Of Hotel and Cat..

Being a hotelier, cat has tried out many hotels, motels and resorts. As the years passed by, most of the hotel rooms looks the same (with only the color of the bedsheets, bedspread, curtains or wallpapers to differentiate them). Once or twice, if you are lucky, you will get to see something different that will make an impression on your mind.

Being hoteliers ourselves, most people would expect us to be kind of heart and tolerance towards our fellow colleagues in other hotels (as we are working in the same line and been standing in their shoes too). But the opposite would be more truthful. Every hotel had their share of what we call 'fussy' or 'HWC' (Handle With Care) guests but we are certainly our own worst nightmare!

When you see that there are hoteliers (especially those that has the operation background) expected to check in on that day, the reception staff would give a groan. Extra care is given to the choice of room & view. Cat, ashamed to admit it, is no exception to this. It must have been the way we were taught or 'brainwashed' during the earlier student and training days. (Sorry, prof.. :) A case of Dr Jeckyl turning into Mr Hyde once you stand at the opposite side of the counter. Only the level of fussiness would be either low or high depending on the individual.

Cat would be more on the mild side. Cat can overlook any maintenance problem (toilet flushing, light bulb fused, the ice cube compartment in the minibar was not defrost) but cat would however place a high level of expectation on the service (be it restaurant or rooms). That is the base of all hotel management studies. There are things you can control and things that you can't. Not greeting a guest or ignoring a guest who's standing in front of the counter is a big 'NO'. Slowness in action added with no apology is "Unpardonable'. You know, the invoice is saying that the room payment is inclusive of 'service charge', and that means guests are paying for the service.

If the attitude is still bad after a second hint from cat, you can be sure that there will be a complaint made to the manager. All staffs are expected to be given a full training before they are allowed to stand at the reception. If not, a higher authority must be at the staff's side before he/she can be given the 'approved' sign.

However, if the service is good, we would certainly not be stingy with complements and we would put a small note in our head to remind ourselves to offer the staff a job when we have a vacancy. See, we are not all that bad either. :)

Some of us will test the bed first when they checked in. Others would check the size of the room or the air conditioner. Cat's fetish would be the bathroom : the Bathtub actually. The sign of a tub and a complete bathroom amenities would be the thing to put a smile on cat's face. After a hard day of training or a whole day in the coach, a long soak in the bathtub would be bliss. Being a small cat, all bathtub sizes are acceptable. :p Ooo..and that certainly makes cat utter her thanks to God for not listening to her wishful thoughts of hoping to be taller and bigger. Soaking in the tub, smiling and feeling grateful.

Signing off,
Sleepy but Smiling Cat