Meal Switch Was Veally Good, Even if Hotel Chopped Up His Order

Terry Sallows likes to eat. Chewing on a chocolate-covered croissant and sipping coffee at , the former La Mesan recalls a recent trip to the wine country when his meal was accidentally upgraded.

“I like to eat strange foods,” said Sallows, a native Briton who lived in La Mesa for eight years. “I ordered the veal liver.”

Upon returning to his hotel from the nearby restaurant, he handed the leftovers to the concierge to keep in the fridge, giving the room number he’d had before the hotel moved him. The hotel knew the difference, but the next day when Sallows picked up his food, he again gave the old room number.

Inside the identical box was quite a surprise.

“I had lamb chops—it was upmarket,” said Sallows, laughing. “I’m glad I gave the wrong room number because I enjoyed the lamb.”

But then he explains.

“The other room was a middle-aged man with a young woman,” he said. “In the morning, they had switched the sign to ‘Do Not Disturb.’ So the early bird gets the worm.”