Marked for life….. More people to miss

I am expecting another power outage tomorrow so I am writing this one a bit early. OOPs!!! Now it is late. The hotel is getting busy and I am hosting a lot of very nice people. I have a funny feeling that my posts might suffer a bit over the next month or so, but we will see.

Some of you were interested if the hotel was still standing when I returned. Well, I have to report everything was well with a few glitches that were easily fixed, and one that took my mean side too. I walked into the hotel and was shocked….. Oh the horror…. Before me was a refreshment refrigerator that was almost empty!! Egad!! A couple of cokes and a few beers. Oh the sorrow….. When I left the fried was a beautiful thing to behold. On top was gleaming bottles of refreshing water. Below on the second shelf, there was an inviting array for soft drinks all colorful and inviting. The bottom two shelves

 tempted the parched with ice cold beers of different favors. Oh, it was a nice site. The lobby looked bright and cheery mainly because of this well stocked area of coldness in the midst of the heat. When I returned the lobby looked weakened and dim. The emptiness of the fridge dragged the mood down to levels I never expected to see in my hotel. I resisted the urge to find another place to stay and immediately I asked where all  the drinks are, and how could a customer have a cold drink if it was not there for the taking? The answer…. Well…. Yu were coming back soon so we thought we would wait until you got here. HaHaHa! OK, after my “why does that not surprise me laugh” , I decided that I would have an iced coffee since my favorite cold drink was not there and

was told there was no ice… Huh?? We were running low before I left and I asked them to get some. They told me that with all the power outs that they did not want to order the ice because it would melt. I reminded them we had a generator that was being run for hours on most out days and that it also kept the freezer running……. Oh……My customers were surprised to learn that we have coffee in the lobby. I guess without the ice, it was not an item to be offered. OK, there is that logic I do not understand again. It is the same as not having enough change or stock. Perhaps the Vietnamese are so used to places not having what they want, it is natural for them to not think about keeping things in stock. I told them that after my bike ride, the fridge better be full, and when I returned it was. There were a few more out of stock

 issues such as not being able to wipe the soup from my chin because there were no napkins, but I an happy to say we are all stocked up……. Except for ice. Since the country has been suffering power outages, the ice factories cannot freeze the water. We now have a mountain of ice cube trays being cooled at this moment.

Now for the irritating one…. I noticed a 20000 dong expense in the books for a taxi and asked what that was all about. I was told that it was paid to a taxi driver for bringing a customer to us. HOLD THE PHONES!!!! This is the very thing I blogged about just before I went to Canada.  I will not support these guys. I already have experience about these guys stealing customers away with their lies and excuses just to get their commission. I will not be a pert of it. I instructed my staff not to pay out anymore and what happens tonight?? The same damned thing. It seems that now that we paid once, we have become known to these taxi’s. Tonight a taxi argued with the staff and I had to get involved. It turns out that it was about the taxi driver wanting his cut for a passenger he delivered. I told him through Mai translating, that I disapproved of what he was doing because it was people like him that have caused me trouble with no show guests in the past. I told him that he was never again to bring people here and expect to get a commission, however, if he had a family member visit, or a friend, bring them here and they will have a very pleasant and peaceful stay. He seemed to be a bit taken aback about that. The word will probably get around for the taxi’s not to deliver people to me but that is OK. I am getting some very nice guests from the internet and some of the people the Taxi’s are delivering are not necessarily the ones we want here, even though the one delivered to day is a nice older Vietnamese woman.

I had to say goodbye to A pair of Mark’s today. One you have seen in the comment section of my blogs, and another who is teaching in Saigon. One Mark I will probably see again soon as he lives in Saigon, but the other….. I hope to see him again in Australia or Vietnam… it does not matter. We did not have near enough time together, but the next time I see him, I will have to recommend a good barber… his hair is way too wild!