Couple things.
1. I had a panic attack while calling the Hostel to see if there was vacancy. I was having an issue with fraud and my bank- being informed that Uber had charged me with three separate charges and my money had gone missing. This, directly after my flight had landed and upon arrival to town was notified of it.
(The OWNER-Karen's Husband) Tom, picked up the phone and his genuine kindness startled me after a bad experience at another Hostel in town. The man went so far as to come pick me up; and I'm not certain they do that for everyone so I don't know that it should be expected- I'd just like to commend that level of customer service.
The following day and a half had been filled with anxiety and stress regarding the issue with my bank and I Irresponsibly had forgotten about check out time and left my belongings without making another reservation. It was my own mistake, and it caused confusion for the staff.
That said, I went back to the Hostel to retrieve my belongings that evening after texting the manager twice to inform him of doing so. No one got back to me and I mostly expected my belongings to be on the porch. Which they were not. After waiting until 2 AM for a response, outside, and being terrified by two grown deer running through the yard (a common thing in Salida) I almost cried from the stress and remembered that I had the code on my phone for the door. I made the decision to charge my phone outside in the port and planned on sitting on the couch until daybreak then taking my bags, heading to the Library, notifying the Hostel of such because I also expected the place to have cameras and didn't want them to be startled/or feel disheartened. I also just wanted to with the separate but related issue and get my money back so I could make some reservations for the next few days.
2. I was so exhausted from all the stress and jet lag that I couldn't stay awake so I set my alarm for 6 and passed out on the couch. Well before 7 AM I was walking with my backpack and duffel, to make sure that I could get right to work when someone SCREAMED at me out of no where that I owed them money. I've lived as a city girl and am familiar with being bullied or cat called; and after the array of experiences had in this town was outright terrified that a random man was attempting to get me to climb into his truck, rape me, or accuse me of being a prostitute. It continued. He pulled over and threatened me without addressing really any reason or detail and then said "you slept on my couch"
It registered that he was an employee of the Hostel and so I politely attempted to inform him that I knew the owner and he was not the owner; and I had a plan to reach out. He then threatened to call the cops. That's when I realized he was German(Austrian/Belgian) potentially? He was also a giant, in a big truck - and I am not. I'm little. The man was irate and I'm not entirely certain that he was irate with me or just terrified of potentially losing his job because of me because of simple unfamiliarity.
I shook it off and made my way to the library to follow through with my plan of contacting the owner with a full explanation. -****As an individual with twenty years of experience in Hospitality- this was kind of a mess of a situation and I was feeling frustrated on levels because I can empathize with their position and wanted to clarify as such. ****-
Of which, over the course of an hour I received series of (several) emails where my words were twisted and deflected back onto me to make it seem like I was some horrible human/witch through accusations and insults. He threatened me with charges, calling the police, and refused to acknowledge the way he spoke(screamed at) to me; making it impossible to have a rational conversation to discuss the issue.
I received a call from the owner in the afternoon and she left me a voicemail, then texted me later in the day to inform me that I wasn't going to be charged for sleeping on the couch, but I wanted to inform/recompense them somehow for the genuine hospitality and was a little heartbroken for wanting to stay there again if ever - for whatever reason.
Tom informed me upon check in that the Hostel was he and his wife's business after I commended the building. I'd also informed him of my entrepreneurial efforts (partly for why I was in town) and we shared our verbal expression of working in radio. That's when he mentioned that the Hostel was his wife's baby. I thought it a genuinely good thing and felt I'd stumbled into the Unicorn of Salida.
My only dispute would be with the manager as a separate individual. He was projecting a great deal of his own emotional setbacks onto me as a human being in a different circumstance and had no right to humiliate me while I was walking on the sidewalk and could have chosen a better form of composure to communicate. read more