Where Did the Last Dollar Go in the Hotel Room Puzzle?

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The discussion centers around a classic riddle involving three men who pay for a hotel room. Initially, they pay $30, but after realizing the room costs only $25, the bellboy is instructed to return $5. He gives each man $1 back and keeps $2 for himself. The confusion arises when it's stated that the men effectively paid $27, and the bellboy's $2 leads to a misleading total of $29, prompting the question of where the last dollar went. The resolution clarifies that the total amount paid by the men is indeed $27, which is accounted for by the $25 received by the hotel and the $2 kept by the bellboy, with the remaining $3 returned to the men. The discussion emphasizes the importance of correctly categorizing the amounts involved, avoiding the erroneous addition of different types of financial figures.
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Three guys walk into a hotel. The Bell boy charges them 30 dollars for the room. Each of the thee men pay 10 dollars.

The Bell boy gives the money to the manager but is repremanded as the room only costs 25 dollars, he is told to give 5 dollars back.

To make things easier he gives each man 1 dollar back and keeps 2 for himself.

So in the end each man had paid 9 dollars making 27 in total. The Bell boy kept 2 making 29, so where did the last dollar go?
 
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nowhere. 2making 29 is wrong.
 
captain, welcome to PF!
thanks for contributing to the puzzles
having new people bring puzzles (even if sometimes there might be repeats) keeps things lively

I'll hide an answer to show how it is done if you are not familiar with it.
You put the answer between [C*LOR=white] and [/C*LOR]
but spell it color, not c*lor
so run the mouse over the next patch of area and it will show up

the guys paid out a total of 27 dollars, where did the 27 dollars go? the bellhop got $2 and the manager got $25
I think this is what neurocomp is saying
 
yes...sorry i guess i should have whited out my answer. my bad.
 
CaptainQuaser said:
Three guys walk into a hotel. The Bell boy charges them 30 dollars for the room. Each of the thee men pay 10 dollars.

The Bell boy gives the money to the manager but is repremanded as the room only costs 25 dollars, he is told to give 5 dollars back.

To make things easier he gives each man 1 dollar back and keeps 2 for himself.

So in the end each man had paid 9 dollars making 27 in total. The Bell boy kept 2 making 29, so where did the last dollar go?

:confused: The men only pay 25 dollars, because the manager gives 5 dollars back. so when the bell boy gives them each 1 dollar, that makes it 28 dollars and the boy keeps 2 dollars which makes it 30 dollars. Therefore the men pay uneven amounst of money, but no money is unaccounted for. :confused:
 
CaptainQuaser said:
Three guys walk into a hotel. The Bell boy charges them 30 dollars for the room. Each of the thee men pay 10 dollars.

The Bell boy gives the money to the manager but is repremanded as the room only costs 25 dollars, he is told to give 5 dollars back.

To make things easier he gives each man 1 dollar back and keeps 2 for himself.

So in the end each man had paid 9 dollars making 27 in total. The Bell boy kept 2 making 29, so where did the last dollar go?
exercise in symamtics
 
"So in the end each man had paid 9 dollars making 27 in total. The Bell boy kept 2 making 29, so where did the last dollar go?"

Answer:
This last statement is adding apples and oranges; it is trying to add "amount given out" to "amount received" and then asking why they don't add up.
It's like saying "I pay you $5, and you receive $5. If we add those together, we have suddenly created a total of $10 out of nothing."

In reality, the sum total of moneys started off at $30 (all in the men's hands) In the end, the hotel has $25, the bellboy has $2 and the 3 men have $1 each.
 
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