I love my time in Las Vegas. And last week I was once again fortunate enough to attend IMEX America, my third time in three years, and my third consecutive stay at the mammoth convention complex, Venetian Palazzo. Unlike previous years however, I was not exactly welcomed by a four star experience this time around and the story is absurd enough that it’s worth sharing.
I arrived in the early evening and, as I have in the past, I expected to check into my room and run off very quickly to an opening reception. I knew that I would not have the ability to change or even freshen up very much since IMEX has always taken responsibility for delivering luggage to the rooms and not doing so all that quickly. It was not a surprise then, when more than an hour after checking into my suite at the Venetian, I was yet to see my bags arrive at the door. As I had in the past, I left for my reception expecting to return to my suite with luggage delivered.
It was not delivered however, not even at 10:00p when I returned to my room. Since this level of tardiness exceeded even my lowest of expectations, I began calling around and conducting some reconnaissance in an effort to reunite me with all of my clothing for the week. With a breakfast I needed to attend the next morning and with stores closed at this late hour, it was becoming an increasingly desperate situation. The bell staff were kind but unhelpful. Apparently it was just my shuttle bus, perhaps ten guests in total, whose luggage had gone missing. Not very comforting in a hotel with 7,100 suites that my luggage would turn up any time soon.
What made matters worse was that en route to my reception on this evening, while standing in front of an upscale dining establishment on Italian marble floors, I stepped in dog poo. This is not hyperbole. I literally stepped in dog poo. If I were out on a farm, if I were even in a residential community, if I were say… outdoors — perhaps then this fact would be plausible. But inside a four star hotel! Trying to wash this off in a public bathroom where my usual invisibility cloak was worn standing in front of the sink auto sensors was also a challenge whose frustration level compels me to blog more.
Long story long – the bags? They were delivered at 7:30a, a full twelve hours after my arrival after I’d slept in a bathrobe and considered that I’d be missing half of my first day. I wound up missing none of my appointments and instead having an awfully fun tale to tell just about everyone I met this week!