A woman was taken aback when she found out that her pricey room service dinner was actually a frozen Trader Joe's meal.
Elle McLemore, an actress and Broadway performer known as @elle_pooh on TikTok, shared an eye-opening video with her followers after she and her husband played detective and cracked the case wide open on their hotel's version of “room service.”
“When you accidentally find out your expensive room service is from Trader Joe’s,” Elle captioned her TikTok video.
In the video, 32-year-old Elle revealed that she and her husband ordered pasta from the room service menu while they were staying at the hotel in question. The next day, when her husband went to pick up some milk from the hotel’s “communal refrigerator,” he found a treasure trove of prepackaged meals from the grocery chain, including the very same chocolate lava cake they had for dessert the previous night.
“The presentation was honestly incredible,” Elle admitted
Image credits: Elle McLemore
They then realized the hotel was passing off a $3.79 frozen Trader Joe’s meal as their “Calming Cacio e Pepe Pasta with Truffle Oil” on the room service menu. “The presentation was honestly incredible,” she admitted while speaking to People.
As she recalled how they made the discovery, Elle told the outlet, “My husband Josh went to grab us some things for breakfast. He went to look for almond milk for my coffee in the refrigerator next to the buffet, and that’s when he made the discovery of all the prepackaged foods."
Elle agreed that the hotel is allowed to sell frozen food for their business at a higher price. But she still feels it was deceitful because the hotel claimed they had a “chef-driven menu” with “original artisan food.”
Watch her TikTok video below
“It was my husband’s birthday dinner,” she added. “We came here because we were looking for a peaceful and unique experience and booked it because their website said they have a private chef who makes culinary meals that cater to dietary needs.”
Elle did not reveal the name of the hotel, which she said had touted their menu as “crafted to nourish the body and soul.”
Several comments poured in on the video, with one even calling it a “trader joke.”
“I would’ve lost my mind ngl,” one said, while another added, “What a trader joke.”
Another wrote, “This is the best thing I have ever seen.”
“You can always ask one of the employees about how it's made. Some of them will usually tell you the truth,” one person suggested.
Elle thought it was deceitful because the hotel touted its menu as a "chef-driven" one with "original artisan food"
Image credits: Elle McLemore