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| www.tajhotels.com |
In a short break from austerity I recently had the chance to occupy a room in Jaipur's Jai Mahal Palace for a couple of nights. Somehow though, despite appearances of conspicuous leisure, I've always found staying in a Five Star Hotel to contain an underlying current of work. This is not to say I would ever turn down the opportunity to stay in one: I have known too many bed bug infestations and snot stained walls to be so inversely snobby. But after the novelty of clean sheets and a concierge have worn off, the whole experience can become somewhat labour intensive.
First, adjustments must be made. I learnt long ago how to contort myself through a Five Star lobby so no-one would stop to ask which room I was staying in (none in my student days) as I made my way to the pool side. An air of entitlement usually does the trick. However, this then gives rise to the labour of over-compensation towards staff to make up for the actual entitlement felt by other guests: the abusive consultant, so offended because his fork had been placed in the wrong position on the table, always my favourite example.
Second, there is the feeling of dread that the cleaners think I am so posh I am incapable of folding my own pyjamas, or removing the decorative pillow from the bed in the evening lest I should break a finger nail, so they must come and do it for me as part of the 'turn down' service (the most useless piece of labour ever invented in the hospitality industry).
While I must ooze impeccable manners and the cultural capital of knowing which fork to use, remember to wear shoes, not to put my feet on the seats while wearing shoes, and try to make an effort to accessorise, staff must ooze emotional labour, being inconspicuous and attentive at the same time, constantly smiling even if they have had to commute two hours to start a 0400 a.m. shift and have a two hour commute home again, while in the meantime namasting me whenever I, or any other guest, walks by. I'm surprised anyone gets any work done so much time is taken up by false pretences.
So I'd like to suggest a more hospitable future for luxury hotels in which guests calm their expectations, place our own napkins and adjust our own chairs, turn down our own beds, don't expect anyone to bow when we walk by, and enjoy that refreshing cocktail brought to us poolside by a professional waiter who gets a fair share of the ridiculous sums of money we pay to stay there.
