Me and the Luxury

So, I got the chance of my lifetime, well, not like complete life but something which I had been looking forward to since a long time. I was going to Pune to attend a professional training. What’s the big deal in it, you may ask. Well, for a person who had not traveled alone since past 5-6 years and have been travelling with overloaded suitcases and 3-4 handbags with an infant-turned-toddler in tow, travelling solo was an irresistible offer, that too an all-expense paid by the company trip.

Now was the time to make the bookings. While searching for a nice, clean and a comfortable hotel on the travel site with which my company have an integration (technically)/collaboration (non-technically), the hotel at the top of the list was a 5-star hotel and it was tagged as the ‘negotiated’ (aka recommended) hotel for our Company employees. For a few seconds, I had a big grin on my already big face – just so you can imagine how ugly I must be looking at that time. But then, I was like, ‘what? A 5-star hotel?! No way. It’s so expensive.’

The next closest hotel was 4K lesser than the 5-star one and I toggled between choosing the Luxury over a Budget hotel, for like almost a day or even more – may be 34 hours. No, not exactly but just writing a ‘day’ was not giving that powerful impact. ‘34’ brings that attention and reaction. Anyway. Whoever I asked in the office to help me take the decision told to ‘obviously’ go for the Luxury, since its an all-expense paid trip. Whoever I asked in my family also told to go for the luxury one since they didn’t want me to land up in a hotel which may turn out to be uncomfortable – remember, I was going solo after almost 6 years? I finally decided to go for the luxury. You may be thinking for why was I so confused, why was I even thinking to choose between a 5-star and a 4-star hotel? Because, I am a MIDDLE-CLASS lady, like literally. I am always looking for a middle path.

5-star is good and closest to office, 4-star may be good and a little far away from office – can I get any hotel in between them?

Also, I just can’t handle so much a luxury. Why? Take food. Eating in a 5-star hotel. You ought to sit formally, eat formally, conduct yourself formally. I mean why? You wanna eat, you wanna eat as you like. Order something in a 5-star hotel and you get a carefully and craft fully decorated plate with a little bite, which will cost you in 4 digits. I mean, beautifully plated food looks great in the food contests or on lifestyle channels on TV but when it is meant to be eaten, quantity matters boss.

Lift – In other ‘middle class’ hotels, you enter the lift which is overcrowded with people of all caste, creed and odour and you just hit the button for the floor you want to get to. In the 5-star hotel where I finally (and reluctantly) landed in, I was supposed to swipe my room key (which was like a credit card) and when it flashes the little green light, press the floor where I wanted to go. Hell, the light kept flashing red light. I was stuck in the lift with another family who looked like they were pro of staying in this hotel. Now, how do I ask for help, show off that I am cool when internally I knew that I was stuck and embarrassed that my key was not working? Off they got from the lift but just then the lady stopped and called out her husband in a typical squeaky voice of a middle-class wife – ‘aye, Mukes. Give me our key. Let me see if it works for her’ and I was like, oh, same pinch. (I have not forgotten the ‘h’ in Mukesh. She called him Mukes). Both of them tried their keys by inserting them in every direction but nothing worked, and an alarm was triggered. I thanked them and told them to off-board, probably the lift will take me back to the ground floor and I will take help of the staff. I came down to 7^th floor I think and entered a celebrity – the motivational speaker – Gaur Gopal Das with few of his aides. Now, I definitely cannot ask for help from a celebrity but thought to give it a try again with my key, you know, it happens with us all the time. Things don’t work the first time, then it works with someone else and then immediately we try, it works for us too. But again, my key did not work. Solid embarrassment in front of the celebrity. But then, he was kind enough to quickly gauge that and ask his aide to help me since his keys work for all the floors. He off-boarded on 5^th floor I think and I was helped by his aide. Phew!! Then I got back into my senses and realized that it was HIM!! Ufff, I had a book where I could have taken his autograph and I had a very important question to ask him. I missed all this because of that super swanky but unhelpful key.

Finally, I landed on the 18^th floor. It’s almost 10:45 PM and the corridor is all quiet and empty. Not a soul to be seen or heard. In front of my room – 1812 and the same key was to be used. I swiped it – no prizes for guessing. It did not work. I was sleepy, I had to get up early in the morning and this key refused to let me in. I tried both my keys, this side, that side but the door does not open. I dare get inside the lift again. What do I do? Why don’t people walk in the corridors of the 5-star hotel? It’s deserted. Finally, good sense prevailed, and I notice a phone in the corridor and that connected me to the front desk and I ask for help. After I put down the phone, I walk back towards my room. Thought to give one more half-hearted try with the key and I swipe it. Voila…. The door opens. Ufff, another embarrassment waiting to happen when someone will come to ‘help me open the door’ when I would already be inside.

Wow, the room is amazing, clean, scented, 2 extremely red apples on the table which confused me if they were real or just some toys, bath tub, too many lights to make the room shine, a big TV and what not. What does a typical middle-class person do in such a room? Immediately connects to the free wi-fi (to save the mobile data) and then take lots of pictures. Every angle, covering every luxurious thing. I did that too. Had a Video call with my husband and daughter with the free wi-fi and then was the time to sleep.

For a mother who has been now used to sleep in the corner of the bed since the toddler is ever growing in height (or length, if that’s correct) and keeps on playing in the bed while sleeping, going to sleep on a King Size clean bed was unbelievable. But guess what? I automatically found myself sleep in the corner of the bed. Habit, you see. In the last 5 years, I have been tuned to slip to the corner of the bed, even if it is empty. The bed is too soft and cosy, but I can’t sleep.

I wake up early and check all the toiletries given by the hotel in the room and does a virtual toss in my head – to use the free things of the hotel or stick to what I have already got with me? Use what I have already got with me, so that I can take them on the last day with me back to Hyderabad – intact. What were you thinking? I see the bath tub and a shower area. Again, does a virtual toss. Use the bath tub or the shower. Use the shower, for 2 reasons – I didn’t want to waste so much of water which will be used for a bath tub and… shhhh, I don’t know how to use the bath tub. Why to call for another embarrassment if I accidentally make the bath tub overflow?

Time to go for the included-in-room-tariff free breakfast, which means that I must use the lift again. I pray to God and get inside, swipe the card. My joy knew no bounds when I saw that little green light which meant that my key has worked this time. Oh, you should have seen my confidence boost at that moment. Those drooping shoulders suddenly were back to where they should be. Back straight, confidence in eyes and attitude, no more wrinkles on my forehead – so much a tiny little green light of a 5-star lift can do.

So much to eat and grab in the breakfast. At home, after a juice or curd or fruit-based item we don’t take tea/anything hot but at a free breakfast in a luxury hotel, everything has to be consumed, all at the same time. At home, if we are having idly, we don’t make sausages – you know, the combination is weird. But at a free breakfast in a luxury hotel, who cares. Noodles, sausages, cakes, idly, fruits, Greek yogurt, fruit juice, tea, croissant, cookies, pie – everything within those dedicated 30-45 mins. But I was so conscience. What will those suited-booted foreign officials think about me? But then I looked around to find other Indians like me who were all charged up to consume everything of that lavish buffet because they were also on the company-paid visits. That eased me out. Decided not to look at those foreigners but at the Indians like me. A casual eye contact with them would convey so much in those 2-seconds – ‘Oh, you too on company paid hotel booking’ – ‘yeah, you too. Enjoy. Who knows if you will ever stay in this luxury with your own money?’

It’s an experience to avail a luxurious stay on someone else’s expense and the experience is same for all the Middle-class Indians and I am no different. The stay was amazingly comfortable and memorable.