I just started crying, and blubbering about what had happened to us. I was so embarassed! But I couldn't help myself. Carlos (the salesman) his face just dropped and you could tell that he is one of those men who can't stand to see a woman cry. He told me that he felt something was wrong but didn't know how to ask, so he appreciated that I would open and tell him what happened. He reached across the table and touched my hand and said" Mrs. Olson, I promise you that I will fix this for you and get you a night here a the hotel. I told him that if it wasn't that night then it didn't matter since it wouldn't be our anniversary anymore. I had mascara running down my face and asked him if he had a tissue. He left for a few minutes and came back with some. He told me that he talked to his manager and for sure they would get something worked out for that night. I started to feel a little better, and we went on the tour of the hotel, it was awesome, they have three pools, a fitness center, arcade game room, a restaurant a little grocery store and a Salon/Spa. When we walked in the Spa I told Carlos that I had never been to Spa before. He couldn't believe it. I said when you have 4 children theres just no extra money for stuff like that. We saw what some of the rooms looked like, there was one that had a jacuzzi tub in the master bedroom, I jokingly said "I want to stay in this room tonight" When we got done with tour. We sat down an talked some more about the time share, there was no pressure which was nice. I actually really wanted to buy into it by the end. The manager came over and said he need to talk to Carlos for a minute. When Carlos came back he had some papers in his hands. He handed them to me and said, there is a voucher in there to stay here tonight. I also felt bad that you have never been to a spa, so I gave you a $100 voucher to the spa, so you can feel special on your anniversary. They also gave us $75 voucher for dinner in their restaurant. As we left, he said I hope that you feel a little better now, I gave him a big hug--he was just one of those fatherly types. And told how much I appreciated what he did for us and how he saved our anniversary. There was still a little time before we could check into our room. So I went to the Spa and had my first pedicure ever, it was awesome! Tad played arcade games and checked out the fitness center. Then we met up and went to check in. When we walked in our room I couldn't believe how beautiful it was, and guess what was in the master bedroom, you guessed it a Jacuzzi! He got us the room I wanted. It was an amazing night. (I'm sure you don't want the details) The next morning we got up and made ourselves a nice breakfast since it had a full kitchen, and then we headed home. It was so nice to get away so you remember why you got married in the first place.