Lost Elmo Returned After ‘Vacation’ At The Ritz

When the Elmo doll belonging to 5-year-old Ainsley Giorgio was lost and left behind at the Ritz-Carlton Resort in Amelia Island, Fla., during a family trip earlier this month, it likely thought its vacation was over.

Thanks to the work of canny and humorous resort employees, though, Elmo’s vacation was just starting, and Ainsley would not go long without her beloved toy.

Just a few days, and one frantic phone call, after the family realized the Elmo doll that had been with Ainsley since she was a baby went missing, Elmo showed up at the family’s Orlando home.

Elmo didn’t arrive alone, but with a leaflet book titled “Elmo at the Ritz” to show Ainsley all he had done at the resort after getting left behind “somewhere between the restaurant and the pool” last week, hotel spokesman Joe Murphy told ABCNews.com today.

“Hi Ainsley, just want to let you know that we found this little guy by the pool and thought you might recognize him,” the resort’s staff wrote to its former guest.  “He decided he was going to stay at the hotel for a few days and have some more fun.”

Those opening words were followed by a booklet full of photos of Ainsley’s Elmo doll relaxing in a chaise longue by the luxury resort’s pool, playing games in the resort’s arcade and relaxing even more in the spa and fitness center.

“After a few days of fun he wanted to help out,” reads the next page in the booklet, according to Murphy, showing Elmo staring intently at security computers in the resort’s Loss and Prevention department.

It was there, in the Loss and Prevention department, that the grand vacation scheme for Elmo was hatched, by employees who are at the receiving end of parents’ frantic calls for help finding beloved toys and blankets mistakenly left behind.

“That stuffed toy to them is real, it’s totally personified,” Murphy said.  “We usually get some frantic call from the parent.  Usually the parent is crying and the child is crying in the background. It’s just so real. Every parent has been through it.”

After a few calls, the department’s employees developed a routine that when a call comes through and a lost toy or item is found, the security guard on duty takes the toy on its grand vacation at the Ritz.  They then put the photos in the booklet and mail it, along with the found toy, to the family.

In some cases of a real emergency, the photos are emailed to the family to provide immediate assurance to the child that its lost toy is a-OK.

In the case of Elmo, it was Ritz employee Nelson Quesada, who was not available for comment, who was on duty that night and escorted Elmo around the resort.

“We’ve probably done about 10 of them so far,” Murphy said.  “It’s become kind of a nice thing for our Loss and Prevention department to engage with customers. It’s never the same photos twice because every toy’s ‘vacation’ is different.”

“Everybody’s been through it,” he said of the frenzy that ensues when a “security blanket” is lost.  “Whether it was your toy as a child or you’re a parent and have been through it.”

Ainsley’s family declined to comment to ABCNews.com but told local TV station WKMG that they would be forever grateful to Quesada and the Ritz.

“Nobody goes above and beyond anymore in this high-tech world,” Ainsley’s mother, Raquel Giorgio, told WKMG. “And this guy, Nelson, at the Ritz, not only returned Elmo to us, and actually found him, but made a book that Ainsley will have for the rest of her life.”

via abcnews.go.com

Comments

[Danielle Tate]

Hmm... entertaining for the employees, fun for the kid. A win for everyone, I think.

[Hellbound Alleee]

And that once time I lost my Raggedy-Ann at the Motel 6 was even better.

It arrived home with a Xeroxed pamphlet showing my Raggedy Ann covered in algae from her pool experience, another photo was when she must have acquired a black light, showing all the semen and feces traces on the bedspread and tv dial. Another one shows her arguing with a prostitute about whose room it was. The last one is when she was on an adventurous quest for ice, only to find a drunk passed out in the hall.

It was nice of Maria the housekeeper to take all those Polaroids and tape them to the pages. I'm just sorry she got fired over it. Oh well, at least someone showed good customer service in this "hi tech world." Goes to show you that even poor people get personalized service.

[Mollywobbles]

Wow, the people at this particular Ritz-Carlton are freaking awesome.

[Nomnom]

Oh look, it's the exact same story. Except minus the creepy corporatespeak, so I guess that's something.

[Raz]

I think people are purposely forgetting things to see if they can get the staff to do this for them to. Is it just me or is this less cute after the second time?

[WorkedAtCinema]

It was kinda nice with the giraffe, but now it's happened again? Anyway, it's the Ritz. They can afford that kind of stuff I guess..

[Techdeath]

As they pointed out, it's not a highly common occurance as that particular one has only done 10 of the books. But it is the Ritz and you do get what you pay for and that apparently includes personalised photo diaries for lost toys.

[Jami]

Um, exactly the same story as the other toy, including the same ideas for the pictures. Now I'm starting to wonder if it isn't all a marketing campaign.

[Music Girl]

Or if the the first one was a fake, by someone who had read the Elmo story before it was posted?

[grmrsan]

Probably not a fake, it IS thier policy after all. The only differeence is that the giraffe episode happened to an executive/trainer so got written up all corporaty and stuff because he thought it made a good point.

[Grinch's 2nd Cousin]

I'm disappointed. I mean, I come here for non-stop bitching and moaning about how everyone's day has been crap, and what do I see? A feel-good story that makes me feel all nice and fuzzy inside.

I'm never returning to this site again.

:P

[NC Tony]

It does sound like exactly the same story, just with a different toy. So I'm wondering is it just a coincidence or is one copying the other?

[CharlieWhiskyMike]

I think some staff menber had the initial idea to develop this fairytale an the ritz carlton making a routine out of it

[Nocturnesthesia]

This is why when I find a disgusting raggedy-ass chewed blanket or plushie anywhere I grab an employee and advise them to keep it in the lost and found. I know kids get pants-shittingly angry when they lose their favorite toy and buying them a new one isn't the same.