The Guest Who Wasn't There
A man was staying at a hotel.
Yet a hotel employee lied, saying, “That person is not staying here.”
When the man heard this, instead of getting angry, he decided to stay at the hotel for one more night.
Why?
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Hints
Use as many hints as you need, one at a time.
Hint 1
The employee’s words were a reply to a telephone inquiry.
Hint 2
The man did not want other people to find out that he was staying at the hotel.
Hint 3
The person who made the inquiry was the man himself.
Check the Answer
Answer
The man had called the hotel without revealing his identity and asked whether he himself was staying there.
The employee knew he was a guest but did not disclose that fact, to protect his privacy.
Reassured that the hotel would not reveal its guests’ accommodation details to outsiders, the man extended his stay.
Explanation
The man was a celebrity who had grown tired of people prying into his private life.
To check whether he could stay in peace at this hotel, he called the front desk pretending to be an outsider. He gave his own name and asked whether that person was staying there.
The employee knew that the man with that name was a guest. However, not realizing that the caller was the man himself, the employee replied, “That person is not staying here,” to protect the guest’s privacy.
What the man wanted to know was whether other people could find out where he was staying. So this lie reassured him rather than making him angry.
With some flexibility in his schedule, the man decided to stay at the hotel for one more night.
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