The joys of hotel living

1. Ecstatic with my first day off, I decided to do the unthinkable: I did NOT set an alarm. And as most of you know, I never do this. Never. However my aching feet and legs and back were begging for mercy, so I caved. Well, low and behold, at the bright and sunny hour of 7am, I awoke to the sweet roaring sound of a chainsaw. Ah yes, construction in the morning. How lovely! And I thought I left that behind in Mission Beach. As a part of the impending renovation on the hotel, a number of trees had to be cut down on the street a few floors below my window, and lucky for me, they chose to start on my day off. Not even pillows over my head smothered the very unwelcomed wake-up call.

2. Two words: hotel food. Okay, allow me to be more specific: hotel food prepared for the employees. Now we’re talking. Lunch is served from 11:00 to 12:30 and dinner from 6:00 to 7:30, every day. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes, not so good. I’m still not exactly sure what the lunch menu was today, but it looked and tasted something like leeks wrapped in jambon and drenched in some goopy cheese and cream sauce. But, since eating in the staff lounge means free food, it’s not so bad. And sometimes when we’re really lucky, we get the buffet leftovers from La Terrace, including bite-sized desserts that look more like art than food. Often in the evenings, we also get to try the ‘plat du jour’ in the kitchen. The cooks make an extra plate and within five minutes, it’s demolished by the service employees (including any juices left on the plates as every last drop of butter and sauce is soaked with bread).

3. Laundry. The way it works: there is one washing machine in the large laundry room (also used to clean all hotel linens) that is available to employees. It cost one swiss franc, and we have access to it anytime after 7:30pm. There’s also an industrial-sized dryer, but since I’m too scared to walk away with clothes the size of Barbie, I think I’ll stick to letting everything hang dry. So in short, laundry isn’t a huge hassle, but I’m avoiding tackling it until absolutely necessary.