Monday 9 April 2012

Z is a tidy traveller

We are settled in our hotel in Pondicherry, an impressively comfortable place with a really nice shower. We had intended to eat in the 5th floor open-air restaurant tonight but, leaving the bar, we absent-mindedly turned towards the next-door ground floor eaterie instead. D'oh, darlings. We didn't actually remember until after we had finished our meal. Wink and I had a sort-out of luggage, leaving behind anything we aren't likely to need for the next few days in my case and taking the rest in hers. Kamala will look after my case until we go back to Chennai next Sunday. Always best to travel light. I also travel tidy. My parents having been hoteliers, my mum was always conscious that the job of chambermaid is one of the least covetable in the business. So, when I stay in a hotel, my room is always tidy. No clothes are left scattered and if anything is out it's neat and there for a reason. Books are in a tidy pile, grubby clothes are put in a bag and back in my case, the washbasin is washed and wiped clean, the bedcovers are tidily laid back to air, the pillows plumped and the sheet smoothed. And I leave a tip. At home, I do my own cleaning so I'll be chaotic if I want to be. But when away, the person who cleans my room won't suffer that moment of heart-sinking or revulsion on opening the bedroom door.

13 comments:

Z said...

Sorry, I forgot that paragraphs don't work unless HTML is used. Back to emailing posts next time.

Christopher said...

I don't know, this post looks quite tidy to me. Any chambermaids reading it will be well impressed, no discarded apostrophes on the floordrobe, no tideline of zeugmas in the bath, no worn-out adjectival clauses under the bed. Brownie badge, definitely.

Macy said...

Worst job I ever had was working as a chambermaid at a five star place in Aberdeen.
I lasted about two weeks....

Z said...

No floordrobe, Chris. Not even a discarded sock.

I suspect that the smarter the hotel, the less considerate some of the guests, Macy. And I bet you leave your hotel bedroom tidy.

Rog said...

I once left a zeugma in the bath and a hotel in a hurry

Pearl said...

It all sounds lovely. I think I've really reached saturation point over here, insofar as full-time workery is going.

Holiday, my friend. Holiday on!

Pearl

Z said...

Pearl, most people work too damn hard. One only realises when one stops. And we don't often laugh enough.

allotmentqueen said...

Blimey. An education - or what? I had to Google zeugma and nearly switched off altogether until I found a quote from Flight of the Conchords (who I rather like) which persuaded me to to read the rest of the wiki article. But (golly) I almost wished I hadn't. Rather heavy going for holiday reading. Oh yes, I'm not on holiday.

martina said...

An organized and tidy traveler who never seems rushed. That is our Z!

Z said...

That took me by surprise, doesn't sound like my idea of myself. Thank you Martina, you've given me food for thought.

Blue Witch said...

That job is my idea of hell - making beds, cleaning bathrooms, washing up, dusting and hoovering. No, just no.

There are websites where pics of abused hotel rooms are posted to the world by chambermaids.

Paras only need (simplest form) a [br/] [br/]: aren't we worth it? ;)

Z said...

Mine too, BW, although my mother did it sometimes if they were short-staffed - if it's your hotel, you do whatever is necessary.

You're certainly worth one-fingered typing in a panel about 1 inch by 2. You might even be worth putting in the HTML. But correcting a whole post once composed? Darling, you have just found the limit of Z's goodheartedness. I shall go back to emailing the posts, where what I type is what appears.

luckyzmom said...

Thanks for the hardwork tiny posting.

I too have always been considerate of hotel housekeeping. It irritated my husband when we were first married, but he's come around. There's really no instructions on this subject though is there? Isn't it a matter of common courtesy, though?