Sick Child in the Hotel Breakfast Room. What is your opinion?

Question

My wife and I spent Christmas at a luxury hotel. We were in the breakfast room and had started eating when a family came in with a child about 5 years who was coughing violently and continuously. The waitress sat the family in a central table next to ours. We got up to move to the table furthest away. The waitress stopped us and told us that the table was for a party of six. We told her that we did not want to catch her cold. There were very few empty tables and the waitress offered us the table next to where were had been sitting. When we said we were not satisfied the waitress backed down and allowed us to move to the table of six. Today, my wife fell ill. What do you think?

A: The waitress should have asked the family to sit at the table furthest from the rest of the guests.

B: The waitress should have politely asked the family to get food for their breakfast and eat in their room.

C: The family also paid for the hotel and deserved to be in the breakfast room.

D: Other

Answer 1

My answer is C though I think it was incredibly rude of the family to bring this child down.

You don't necessarily know that your wife got sick from this child.

Answer 2

A considerate and concerned parent would have removed the child and sought some type of relief/medical attention for the child. A Good Waitress would have done her best to accomodate you, without causing a scene. AND without knowing what your wife has become ill with, I would not be jumping to conclusions that the coughing child is necessarily the culprit. I'd say everyone bears a bit of blame in the situation, but the majority falls upon the parents and the waitress.

Answer 3

A ......to be polite to the rest of the paying guest.Explain other customers are concerned.

Answer 4

"C" Your making the assumption that violent continuous coughing must mean a communicable disease.  It may well have been allergy, bacterial infection, post-natal drip. Many things cause 'coughing'.

Answer 5

If I was in your shoes I would have left and taken my business elsewhere and not sit thru what if..

Answer 6

Well, your wife needs to take Air born 3 times a day to help her fight off any bug she might be getting.

The family also paid and deserved to eat too. Its the holidays, and if someone gets a cold during travel , well it happens! Not that I want to be exposed to the flu or a cold, either. Its something you can't help though. If it was just yesterday you two were exposed, chances are its too soon for anything that child had to have incubated and and be making her sick. She was already exposed to something before hand.

But seriously try the air born and juice with vitamin c. Snapple makes Antioxidant water and the protect formula is yummy and has vitamins A,E & C. Its great for the immune system.

Answer 7

I think a combo of answers A and B would have been more appropriate. true the other family paid to stay in the hotel as well, but this is a health concern and should take priority. It's my opinion that it's the responsibility of the hotel staff and the family with the sick child to make sure they're not causing unnecessary  exposure to the other guests. after all, it's not your fault the kid was sick.

Answer 8

This was the waitress and / or host not being observant and not doing their jobs properly.  I have waitressed in 5 star hotels and  came across this situation several times.  I would have given the family the option of helping themselves from the buffet or ordering from the menu and  gotten room service to  set up a proper breakfast  trolley  so they could eat in their room, including a fresh pot of coffee or tea for the parents with our compliments. If the family insisted on eating in the restaurant I would have shown them to a table away from the crowd. It's little gestures like this that make a 5 star hotel 5 star and not just another bed for the night