I had an almost surreal experience last weekend, one that literally stunned me, and one that I will now relate, as a reminder that things do not always go as planned or expected.
After flying from Cebu, via KL, to Chiangmai, I found my way to the place I had booked, via booking.com, called "Jay Guest House". Set within Chiangmai's old city, I had just wanted a night's sleep before travelling south, and at 130 baht (3 quid) for a single room, it seemed good value.
The owner, "Mama", was sitting at reception and welcomed me whilst her assistant photocopied my passport. In a quirky reminder of "Blackadder Goes Forth", she calls all guests "Darling".
I handed over 500 baht and, together with 100 baht key deposit, waited for my 270 baht change. This is when matters seemed to warp into another dimension.
Mama threw onto her desk three baht notes - a one hundred, a fifty and a twenty. It seemed a bit brusque, but hey, we all make mistakes. I pointed out that she owed me another hundred baht, to which she responded by... staring at me. She spoke good English so I again pointed out the arithmetic.
On receiving no reaction, I then asked for my 500 baht note back so I could get the correct change and pay her later. Her reaction was to pick up the keys from the desk and tell me to leave...
The only time I can remember a similar thing happening was in 2010, in Costa Rica, when I was the only person watching the Fulham v Athletico Madrid Europa League Final in a hostel I had just checked into.
The manager came over and changed the channel. I asked why he had done that, and he shouted that he was merely trying to get the commentary in English for me, and that I could now take back my room fee and leave.
Some people have extremely short fuses, and when they work in the "hospitality" industry, it can create fireworks. Basil Fawlty had nothing on El Cid or Mama...
Anyway, overcoming my shock at Mama's sudden degeneration into Mr Hyde, I pocketed my 500 baht, picked up my bag and, in my outrage, uttered the "thief" word as I left. This apparently sat as badly with Mama as with Serena Williams' Portuguese umpire, because the next thing I experienced was an object whizzing narrowly past my head, causing a graze that took several days to clear.
I didn't stick around, leaving Chiangmai on a night bus south to Phitsanalok, glad to escape from such a nightmare.
After the inevitable "no-show" follow-up from booking.com, I felt obliged to tell them what happened, and how awful my experience was.
Even so, I think I got off lightly, because yesterday I looked at reviews for Jay Guest House on Tripadvisor, and it seems many other people have had similar disasters to myself. I, however, was fortunate in that I never got to see my room, or the toilets, or the bed bugs.
How such places can stay in business, or on booking.com, is beyond my limited comprehension, but after that experience I will never badmouth Tripadvisor again. People whinge about anything and everything, but the warnings about Jay Guest House were there, as plain as day, had I taken the time to read them.
I'll chalk that one down to experience. I have to say that, given what I went through, I now find the Tripadvisor reviews highly amusing, recommended reading for those who want a salutary reminder that some places are just plain crap!
Cheers
Taurus
