Hotel Chain Forces Two Male Employees To Share A Bed On A Work Trip
Is it the hotel's fault or is it the boss's fault?
pio3 / Shutterstock A boss wrote into the subreddit r/hotels with a question about etiquette and recourse surrounding a mistake made by a big-name hotel that affected two of his employees while on a trip.
The hotel chain made two employees share a bed during a work trip.
The boss explained it all in the headline of his Reddit post: “Hilton made my employees share a king bed, (booked 2 queens).” Within the post, he shared that he took a few of his long-term employees on a “vacation/work event … at an all-inclusive resort, where the room booked was one of the premium rooms.”
“They are co-workers, and I don’t know how hotel employees would think this to be acceptable,” the boss complained, willfully ignoring that he organized the trip and, as their higher-up, deemed it okay for employees to share a room in the first place.
Photo: stefanolunardi / Shutterstock
“I found out after the fact, as the guys didn't speak up for some reason,” he wrote. “It was for four nights, and Hilton didn't try to remedy it, or even offer to change their room the next day.”
The boss questioned what the "appropriate remedy" would be for two of his employees being forced to share a bed. “Do you think I should make a big stink about it?” he asked the Reddit community.
Predictably, people online did not hold back their honest opinions.
Most people argued that it was wrong for the boss to ask his workers to share a room in the first place, believing that he was at fault, not the hotel.
Some Redditors noted that they have had to share rooms at large corporate events, but this boss’s “vacation/work event” didn’t fall under that category. That employees had to share such intimate space could be a sign of a highly toxic workplace.
Many others questioned the boss's insistence that a combination vacation and work event is an actual thing. “Was it a vacation OR a work event? It’s never ever both,” one person wrote. “I’m not sure about you but my vacations don’t have work people or work events.”
Other commenters agreed wholeheartedly that work and vacation should always stay separate.
“Problem number one is your use of the term ‘vacation/work’ event. That doesn't compute. No such thing,” another user commented. “Problem number two is adult employees sharing a room.”
One person even called the boss out directly, writing, “The issue is with you. You should never make employees share a room in the first place.”
Another Reddior definitively answered the boss’s question, explaining, “The remedy is YOU should make it up to your employees.”
One has to wonder if the hotel is at fault for the bed-sharing mishap, or if the Reddit community is correct in reaming the boss for not truly considering his employees' needs and comfort level.
While it’s not clear if there’s any recourse for the boss to take up with the hotel, what is clear is that the boundaries of this particular workplace are fairly blurred, and the workers, themselves, deserve better.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers social issues, pop culture and all things to do with the entertainment industry.