Lateral Thinking XV

[Holmes]

Easy one. just to keep the Laterral Thinking Threads.

Three men stay at a hotel for the night. The innkeeper charges thirty dollars per room per night. The men rent one room; each pays ten dollars. The bellhop leads the men to their room. Later, the innkeeper discovers he has overcharged the men and asks the bellhop to return five dollars to them. On the way upstairs, the bellhop realizes that five dollars can't be evenly split among three men, so he decides to keep two dollars for himself and return one dollar to each man.

At this point, the men have paid nine dollars each, totalling 27. The bellhop has two, which adds up to 29. Where did the thirtieth dollar go?

[S.H.]

Why should the 2 dollars be added up to the 27 dollars?    Shouldn't it be 27 dollars - 2 dollars = 25 dollars?

[ayw]

Why should the 2 dollars be added up to the 27 dollars?     Shouldn't it be 27 dollars - 2 dollars = 25 dollars?

That's exactly right. The bellhop's 2 dollars and the innkeeper's 25 dollars make up the 27 dollars. And the three men have the remaining 3 dollars.
The puzzle confuses the reader because of the second part of the second sentence which is flawed.

[bash7353]

The three guest each paid 9 dollars which makes a total of 27.
25 of them has the innkeeper who originally thought the prize was 30 but after finding out the right prize, gave back 5 dollars.
The two remaining dollars (27 - 25 = 2) are those that the bellhop hold onto.

So: There is no missing dollar for that matter.

[Holmes]

That´s the tricky thing, hahaha, had fun reading it.

[sstimson]

Easy one. just to keep the Laterral Thinking Threads.

Three men stay at a hotel for the night. The innkeeper charges thirty dollars per room per night. The men rent one room; each pays ten dollars {Isn't 3X10 = 30 the cost of a room } . The bellhop leads the men to their room. Later, the innkeeper discovers he has overcharged the men and asks the bellhop to return five dollars to them [ If the earlier statement is true, then how is the innkeeper overcharging them?]. On the way upstairs, the bellhop realizes that five dollars can't be evenly split among three men, so he decides to keep two dollars for himself and return one dollar to each man.

At this point, the men have paid nine dollars each, totalling 27. The bellhop has two, which adds up to 29. Where did the thirtieth dollar go?

Wondering about statements in green

Later

[bash7353]

{Isn't 3X10 = 30 the cost of a room }

It is. But since all three men rent the same room, everyone of them has only to pay 10 dollars, so that all three together pay 30.

[If the earlier statement is true, then how is the innkeeper overcharging them?]

The first statement is not true. It's just that the innkepper thought at the beginning he had to charge 30 for a room per night, just later he realizes that he charged 5 too much, so he is giving it back.

[sstimson]

{Isn't 3X10 = 30 the cost of a room }

It is. But since all three men rent the same room, everyone of them has only to pay 10 dollars, so that all three together pay 30.

[If the earlier statement is true, then how is the innkeeper overcharging them?]

The first statement is not true. It's just that the innkepper thought at the beginning he had to charge 30 for a room per night, just later he realizes that he charged 5 too much, so he is giving it back.

So If I got this right, Then the price of a room was not 30$ but 25. And the whole thing starts from 25$ and not 30. Since 25 is Odd there is no extra buck

Later

[bash7353]

{Isn't 3X10 = 30 the cost of a room }

It is. But since all three men rent the same room, everyone of them has only to pay 10 dollars, so that all three together pay 30.

[If the earlier statement is true, then how is the innkeeper overcharging them?]

The first statement is not true. It's just that the innkepper thought at the beginning he had to charge 30 for a room per night, just later he realizes that he charged 5 too much, so he is giving it back.

So If I got this right, Then the price of a room was not 30$ but 25. And the whole thing starts from 25$ and not 30. Since 25 is Odd there is no extra buck

Later

The innkeeper says a room costs 30, so everybody pays 10 each, but later the innkeeper realizes it's not 30 but 25.

[allstar1234]

its just bad math to be short.

[Holmes]

That is a too sudden answer.

[H...Haibara]

Well the men got 3 dollars back, so in total the relinquished $27.

The owner has $25 and the bellboy as $2. Done.

And what hotel that charges $30 a night has a bellboy? lol.

[sstimson]

Well the men got 3 dollars back, so in total the relinquished $27.

The owner has $25 and the bellboy as $2. Done.

And what hotel that charges $30 a night has a bellboy? lol.

yes. That right but this is the strange thought.

if each puts in 10 and gets back 1 then they each spent 9. That makes the total they spend to be 27. the bell person has 2. so it looks like 29

But

Spoiler:

it really is 27  they spent is the 25 for the room and 2 for the bell person ( a stolen tip )

Later