Not so well for wellness

The very word Spa evokes an imagery of “water and wellness”. Like many others who frequent five star properties, I too consider the spas to be the quietest and the most peaceful areas. But couple of week before I was once again in for a shock.

While entering the Spa & Health Club of a renowned five star property in city, I was drawn to the painfully loud music being played out by an orchestra. It not just shattered the usual calmness but even made it difficult to hear out or communicate with the hotel receptionists.

When one of the receptionists came out of the health club, I had a glimpse of what was on and realized that some guests, who were staying at the hotel, were rehearsing for a performance which will happen in evening .

I was taken aback by the fact that spas always try to live up to their reputation of being the coolest place for unwinding. Even mobiles are restricted around spas in order to maintain the soothing calmness of nature for which hotels spend so much to recreate. It is a different matter that few people, including myself, care to turn off our cell-phones off before entering a spa.

I was informed that these performers had taken permission from the hotel management for the rehearsals. I am sure the hotel management had failed to realise how noisy it could be. I spoke to the duty manager and it was stopped.

A month earlier at the same spa, as I was entering the wet area, I was distracted by the high decibels of an antakshri in progress. I was told that it involved a wedding group, that had hired almost the entire hotel rooms and the banquet facilities. It was obvious that the group, having paid up for the place, cared a hoot for others and conducted themselves the way revellers at marriage parties do across India.

I agree that the hotel has its responsibility to maintain decorum and a certain standard at all times. But the main responsibility vests in the guests who should be sensitive enough to conduct themselves as is expected of them in any public place.

You may like seeing and hearing your raucous friends singing out old tracks, but that does not mean that it would appeal to all. As said, often one man's meat is another man's poison.

The hotel's code of conduct should be strictly implemented and no compromises made. Otherwise, you renege on your promise when you lure people through attractive advertisements that depict spas as “a haven of peace and wellness”. They should ensure that people behave well for wellness' sake.

This culture of getting strings pulled is pulling our nation down. Barging into hotels, trains, delaying flights, jumping the queue, foisting one's, hijacking and misusing government properties as one's own, it goes on. It seems that when it comes to marriage and other social events, the boisterous revelry that comes with it, whether at the streets or at the five-star hotels, its all the same.

ess bee