My First Night In A five Star Hotel

And so it happened in February 2017 when I was asked to go on an official trip to Ho for an educational fair/exhibition organized by Ghana Education Service (GES). Ho is the capital city of the Volta region, Ghana

The institution where I work, Koforidua Technical University (KTU) was taking part in this fair/exhibition and I was the IT/media guy together with five other staff who made it to the place. It was a three-day program.

We got to Ho at about 8 am and went straight to the venue of the fair, Ola Girls, We were the first institution to arrive, giving me enough time to engage my eyes with some nice sceneries in the town; and oh, how exciting it was! Seeing the beautiful young girls. Well, others including University of Ghana, KNUST, Ghana Telecom University, All Nations University, Islamic University College, University of Education, Winneba, Institute of Chartered Accountants and University for Development Studies (UDS) etc came later.

Sooner than I thought, the first day was over and we now had to move to our hotel to pass our first night. We got to the Hotel at about 4:30 pm, we checked in at the reception, delightfully unknown to us, our rooms were booked and paid for a day to our arrival.

I was given directions to my room and was given a card to be my key, I got to my door, for the first time, IT guy guy, I showed the card to the door and I heard a beep of sound and I turned the handle on the door and it opened, wow I was amazed.

I got in and found a queen size bed, LED 32 inch TV with DStv connection, coffee table with coffee and tea kettle, a fridge, air condition (AC), a telephone, reading table, it has everything you can imagine to make my stay comfortable. The first thing I did was, I saw a holder on the wall with the writing “Card in here” so I placed the card in it, “IT guy guy”.

I started to test all the gadgets in the room, all the remote were placed by the bed, I picked the TV remote and turned it on, flipped through some channels. I picked the AC remote and turned it on, I went to the bathroom and turned on the water heating system, I took out my laptop and turned it on, it indicated there was a Wi-Fi available but was encrypted, so I went straight to the telephone, by it was a telephone directory, and with contacts of the Reception, Restaurant and Laundry. So I placed a call to the reception and a lady picked, “Hello Mr Sundiata, I am Lydia how may I be of assistance to you Sir?” I was like wait a minute, did u just call my name, am I using my cell to call or you have truecaller on a landline? No you don’t even have my number, am not using my cell is your room landline, she said you are right Sir, do you recall at the reception, we took your bio-data, so when you called, your room number and name pop up. I understood her and ask for the password to the Wi-Fi.

I took my bath and picked a bottle of drink to go and share with my colleague in the next room on my return, my door was locked I had left the card inside, hmmm, so I decided to go to the receptionist to complain, she looked at me at once, I said to myself “hmmm, Jonny just come”. She asked me some basic question about the occupant of the room such as name, mobile number, age, date of check-in, items disclose at the reception, those where same bio-data I was asked at the time of check-in. I passed the test and a new card was issued for me and the old card was deactivated and I returned it to the reception.

IT guy, now I thought I had known it all with the gadgets in the room. I decided to take a walk around the hotel not forgetting my card oooh, I picked it, guy guy. It was a nice environment to be. For a while, I returned to my room, where my nightmare began. I picked the AC remote and turn it on but this time around it didn’t respond, wow I said to myself “maybe my room price didn’t include AC, am sure went I turn it on the first time, they noticed it and have put it off” I watch Tv until I slept off, I woke up at about 12 noon was soaked in sweats, the rooms where design with gas windows, I couldn’t open them, on a second thought, I said to myself again no if the room is like this then this AC should work, I picked the remote again and tried switching it on and still, “eeeeeeei today paa “ I looked around for a while and I noticed on the holder on the wall where they wrote “Card In Here” I picked the card and inserted it, wow the AC started working hahahaah, IT guy guy, I removed it and it stopped I placed it again and it started working again and I went back to bed. Hmmmmmmmm

The next morning I was still on bed when my colleagues called me to come down for breakfast, I remembered to pick my card along this time, I got to the restaurant with my card in my pocket, another drama didn’t know I have to slot the card and go serve myself, the card will detain if your room paid for included breakfast, hmmmm the rest was history, at the table I thought I was the only villager who not knowing I came with some.

After breakfast we left for the fair the second day and on the way I released I haven’t handed over this great card at the reception, because I was so used to the card and didn’t want it to cost me any drama again but then it was not allowed to carry the card out of the hotel, hmmmm when at the fair, I was thinking so how will this people do room service, little did I know, on my return in the evening and my room was cleared, the water in the fridge was replaced, bed sheets and pillows were changed, towels and soap were changed. Hmmm how did they enter my room while I had my card?

I then appreciated the use of IT in the hotel, the all in one card I called it, the AC part really interest me, the logic is that, when you are inside and you need the AC, you have to insert the card in the holder I saw on the wall which was actually the switch to the AC, and if you are leaving the room you will need the card with you so by taking out the card the AC goes off, you cannot  leave the room with your card whiles the AC is on,  by so doing they are conserving electricity

hmmm, my supposed 5 star hotel is a 2 star ooooh. Hotel Stevens is a finest two-star hotel in Ho, capital city of Volta Region, Ghana, offering 68 cosy rooms with quality furnishings and courteous service.

Lessons learned

• Curiosity they say kills the cat, in my case curiosity worked for me
• Ask question anywhere you find yourself lost
• Make a lot of observations and read
• Think like an IT guy and learn to do things on your own because the world will soon be hit by the internet of things
• Travel & tour, go to places and explore, use their washrooms and facilities, you have paid wai

Share with me some similar lessons learned from my experience