The director of my volunteer program is in town.
I’ve spent the day with him wandering around the city center, drinking coffee, and introducing him to the people I work with.
A few hours back, I helped him check into a hotel. This was done nearly all in English. (The desk clerk spoke English well & when such things are the case, it’s nice to include the monolingual American in the discussion, especially as he is the one who will be staying in the hotel.) At the end of the check-in procedures, the woman turned to me and said, ‘Do you speak Serbian?’ When I replied with, ‘a little, I’m learning,’ she told me, in Serbian, that if I plan to "accompany" the gentleman in his room, I will have to leave an ID document at the front desk.
My parents and grandmother stayed at the same hotel a year ago; they even checked in with the same desk clerk, but no such comment was made, even though I spent a few hours in their rooms watching TV, helping them settle in, and chatting.
I felt like I was reclaiming my virtue when, just a moment later, in full view of the desk clerk, I saw my director off at the elevator and walked home.
I don’t think I will be using that hotel again.
2 Comments:
At 1:55 PM,
Anonymous said…
Some of the Belgrade hotels have that particular service listed as "dnevni odmor" :)
My guess is, the clerk wanted to be on the safe side. They could probably get in trouble for having foreigners in a "business escort" situation and without proper papers.
At least the clerk had common sense to ask the question in Serbian :)
At 2:17 PM,
Anonymous said…
Oh my, this has the makings of another turbofolk classic, along the lines of Goga Sekulić's indelible and thought provoking "Seksi biznismen". Where's my harmonika?
Actually, you'll have to forgive me, I'm tiny bit slow when it comes to out of town middle-aged businessmen, young career girls, hotels, and hotel check-in desk clerks.
What exactly was the reason behind the desk clerk asking for your ID upon her realizing that there's a possibility that you'd be accompanying the businessman to his room?
a.) She wanted some identification so that the next morning she has proof to charge you (or the businessman) for the extra person "using" the room.
b.) Thinking you might be a textbook example of businessman-chasin' sponzoruša she got all righteous and bitchy, messing with your head and showing you that she's onto you. And she chose to do that by simply letting you know that she knows you're a sponzoruša?
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