Page 19 - AHATA

LOCAL Monday 13 May 2019
A17

Hotel Hustle

Column by: Shanella Pantophlet
Left Behind

ORANJESTAD — One of my biggest fears when on
vacation is leaving something behind in a hotel or
wherever I’m staying and not noticing until I’m on
the plane or already home. The day before check
out and right up to the minute I leave I’m constant-
ly checking and rechecking the room for anything.
The one time I didn’t do it, I lost one sock in the beds
sheets in London.

Losing stuff or leaving stuff behind is probably one of
the most commons occurrences in hotels however.
We like most resorts have a full lost and found policy
for a range of items from clothes, to jewelry and oth-
er things. The most commonly left behind items are
a few pieces of clothing. Although there were some
guests who left quite a bit of clothing, to the point
I told the Executive Assistant that they probably left
them to save on overweight bag fees. A theory that
will be proven correct if they claim the clothes on
their next visit.

While clothes are the standard we have also had other non-standard items behind, most are tame things such as a stuffed animal, fishing rods
and chargers or charger wires. Of course there are always times where more risqué things are either found or a guest calls to ask if we could have
a look to see if they’ve left them behind. The most memorable of these being adult entertainment devices, which the guest wanted shipped
back. Taking those items to the post office and having to explain exactly what they were to the agent’s was an experience in professionalism on
all sides to keep serious faces.
Another popular item that’s usually left behind in rooms are illegal substances. As a hotel, we do all we can to discourage the use of those sorts
of paraphernalia on property, but know people are on vacation and will use if they are so inclined. In the instances when drugs are found in the
room another set of procedures have to be followed including how it is reported and turned in. Usually the quantities housekeepers encounter
are of the personal use amount and thus do not need to be reported to the police.

However every now and again there are a few surprises in the form of shopping bags with a mixture of both legal and illegal substances and
creative hiding spots are found. We’ve had engineering people discover stuff in the vents during routine maintenance of rooms, guests finding
baggies in books in the lending library or housekeepers finding items while cleaning the rooms for the new check in.

Being in a bustling hotel does afford a certain anonymity as we can never say for sure who was the one using or how long something that’s been
well hidden has been in a particular room. We are very well aware you can’t take your stash with you, but for the sake of staff and the guest
coming in after you, we do wish you’d discard it instead of leaving it behind.q

Aruban born and bred Shanella Pantophlet is passionate about tour-
ism. That is the world she studied and works in, so we might as well call
her a specialist. Luckily for Aruba Today Shanella also loves to write.
And together with the fact that the majority of our readers are tourists,
we found ourselves a perfect combination for a column: Hotel Hustle.