Prior to COVID-19's devastating effects on our ability to travel and enjoy ourselves, when my wife and I got the chance to go away for a long deserved weekend or week break, like many others we got the chance to relax as best as we can, by sitting and doing nothing for a change except read and watch the world go by. Normally that was sitting outside a café sipping a coffee or tea watching the locals going about their normal day to day business or watching how people interact with each other. We have had some great experiences in this way including sitting outside a café in the main square in Ravello, Italy watching a local couple get married and feeling like we were part of the celebration. Watching people isn’t all about watching locals and visitors alike though. It extends to anyone around you including those that are working to make your holiday experience memorable or as comfortable as possible. Being on a break where the entertainment and food is provided for you, you regularly come into contact and interact with reception staff, waiting staff and, if you are an active person, taking part in all the events and entertainment and you strike up a relationship with the ever friendly entertainment team to the point where you feel like you’ve known them for years. All of this makes your experience worthwhile; when you go away you want to be comfortable in all respects. You want to wake up, get down for breakfast, read the papers, go for a walk or have a drink in the bar and, if it is in your nature or part of your routine, go back to your room for a mid-afternoon snooze. However, you don’t want to have to start clearing up, making the bed or replenishing the toilet paper holder when you get back. How many times have you come back to your room to the pleasant surprise and satisfaction of a crisply made bed with no creases, new and plump bathroom towels for that late afternoon shower or soak before getting ready for dinner and the night of entertainment that awaits you? When you pay for your holiday you expect someone to do that for you as well and the housekeeping staff do that for you. Yet, while the waiters, bar and entertainment staff interact with you on a personal and direct basis, the housekeeping staff tend to undertake their work silently and a lot of the time unobtrusively while you are at breakfast or reading the Sunday papers in the lounge. Yes, you might see their trolleys in the corridors and have a quick peek into someone else’s room to see if they have better facilities than yours (come on we’ve all done it!) but how often do you take the opportunity to say hello or thank you to them for making your holiday experience enjoyable. Sometimes they may be seen as a nuisance because you want a lay in but know that you have to get up because someone will be knocking on the door soon. Yet they have a job to do, and if you consider how hard you work at home to keep things tidy, take a moment to think that they have more than one bedroom and bathroom to clear up, all at varying states of disarray. So from 17 May, when hotels and accommodation providers re-open and you are able to book a long overdue break, the next time you pass the trolley in the hallway after a big breakfast, take the time to smile or say hello. And when you consider how much to tip the waiter for his or her personal attendance to your needs, think about a tip for your housekeeper or chambermaid because they also helped you relax and forget about the world - even if only for a few well deserved days.
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December 2022
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