During our wrap-up dinner for the StarMegaDo, Jeff Zidell, the Vice President of Loyalty Marketing for Hyatt, shared a slightly edited version of this clip with us:
He made it clear that Hyatt didn't make this video, they simply found it on the web, but it was still pretty brave considering there were 161 diamond members in the room. Fortunately we all got a good laugh out of it, and in fact, it became a running joke for the rest of the night, so when a large number of us descended on the Hyatt Place by the airport that evening, nobody could resist working the phrase "But I'm a Diamond" into their check-in.
Now obviously this is an over the top parody (I hope) of somebody who's let status go to their head. I think everybody has spent some time in line behind one of these "Don't You Know Who I Am?" kind of people. At the Hyatt Orange County once I was beside a lady who, after being told her room wasn't ready yet, wanted to know who she could leave her dog with until she was able to check-in. I listened carefully as I figured if dog sitting was available it would be a given that I could leave my kids with the bell desk, but apparently pets aren't allowed at the Hyatt OC in the first place. I would have loved to listen to the rest of that conversation, but my keys were ready (which didn't please the lady either) so I gave a "good luck" nod to the poor front desk agent and headed up to my room.
What I'm left wondering though, after watching this video, is "Am I like that when I check-in at a hotel?" I know I've never asked for a helicopter pad or a giraffe sitting service, but a specific view or a late checkout would be normal requests for me. I certainly have no intention of coming off like a "diamond guest", but almost any request can probably seem overly-demanding to a desk agent who's been getting asked for things all day. On the other hand, if you don't say anything, you get views like this.
Concerned that perhaps I was giving an undesirable impression when we check in to hotels, I showed this video to my family and asked if this is what I'm like when we've had a long day and finally arrive at our hotel. These are the responses I got:
Wife: "Who do you think the American Idol was? It must be Adam Lambert to need a helicopter pad."
Boy: "LMAO. We should totally demand the presidential suite next time!"
Daughter #1: "Can we travel with a dog and a giraffe too?"
Daughter #2: "What's a douche bag?"
Sigh. Family is so helpful. I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that since I don't even like using the diamond check-in line, I'm probably not too much like the guy in the video here. I'm cringing thinking about the next time my family is at the front desk of a hotel though. I just know I'm going to be checking in and there's going to be four people standing behind me going "We are a diamond guest!"
