I recently had a tough decision to make, what to do with my last uncapped IHG Anniversary Free Night.
After deciding that the free night wouldn’t be of much use on our upcoming trips, I decided to use it for a stay at the Kimpton Eventi NYC. Check out my review of the property here.
After a speedy check-in, we went to up to our room before heading out for dinner. 
On the desk there appeared to be a very thoughtful welcome gift. A plate of fresh fruit sat on the desk with an envelope to the side. Directly behind it, were two bottles of spring water.
The note contained a very nice welcome to the Kimpton Eventi NYC.
Lucas was excited about the fruit plate and munched on some grapes as we headed out to dinner. Theo grabbed the green apple.
After getting back from dinner, Lucas and Kim had some of the other fruit from our welcome gift. Kim also had a bottle of the spring water which was sitting directly behind the fruit plate.
Lucas was thirsty, so later on I opened the other bottle for him which I’m pretty sure he wasn’t a fan of!
The next morning we checked out and thought nothing of our welcome gift. (We did use our $15 Raid the Bar benefit on a couple of snacks.)
I received an e-mail from the hotel four days after checking out with the subject “Thank you for your stay.”
I then clicked the link to view my account and hit a button to take a look at my stay. A detailed list opened up showing a spend of $5.00 for food and $24.00 on beverages!
We did not purchase anything at the hotel so I was definitely confused.
I went through the photos from our stay to get some ideas of what happened.
My guess is that Kimpton Eventi NYC charged us for the blue bottles of water directly behind the fruit plate. Based on where they were left, Kim and I definitely assumed that they were included. Would you?
If you look at the photo above, you’ll also see two clear water bottles further to the left. We never assumed that those were complimentary and didn’t touch them.
Final Thoughts:
I sent an e-mail related to this situation to the property and have yet to hear back. I’m sure that they get lots of messages and it can take some time but this is just bizarre if you ask me.
I doubt it was intentional, but if something is not complimentary, why would the hotel place it so close to a fruit plate containing a welcome note?
Eric- Not sure what we’re clearly in the wrong about. We did not touch the clear bottles and never assumed that they were comped. Only the blue bottles directly behind the fruit plate were opened.
George- Will do! Enjoy the stay.
Please let us know. I’m staying there in two weeks!
Not confusing at all. The clear bottles you mention are clearly set aside with a price list next to them. Sorry, but you’re definitely in the wrong here.