Hotel refused him a room claiming he was 'one year late' for the Olympics. When he pulled up the booking details, the hotel realized they messed up

Booking a hotel room is usually one of the simplest parts of planning a trip. A night auditor who goes by u/may_BeHim shared how the 5-star hotel he worked at in Paris overlooked one important detail that cost a guest his Olympic stay. The author started working in the summer of 2023. People used to call a year in advance to book for the upcoming 2024 Olympics, but the hotel was not open for reservations. A year later, the author found out about a guest who came and claimed he had a room booked, but they turned him away. As it turns out, the guest arrived on the correct date. Shared on July 2, the post received 1,300 upvotes and 79 comments.

Wrong year

The author's contract ended in September, but the hotel extended his contract for another year, which meant he would be working during the Olympics. During one shift, a coworker mentioned a "weird situation." They had to turn away a guest who claimed he had booked a room with them. When they checked, his name was not in the log, since their hotel was full. After the guest claimed to have a confirmation note, they were surprised to find his name in the hotel log, but under 2023.

He explained, "The booking was made through our department of reservations. So, by phone, and what happened actually is the person from our department mixed up the years." Instead of putting 2024, they thought the person meant 2023, since the hotel never took reservations dated a year from then.

His name was already in the record book

The funniest part of the story was that the author's name was recorded in the booking records. Back in 2023, the author handled the night audit and already marked the guest as a 'no-show.' He only recalled a year later, when he saw his own name. Sadly, the guest arrived on the correct date, but since both the hotel and he forgot to check the date in the confirmation email, nothing could be done. The guest did not make any payment when he booked the room in 2023, so the hotel did not have to provide a refund or any compensation.

Booked in a rush

Research commissioned by the IHG Rewards Club found that 43% of British adults often made mistakes while booking because they were in a rush and felt pressured to secure a deal. Almost half revealed that their mistakes were because they did not pay attention while booking, and one-fifth admitted to being confused while booking, which led to booking mistakes. Even though the author did not reveal the guest's side of the story. The mistake on the hotel's part was assuming the man was booking for the present year and not 2024.

'This isn't the customer's fault'

The author took accountability when people in the comment section blamed the hotel for the misunderstanding. u/OzzyinKernow commented, "I booked a holiday home a year later than intended once. Luckily, the owner asked if I’d intended to do that, and I realized. That would’ve been awkward if we’d turned up — me, wife, 6-year-old kid, and a dog with nowhere booked at Christmas."

u/PersonalityFun2025 shared, "Twice my husband has made us hotel reservations for the wrong date. Only a week off, not a year, but still! We had to scramble to find another hotel. And once he put my maiden name on my airline ticket, instead of my married name. We had been married for decades at that point, so I still don't know what happened there. That was fun to deal with at the airport. He's no longer allowed to make reservations."

More on Scoop Upworthy

Hotel kicked out a solo female traveler at 3 am after canceling her room mid-flight. Her viral video triggered an apology that only made things worse

Rude diners threatened to get 'waiter' fired to not seating them without a reservation — they had no idea she was the owner

Traveller finds an innovative way to avoid hotel cancellation fee for room reservation