Room Disservice Is a Major Gripe for the Road Warrioress

The last time I experienced excellent room service was when I lived in the “Back of Beyond” – Balikpapan, in the jungles of Borneo.  I’d fill out my card before I went to bed and hang it on my doorknob, ordering breakfast for 6:15 a.m. delivery.  No later than 6:16, room service knocked.  And the eggs were hot, the toast was hot, the coffee was hot, and the orange juice refreshingly frigid.

I’ve pretty much abandoned room service ever since.  The price is atrocious, taxes and gratuities ferocious, and heaven help you if you do not tip the delivery person.  Burger buns are doughy puddles, eggs unrecognizable, and the temperature of everything on the plate is stone cold.

No, I loved my dual-voltage travel hot pot – until it died.  I could always manage to slip in instant noodles or soups, coffee and tea.  Nothing to brag about, only to stave off starvation in wee hours.  And unfortunately, better quality than room service indigestibles.

Now I rely on things on like packets of Ritz Big Cheese or granola bars.  I always hope for an in-room coffeemaker, and at least Stateside, am rarely disappointed.

For long-haul travelers, weird arrival times, crazy meeting schedules, and assorted headaches can make room service urgently needed.  For the Road Warrioress, many hate (even fear) eating alone in a hotel restaurant, thus prefer room service.  But I never count on it anymore.  All too often, you’re better off if you’re self-sufficient.  Or head for McDonald’s.  They seem to land on every street corner around the world, and you can get there faster than room service can find you on the 35^th floor in Building D.

When you check in, how long does it take you to walk from the front desk to find your room?  Count on room service to take at least that long - once they finish preparing your order, fixing your tray, and finding a spare room service waiter.

TIP:  Ask which is the best Chinese, Thai or pizza restaurant that delivers to the hotel.  Have the front desk call in your order while you check in since they have name and number.  Somehow restaurant delivery will find your room faster than room service ever could, and arrive with hot, delicious food minutes after you arrive! 

Got any Room Service Gems?  Dish, dish!  Share the good news!  Got any horror stories?  Share them, too.  Forewarned is forearmed – with Ritz crackers.

May your road rise to meet you!

Ann

On the Road Again - Despite Bad Weather!

"On the road again. . . just can't wait to get on the road again. . ."  Back at it once more, living out of a suitcase.  Alas, the weather is not cooperating to accomplish all I aimed to do.

What to do when weather interferes?  Have a back up plan - and a too-long To Do List.  Time to tackle chores: cleaned out a backlog of nearly 1,000 emails (oops!), used the hotel's granite desktop to shoot some studio-style staged photos (instead of photographing a gloomy, gusty beach), and more backlisted To-Do's.

Read another novel by Kelsey A. Campbell.  She must be a fellow Road Warrior-ess!  Topsy-Turvy: Kalimantan Tales is set in Indonesia - the "jungles of Borneo" actually - where Kelsey used to live.  It's the story of the only working expat woman based in a hardship post in Indonesia.  The name of the city (if you can call a place with 300,000 people and one traffic signal a "city") is Balikpapan, and in Bahasa Indonesia, that means "topsy-turvy."  We Road Warrior-esses think we have it tough today.  Dr. Diane Cameron, heroine of this story, thinks she's joining her fiance in romantic, photogenic Bali and winds up where water has to be boiled a full fifteen minutes before you can drink it, or make a cup of instant coffee.  Fascinating tales of life in the back of beyond, where members of the resentful Bored Wives Club are spitting king cobras and coworkers sometimes prove to be kraits-in-the-bamboo.

Like the first novel of Kelsey's that I read, Make Me Beautiful (with some scenes set in one of my favorite hotels in the world, The Library Hotel in NYC), it's a fascinating tale of a powerful woman who roams the world.

So despite uncooperative weather, I'm getting a lot of things done.  As one of the characters in Topsy-Turvy says, "I never let nothing stand in my way."

May your road rise up to meet you!

Best, Ann