Journals of a Hotel Manager

Security report was the highlight of the morning briefing. Apparently at around 2am, the security officer who toured the spa area found a broken padlock on the stone path.

Our spa is near the main entrance of the hotel. It is one of the best on the island. We boast eleven treatment rooms, each with its own over-sized Jacuzzi bathtub, indoor/outdoor shower, steam room and a pair of antique wooden doors with intricate carvings. Even the padlocks are kind of historic.

As the security officer was investigating he heard giggling from one of the rooms. Surely enough that padlock was missing and even the antique door received an ugly gash. Upon entering the room, he found two Caucasian women and a local young man frolicking in the Jacuzzi, stark naked. There were a dozen or so beer bottles scattered around the room and the three intruders seemed unfazed by the disturbance.

The problem was the security officer was a local boy. He found it difficult to admonish a buleh woman, let alone two naked white women. He unleashed his embarrassment and anger at his own kind, and told the naked young man in the local language to leave the spa immediately. The threesome giggled some more. The security officer called for back-up and was smart enough to call Jane, our Australian spa manager, who had seen her fair share of naked women and was not afraid of them.

The two female guests were not even our hotel guests. They were staying at a cheap B&B somewhere down the beach. The young man, one of those super-tanned attractive youngsters collectively known here on the island as ‘cowboys’, had heard of our famous spa and decided to show off to his new friends. Sadly, there is no point in chasing after him for the damage to our antique doors. He probably makes $5 a day selling ice cream on the beach, where he picks up older, lonely white women who would buy him beers and a good dinner.

There is no luck with the women either. They claimed that they had nothing to do with breaking the door. All they were guilty of was just trespassing. There is no point blacklisting them in our reservation since they will never be able to afford a hotel in our caliber.

All I can do is just be happy that they didn’t wake me up in the middle of the night (I needed a good rest after the union meeting), and source two more antique doors for my bruised spa.

Never a dull moment in my life.