The Help, Vegas Style

I put the coffee together the night before so that in the morning - presto!  Hot coffee. 

The coffee pot in our room at the Rio was a complicated-looking thing that made one cup at a time.  The coffee container hole looked like it was for a giant-sized, round cream container.  There were two cups put out, but no coffee or amenity pack.  I looked high and low and couldn't find these items.

So I called Housekeeping and asked.  "Oh, it's in the mini-bar," the bored voice responded.

Okay, where in hell was this mini-bar?  Turned out to be in the cabinet supporting the TV.  The left side was a refrigerator, filled conventional mini-bar selections.  The right side door opened to what looked like a chicken roaster in an oven.  A V-shaped rack holding absolutely nothing at all.  No coffee.  I shrugged and went to bed.

Next morning we asked the Concierge what the chicken roaster thing was?  A shrug and "I don't know."  We asked a desk clerk.  Wide-eyed, she said, "I've never heard of anything like that!"  Discouraged, we went back to the room.  In the hallway, we ran into the maid and asked her.  She came in, looked and laughed.  "Oh, that's the rack for bags of potato chips and Fritos and stuff.  The person that fills them just forgot."  So, if you ever find one of these, do not rush out and buy a chicken to roast.  Ain't gonna happen.

She also gave us a valuable tip:  if you pick up anything in the mini-bar, a sensor underneath it signals Bookkeeping to put it on your bill.   In my failed coffee search in the mini-bar I'd seen a small, white box, sealed in cellophane,  with "Love Kit for Intimacy" written across it.  Curious, I picked it up to see the list of contents, but the rest of the box was blank except for the title.  Horrified ($12!) I told the maid what I'd inadvertantly done and she said to call Accounting and get it taken off of my bill.  I did, they did and all was well.

Side benefit:  next morning the coffee pot was fully stocked.  It pays to talk to the maids; clearly, they've got The Power.  And they may well be the only ones in the hotel that know what's going on.

(Photos - still working on downloads but expect to have photos soon.)