Travel Reference
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'You don't have to tell them,' joked Ben. 'We'll even clean the room afterwards. You
won't even know we'd been there.'
'I'm sorry. I can't help. We wouldn't be able to let you do any work either, I'm afraid.
There are all sorts of health and safety and insurance implications.'
Wecouldsensethatshewantedtohelp,sodecidedtouseoursecretweapon;thepathet-
ic, helpless faces that won over Mrs Rogers.
'Ican'tauthorise anythingmyself,butI'llgivemyareamanageracallandseewhatshe
says.' She scurried into the back office and then returned a few minutes later.
'My manager wants to know if the hotel will get any exposure or media coverage if we
let you stay. I mean, are you writing a book about it or anything?'
'Yes, yes, of course. I'm going to write a book about it,' I blurted. 'And I'll be sure to
say how great this hotel is.'
'Ok, great. I won't be a minute,' she said, returning to the office.
'I didn't know you were going to write a book,' said Ben.
'Neither did I.'
We were both laughing when she returned.
'Right.I'vegotyouaroomforthenight.Breakfastis7amtil11aminthemorning.Din-
ner is served until 9pm. What time shall I book you a table for?'
'Dinner?' Ben said.
'Breakfast?' I said.
'Yes. You've got dinner and breakfast on us, too. Shall we say 8pm? That gives you an
hour.'
'Wow. Thanks. Yes, 8pm is perfect. Thank you.'
'They better have a swimming pool,' joked Ben as we walked to our room.
'Look at us!' said Ben throwing himself onto one of the beds in our room. 'We've
blagged a posh hotel.'
'Don't you feel a bit guilty about the fact that we only got it because they think they're
going to get publicity out of it?' I asked.
'Nah, course not. They'll forget about us in a couple of days.'
'No, I don't mean guilty about deceiving them. I mean don't you feel guilty about the
factthatit'sthefirsttime we'vegotsomething justonthebasisthattheythoughttherewas
something in it for them? We are supposed to be testing people's natural generosity but the
hotel was only generous because it thought it was going to get publicity.'
'Yes, I suppose you're right,' said Ben. 'You're the one who said you were writing a
book. She did want to help us, though. I mean, she was a nice person but just couldn't do
anything because of the bureaucracy.'
'I know. Don't worry, I'll get over it. It just feels a bit like we cheated, that's all.'
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