Chapter 326: Property Master

This place is the first I’ve seen that runs perfectly, as I would expect for an expensive restaurant.

“I’m impressed,” I told Elena and her dad. “This is the first of your restaurants that we have eaten in that runs like a well-oiled machine. Well, mostly. I did notice they place the better-dressed patrons closer to the front and windows. They don’t appear to refuse to seat anyone waiting based on their attire.”

Elena’s dad said, “I wish I had any of my restaurants that ran this smoothly. I guess I shouldn’t have expected anything less than perfection here. This restaurant is one of your new properties. I assume it was hand-picked out of their respect for Darren, not just something tossed as part of their asset transfer.”

I asked the waitress for our bill. She told me that the manager wished to speak to me a moment. He had the check.

Ah. Not so perfect, after all. The manager must be wondering how it is I will pay since I don’t look like I have the money. At least he is dealing with it himself versus sending someone else.

“Good afternoon, I’m Aaron Davies, the manager of this fine establishment,” he said, looking at me directly instead of Elena or her father. “Our previous owners explained that I wouldn’t have any problems identifying our new owner. I only needed to watch for a well-built, polite, young male who looked around sixteen. When I said that defined a part of our usual clientele, they told me I only need to listen to the women, and possibly men, on my staff. Only one young man would have them risking jail time to see if they could interest him in a private conversation in an intimate setting. I am pleased to meet you, David.”

We talked briefly about the restaurant’s history, how many top chefs began their careers here, and similar things he felt I needed to know. Elena was very interested, but it didn’t mean all that much to me. I insisted I still wanted to settle my bill, be he told me that there wasn’t a bill to pay. As Elena, her father, and I got up to leave. I left a tip with four fives on top, a ten, and a then two, one-hundred-dollar-bills. He didn’t see the hundreds in the pile of other bills. I had no idea how much our meal cost, but our waitress had been amazing.

Beside the car, Elena’s dad said, “The more I am around you, David, the more you are teaching this old dog. Elena usually goes to the kitchen, puts on a chef uniform, helps out preparing the signature dishes, and then cooks what she wants to eat. More often than not, she more than pays for her meal. Whenever I eat at a property, I’m not asked to pay as they know I am the owner. Until I saw you do it, I’ve never considered that I should tip the wait staff as I am already paying them to do their jobs. That is probably the biggest tip our waitress has ever gotten from a single customer.”

As if right on cue, the waitress hurried out, appearing distressed.

“Sir,” she said, “My manager said he comped your meal. He must not have told you. I’m glad I caught you before you left.”

I gently folded the money into her hands and told her, “That isn’t to pay for the meal. You provided fantastic service regardless of our not looking like we could afford the cheapest appetizer and a soda. I tipped accordingly.”

She may have tried to restrain herself, but she failed. She wrapped her arms around me to give me a big hug. I hugged her right back. When she stepped away, the waitress had a big smile on her face.

Once back on the road, Elena said, “You made her day David, and I don’t think it had much to do with the tip. She hadn’t ever met you before, but you returned her hug with sincerity. Seeing how you treat a total stranger like an old friend has finally explained why I found myself so disarmed when we drove home from the driving school. If the families felt something similar, it is no wonder they accepted you, as Darren, so freely. These people do not trust their spouses or children, much less someone from another family.”

“I guess,” I replied. “Fortunately, I won’t need to interact when those families in that way ever again.”

She and her father weren’t quite so sure. Corwin, Mary, and Skylar readily bonded to me as if I was an alpha male, or the alpha male, in their world.

We ate at another of my restaurants. It was a three-star, but the staff was every bit as professional and efficient as at the five-start from earlier. After I paid and left another good tip, the manager approached as we entered the small lobby.

“Thank you for choosing our restaurant for your dining pleasure this evening,” he said with full sincerity. “Was everything ok with your meal? It is our mission to ensure every customer has a pleasant visit. If something didn’t meet your expectations, we are happy to refund the cost of your meal. I only ask that you provide us with feedback on how we could have done better and what we need to do before you dine with us again.”

I like that he didn’t say if or when you dine with us again.

We told him everything was great and headed toward the door. Just before we left the building, we heard him ask the same of the people walking out behind us. I heard him ask another staff member to take over for him. Once we were outside, he walked over to us.

“It is my pleasure to meet you. I’m ecstatic you are happy with how I manage your restaurant,” the manager told me. “The previous owners said I would find you are refreshing compared to them, and I did. I’ve never had an owner visit who paid for their meal like any other customer. You own this restaurant, your meal, and those of your guests come out of your pocket either way.”

I smiled as I asked, “Why should I want to mess up the books and numbers?”

“The staff here and I are blessed to work for someone of your caliber,” he explained before wishing us to have a good evening.

Our next stop was one of my hotels which offered suites, some of which had mini kitchens.

Elena came with me to the counter, but her dad stayed back. Places like these do not usually rent to anyone under eighteen without a parent. It was going to be a good test.

“Do you happen to have two adjoining rooms available or a single one with two beds,” I asked.

The man behind the counter began checking his system before replying, “Do you have a reservation?”

“I don’t. We decided to stop for the night. You were the closest hotel we found where I could be sure the sheets on the bed were changed when a guest checked out,” I said with a laugh.

He went back to looking through the options again.

“Normally, I could accommodate your request, but there are gymnastic and martial arts competitions this weekend,” he explained. “I do happen to have one suite available with two queen beds and a sofa that pulls out into a bed. All our sofas have self-inflating air mattresses to make them close in comfort to a bed. The suite does come with a door that separates the living area from the bedroom. While not as private as two rooms, the nightly rate works out cheaper than two rooms. How many nights do you plan on staying with us?”

I went through the process of providing the needed information, giving him my driver’s license, review the hotel policies, and then letting him swipe my card even though I paid cash for the night.

Elena asked, “Do you regularly rent to minors?”

“No, miss. It is against local statutes and hotel policy,” he said. “We do, however, allow them to provide their information and pay when they are with a parent. Our security system uses advanced facial recognition to compare the faces of those who exit their vehicles on hotel property. It does not provide any personal information to us unless the person, or persons, are those which law enforcement seeks, or ones which have caused disturbances in the past. From the system’s analysis, your facial features closely match the gentleman hanging back at the entrance to the lobby. His estimated age and yours correspond closely enough to guess that he is your parent. Mr. Jones, however, has no similar features to either of you, so our system surmised that he is an acquaintance or distant relative. I made the logical assumption that he would be taking the couch while you and your father shared the bedroom. It would be unprofessional and improper to assume otherwise.”

How often does Elena get surprised?

He gave us three room keys, and we headed upstairs to check out the room. It wasn’t as large as some I had seen, but it was clean, had an upscale coffee maker, a full-sized refrigerator, and a microwave. They provided us with a wide selection of coffee cups, microwaved popcorn packages, packages of sealed cookies, protein bars, granola bars, and some other things at the bottom of the basket.

In the bathroom, we had a small wrapped bar of soap, but none of the sample bottles I’m used to seeing. When I looked in the shower, I saw they had three types of shampoo, body wash, and conditioner in containers attached to the back wall. A small sign noted that this provided savings to the hotel, which they passed on to their guests. If we felt we required the small sample bottle, we could call the front desk, and they would provide them.

“Dad? We need to look at the costs to convert our hotels to this kind of setup. I do like their idea of still having the sample bottles for those who distrust using common bottles on the wall,” Elena said.

Her dad said, “We all still need some toiletries and a change of clothes. We could check the gift shop, but I doubt they carry a wide selection of underwear and deodorants.”

A quick Ding search found us a clothing store a step up from Ball-Mart or S-Kears. They had very nicely made clothing, but I had no idea who came here to shop. Nothing fit any of us. Not surprisingly, I was the only one with a cell phone reception. It was still early enough to head back out after Elena dug through her laptop to find us a better choice of stores.

When we returned to the hotel, the man at the front desk said a delivery came for us while we were out. A bellman took the delivery person up to our room to place it in there for us.

Hmmm. I wonder.

“I think the people who have been stocking my dresser and closets are stalking me,” I told them as I walked over to the dresser under the TV in the living area. “It appears I have a week worth of underwear now.”

Checking the other drawers yielded a shaving kit, deodorant, shorts, shirts, pants, socks, and two pairs of shoes. When Elena and her father checked the bedroom, they found the same. In the closet, we each had two expensive business outfits and everything that went with them. Elena had two casual dresses, a skirt, and a pair of jeans. On the shelf in the closet were a suit bag and three carry-on-sized suitcases.

Before we could decide what we wanted to do next, there was a knock at the door.

The hotel manager was waiting outside with a bellman holding a luggage cart.

“Mr. Jones. My apologies. Our system did not flag you as a VIP until after you left earlier. We have six presidential suites. I have reserved one for you and one for your guests. Please allow us to collect your belonging to your larger suites,” he said.

I looked at Elena and her dad. Both gave me a shrug.

I will blow your mind. I promise.

“Are all six presidential suites available?”

When he confirmed they were, I asked, “Any place to sleep that doesn’t require me to sleep in a hospital bed works for me. My friends seem happy with our suite, so I think we are going to do something fun as we spread some goodwill.”

Not quite there yet, but I promise I will blow your mind.

“Elena? Can I use your brain and fingers to do what I want to try?” I asked her.

She nodded, so we headed back downstairs to the front office.

“Using their cameras and tracking of guests to rooms, search through to find families squeezed into as few hotel rooms and suites as possible. I want to start with those that showed they could use a bit more space,” I told Elena.

She knew what I wanted to do. After twenty minutes, she had a plan printed out. Ten minutes later, we had the card keys programmed for each room change we had worked out.

Our first group of guests was here for the gymnastics competition. Four chaperones, sixteen gymnasts, seven other children, all packed into three adjoining hotel rooms. The manager, Elena, her father, and two bellmen each had luggage carts. The place in my head showed two girls showering, two naked boys wearing towels who just left the showers, and three little kids running around naked for whatever reason. Everyone else at least had on underwear and a t-shirt.

“Yes?” a voice said with a pair of eyes peeking out through the small the door opened as far as the security bar allowed.

I made sure she could see my face as I stood back near the wall across the hall from the door before saying, “Hi. My name is David. I know the owner of this hotel very well. When the manager found out who I was, he offered to upgrade me to a presidential suite and have my friend and her father share another one, free of charge. I’m fine sleeping on the couch in the suite we have now, and my friends are taking the bedroom. Three bathrooms, and six full-sized beds, is nowhere near enough space for the twenty-seven of you, so you are moving up to the presidential suites. Each suite has four bedrooms with two having king-sized beds, and the other two each have two queen beds. Every bedroom has a large bathroom with a separate toilet area. The three couches in the living area fold out to be beds. Your group will have to double up in the beds or share the sofa beds, but no one will have to sleep on the floor. We have luggage carts here to help you move. If it would help, I’m sure the owner wouldn’t mind me offering the use of the hotel robes for any of your group who doesn’t want to put clothes back on to move upstairs.”