Thanks for the perspectives. For general information, this was a historical reenactment type of event that most attendees had a carload of baggage for - four or more costume changes over the weekend. I understand that this creates a greater than normal demand, and was perfectly willing to wait my turn, but that was not offered.
And yes, the sole bellman on duty was driving an airport shuttle.
I think the hotel was inadequately prepared for this event, even with six months or more to plan. I lay responsibility for that squarely in the GM's lap. A couple of direct quotes from him:
"I could have had 20 bellmen on and it wouldn't have been enough" - perhaps true, but there were not 20, not 10, not five, but one...and he was not in the hotel.
"We have people that fill in when we are short on bell staff" - so, where were they?
Basically, he blamed his customers for the problem over and over again.
At this point my issue is not the original problem, but the manager's rude, patronizing, arrogant, unapologetic, and dismissive treatment. I will be pursuing that up the management chain.