Monday, June 28, 2004

alarming the other hotel guests

We've been moved down the hall into another hotel suite, because we'd decided to stay a couple of nights more than we'd booked for. The 'new' suite is nicer in some ways because the bedroom and bathroom aren't connected to the lounge, or each other, except via a little foyer. In other words, it's mostly set out like a normal house (but smaller). But we've found two disadvantages of the new place - 1) it doesn't have a hotplate, so we have to use the microwave oven or grill oven; 2) the overhead extractor fan doesn't work very well.

There we were, cooking our strips of pork in the grill oven and watching television in the meantime, when the smoke alarm went off. We searched in vain for that little button which turns off the horrible sharp, piercing sound. I rang reception, who took so long to answer that the boy decided to run downstairs and ask them in person, 'How the hell do you turn off the smoke alarm?!'.

When reception picked up the phone, they asked whether we were causing the smoke alarms to go off in every single suite on the first floor. On the defensive, I told them we probably were, but assured them we'd detected no smoke. They turned off the alarm, and the boy returned, suffering from the effects of having hotel guest open their door and stare at him anxiously, ear-splitting wails in the background.

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