Ok, I think I may have come up with the words to explain it.
>It makes sense at first glance to think that they paid a total of $27 ($9 each), because they paid $10 each and got $1 back. However, since the manager overcharged them $5, the price of the room was actually $25, which means they actually paid about $8.33 apiece. So the manager has $25, the bellhop has $2, and the three guys have $1 each.
25+2+1+1+1 = 30.<