Guest Smashes Truck Into A Pond Over Lack Of Hotel Breakfast

by Gary Leff

Hotel breakfast is one of the most important elite benefits and something that’s considered standard, ironically, at most non-full service properties. But what happens when a guest expects to receive breakfast and doesn’t, either because of a change to the loyalty program or as a cost saving measure gussied up as ‘protecting guests and workers during Covid-19’?

A guest at the Extended Stay American Jacksonville – Deerwood Park became irate upon learning that the hotel wouldn’t be providing free breakfast, and the incident that followed ended with her putting another guest’s truck down into a retention pond.

Just before 5 p.m. Thursday – it was check-in time, not even breakfast time – police were called to the property to respond “to an armed dispute.” The 34 year old woman expecting breakfast began arguing, also complaining that the hotel’s pool was closed.

According to the police report,

A man waiting in line at the hotel lobby told police when he saw the woman yelling with the guest service receptionist, he told her to settle down. The report redacts what happened next, but goes on to say the man was “in fear for his life” and left the lobby.

The man went to the parking lot and got inside his vehicle, but when he saw the woman in the parking lot, he parked the vehicle and ran off.

When he came back, he saw his vehicle was gone.

She was arrested on motor vehicle theft, “criminal mischief, battery, assault and aggravated battery.” Not knowing when to stop, the police report indicates she was “kicking the backseat of the patrol vehicle” as well and “placed into a hobble restraint” by cops.

Hyatt Place, which used to include free breakfast as a brand standard now turns Explorist and Discoverist status into Minimalists lacking breakfast in some regions. They’d better watch out for irate guests with trucks.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. you mean stranger drives guest’s truck into a lake, and by the way the hotel did not offer the guest breakfast…

  2. No, argument at the front desk over breakfast that got out of control, and pissed off guest drives someone else’s truck into the pond

  3. I’m so confused. Why did the man get out of his (running) car when he saw her in the parking lot and run away? Seems like driving away would make more sense, but this is Florida…

  4. Fake news –

    Actual story “Extended Stay American Jacksonville removes standard free breakfast benefit for guests, adds free brushless car wash.”

  6. The concierge at Extended Stay America at 8801 Perimeter Park Boulevard, Jacksonville, Florida should have advised this guest the free grab-and-go breakfast has been suspended. This hotel wants to make more profit and can use COVID-19 as a plausible excuse. For maximum customer satisfaction, the concierge should have advised this infuriated guest that McDonald’s is just down the road at 4291 Southside Boulevard in Jacksonville. View the video: https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/duval-county/report-woman-angry-about-lack-breakfast-jacksonville-hotel-takes-truck-crashes-it-into-pond/3VEXRCMLHBDOPCRYLALKVNUMMQ/

  7. I don’t believe that the lack of breakfast was this goofy woman’s biggest issue. Talk about anger issues.

  8. Considering that business including restaurants in Florida can operate at 100% capacity both indoors and outdoors, I’d say the guest’s anger wasn’t misplaced.

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