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Locals are horrible hotel guests
Must we Jamaicans be such horrible guests when we visit our local resorts?
For months, I have been trying to write a series of editorials about the repulsive behaviour of Jamaicans who visit the island's resorts, either on day passes or for weekends. My hands were forced to put pen to paper after seeing this letter from a visitor:
My only complaint was on the weekend the locals came in and the resort was overrun by them. They are rude to their own people and act as if they are owed something. They would sit at your table, take your pool chairs, floats, noodles, whatever you were using and think they could. They cut in every food line and the line at the bar. I paid good money to be there and I know they didn't pay anywhere near the amount I did, and for full-paying guests it was a little difficult while the locals were there on day passes.
Now don't tell me that this tourist was being racist or was discriminating against local because this is simply not the case.
I have been travelling the island in the last six months and hearing the horror stories from the staff and managers in the various hotels, who are sometimes spat at and tagged racists, particularly, if they are white.
This is how we behave:
We remove the toilet paper, shampoo, soap, facecloths, amenity tray, batteries from the remote control and smoke detectors from hotel rooms upon the end of our stay.
abuse the security personnel
We abuse the security personnel, waiters, waitresses and front-desk staff during our stay, and if we work with certain Government ministries, we feel it is right to bring in our boyfriends or girlfriends and security should ask no questions.
A Caribbean group checked into a hotel recently and started playing dominoes on the furniture in the lobby with the same commotion that you woul see at a taxi stand.
A 'gentleman' wearing boxers sat in front of a lobby with a newspaper, peeling a mango, eating it and putting the droppings on the ground. He then ate a sugar cane, dropping the leftovers on the ground, then threw the paper on the ground and walked away.
If you thought this couldn't get worse, this one takes the cake. A nursing group sat in the lobby of a hotel waiting to leave and more than 10 of them had their shoes off and bare feet up on the tables. One of them was using a nail cutter to cut her nails on the table, and guess who she was - you guessed right - the lead administrator of a hospital.
Some resorts have been forced to remove all foil paper and paper towels from the restaurants. The local guests now bring Tupperware, line their bags with plastic, their own scandal bags, or take the cloth napkins and pile two plates of food and one plate of dessert, each, and then stuff them in their bags to take home or to their rooms.
There are those who order six pizzas at a time then put them in their pockets or wrap in their shirts.
Could it get worse? Read the follow-up notes on the behaviour of Jamaicans in our hotels!
janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com
Must we Jamaicans be such horrible guests when we visit our local resorts?
For months, I have been trying to write a series of editorials about the repulsive behaviour of Jamaicans who visit the island's resorts, either on day passes or for weekends. My hands were forced to put pen to paper after seeing this letter from a visitor:
My only complaint was on the weekend the locals came in and the resort was overrun by them. They are rude to their own people and act as if they are owed something. They would sit at your table, take your pool chairs, floats, noodles, whatever you were using and think they could. They cut in every food line and the line at the bar. I paid good money to be there and I know they didn't pay anywhere near the amount I did, and for full-paying guests it was a little difficult while the locals were there on day passes.
Now don't tell me that this tourist was being racist or was discriminating against local because this is simply not the case.
I have been travelling the island in the last six months and hearing the horror stories from the staff and managers in the various hotels, who are sometimes spat at and tagged racists, particularly, if they are white.
This is how we behave:
We remove the toilet paper, shampoo, soap, facecloths, amenity tray, batteries from the remote control and smoke detectors from hotel rooms upon the end of our stay.
abuse the security personnel
We abuse the security personnel, waiters, waitresses and front-desk staff during our stay, and if we work with certain Government ministries, we feel it is right to bring in our boyfriends or girlfriends and security should ask no questions.
A Caribbean group checked into a hotel recently and started playing dominoes on the furniture in the lobby with the same commotion that you woul see at a taxi stand.
A 'gentleman' wearing boxers sat in front of a lobby with a newspaper, peeling a mango, eating it and putting the droppings on the ground. He then ate a sugar cane, dropping the leftovers on the ground, then threw the paper on the ground and walked away.
If you thought this couldn't get worse, this one takes the cake. A nursing group sat in the lobby of a hotel waiting to leave and more than 10 of them had their shoes off and bare feet up on the tables. One of them was using a nail cutter to cut her nails on the table, and guess who she was - you guessed right - the lead administrator of a hospital.
Some resorts have been forced to remove all foil paper and paper towels from the restaurants. The local guests now bring Tupperware, line their bags with plastic, their own scandal bags, or take the cloth napkins and pile two plates of food and one plate of dessert, each, and then stuff them in their bags to take home or to their rooms.
There are those who order six pizzas at a time then put them in their pockets or wrap in their shirts.
Could it get worse? Read the follow-up notes on the behaviour of Jamaicans in our hotels!
janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com
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