A man who booked a stay at a Marriott in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was shocked at just how bad the rooftop view from his balcony was. So bad, that he just had to share it online.
TikToker and comedian @hardgcomedy accrued over 273,000 views as of Saturday, a pretty impressive feat for someone who only has 163 followers, and upon seeing his video, it’s clear to see why.
Not only was the view not the picture of engaging in the #jetsetter lifestyle, but the video prompted comments from those who think there’s a clear hierarchy of guests hotels follow when deciding who gets what room.
“I’m at the Marriott Harbor Beach in Fort Lauderdale,” the TikToker says. “I don’t care ’cause I’m not here for vacation but, there’s no way I would take this room if I came here for a vacation.”
He records the glass doors that lead out to the balcony. Some outdoor furniture like chairs and a table decorate the area, but they are placed right in front of what looks like a staggered wall, which leads to the roof of the building.
When the TikToker pans his camera up, however, the problem he has with the room becomes readily apparent: a comically large vent rests right on top of the building, directly in front of the view of anyone who wants to sit outside.
“There’s just a ginormous vent,” he says while laughing about the view, along with the vapors that are presumably being emitted from the fixture.
“Pumping out heat here and a view of nothing,” he quips before saying, “Like possibly the worst deck, the most useless hotel deck ever.”
@hardgcomedy What an amazing #view from my #hotel room! #travel #florida #lodging #resort #fortlauderdale #vacation ♬ original sound – hardgcomedy
Viewers weren’t exactly thrilled with the view either. One person wrote, “Why did i think this was a holding cell?”
However, another said that the way the deck was designed made it a pretty great layout for engaging in particular activities, writing, “Perfect balcony to smoke off of.”
The TikToker thought that this was the case, replying, “We’ve figured out you could pretty much do whatever you want on this deck and I’m pretty sure no one would see it.”
But someone else speculated these “leftover rooms” are usually given whenever one decides to book a room using rewards.
“I always get rooms like this when I book using points,” they wrote.
Other folks on the web also believe that hotels reserve the worst rooms for guests under certain situations, but not necessarily because they’re using rewards points.
In a Quora post, users say they noticed a trend of getting less-than-stellar rooms whenever they reserve a room on a third-party website.
One commenter suggested that hotels usually try to offload their “worst” rooms first to see whether guests are going to be OK with them, so management can minimize the number of potential complaints from other folks who are planning to arrive at the hotel at a later time when the establishment is getting closer to full capacity.
But one commenter who said they used to work for hotels replied that hotel rewards members are often treated better, especially if they have a history of multiple stays with the same hotel brand. They also said that whenever you do book through a third-party website, you are at the bottom of the room quality totem pole.
“The rewards members get the great rooms, those who booked direct get the decent rooms, and the third party bookers get the rooms that make funny noises or have a beautiful view of the parking lot next to the elevator and ice machine,” they claimed.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Marriott via email and @hardgcomedy via TikTok comment.
