And this face which instantly caught my attention

No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace 

as I have seen in one autumnal face

- John Donne

Nature’s first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold,

Her early leaf’s a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

- Robert Frost

 

 

 

Don’t miss the rainbow! Click to enlarge the thumbnails

Simply strange requests

A bed that’s ‘too high’: This VIP guest thought his bed at Hotel Puente Romano, also in Spain, was too high so requested that the feet be cut off in order to make it a more comfortable height. Unfortunately for him, hotel staff didn’t agree. (Wouldn’t it have been nicer if the staff asked him to grow a little more so that he could easily jump in?)

Holey sheets: A well-known US singer requested that three holes were made in Portugal’s Dom Pedro Palace’s bed sheets before she slept in them. (Wonder what they were desired for? Some ventilation! Let your imagination fly wild!)

Desire to bury dogs in the garden: The Swiss Beau-Rivage Palace has an animal cemetery in the hotel gardens dating back to 1861. Some guests visiting the hotel have asked if it’s possible to bury their dog in this cemetery when their time comes. The cemetery is no longer used these days so hotel staff had to refuse. (Why didn’t the staff bow-wow to that?)

The sea is too loud: This very demanding guest found the sound of the sea so irritating he actually asked Spain’s Gran Hotel Elba Estepona & Thalasso Spa hotel staff if they could stop it. (Sssssh…. sea! Our guests are sleeping!)

Milky bath:This Premier Palace, Ukraine, guest requested that his bath be filled with milk, not from any bottles but from glass bottles in particular. After several hours of milk-buying, his request was finally fulfilled. (Thankfully it wasn’t Cleopatra. They would have had to search for donkey milk!)

Very specific sun angle: This very demanding guest requested a room where the sun sets at an angle of precisely 45 degrees to the right of the room window at Honeymoon Petra Villas in Greece. (Who was he – Isaac Newton?)

Sea-water to go: A distinguished guest asked for a bucket of sea-water to be delivered to his room at the Hotel Splendid Conference & Spa Resort, Montenegro. Nobody knows why. (Why didn’t they ask…loo la la )

It’s too hot: One guest at Villa Padierna Thermas de Carratraca in Malaga, Spain complained he was so hot, he demanded that the temperature of the room to be lowered to sub-zero temperatures just so he could cool off. Apparently it was like walking into a freezer. (He is invited to sleep in my blood bank refrigerator)

Fill the bath up with ice: This Kairaba Beach Hotel, Africa, guest was so desperate to cool down that he requested the bath be filled to the brim with ice. (If you lived in Nagpur, you would probably do that man! Why should Africa be an exception)

Bungee jumping off the top of the hotel: A lot of people like to visit the top floor of a luxury hotel to take in a breath of fresh air and enjoy the fantastic views. This guest did just that. But unlike most people, this daredevil then flung himself off the top of the Hotel Barcelona Princess attached to nothing but an elastic band. (And that held him alive and kicking?!)

And now the most extravagant requests:

Designing a private golf course, on a glacier: After three holes, the guest got bored and demanded to be flown back to the hotel where he proceeded to drink a 2000 Euro ($3512) bottle of wine.

Replica of romance: One guest at the London Landmark hotel wanted to close down the gazebo and redecorate it so that it was an exact replica of the coffee shop that he had first met his girlfriend in. He had planned to propose to his girlfriend in this coffee shop where they met, but it had since closed down. The hotel was able to fulfil his wish and completed the replica coffee shop.

A private dinner in a cave: This Alpen Resort, Meeting and Spa, Spain, guest requested a romantic candle-lit dinner to be organised in the Pagani cave at the base of the Presolana Mountain.

Fill her up uring a company event at the Clarion Hotel, Stockholm, for a gas company, they built a full replica of a gas station including most of the services you would expect to find such as food, drinks, newspapers and maps, in the hotel’s restaurant.

Cheesecake craving: This home-sick Vila Vita Parc Resort & Spa, Portugal, guest had a big craving for cheesecake from his favourite bakery in New York. The hotel delivered one to him all the way from New York.

Building a personalised garden: A guest was staying at the Hotel d’Europe for a week. He loved gardens so much he had his gardener set up a full landscape garden on the terrace of his suite.

Fly me to Venice: One of the Capital’s usual guests was on holiday with his other half in Switzerland. He decided to treat her to a romantic getaway from the already romantic getaway they were on. So he called up The Capital’s concierge to arrange a helicopter to pick them up in Switzerland and take them to Venice for the day.

Pampered pooch: Two guests booked two executive deluxe rooms at the Swiss Diamond Hotel Olivella, one was exclusively for their dog.

Parachuting into a wedding at the hotel’s solarium: This adrenaline-junkie groom wanted to make a big entrance to his wedding so he parascended into the ceremony. The wedding itself was held in Spain’s Gran Hotel Bahia del Duque Resort’s solarium within tropical gardens.

Horse show with a difference: A guest asked if the Hotel Elba Costa Ballena, Spain, could organise a special kind of horse show. The hotel arranged a flamenco show with horses at their beach club for the guest.

And while I was surfing the net, I came across some more outrageous guest requests .

Interesting! But I am looking for a list of weird requests at Indian hotels. That should make more interesting reading.

Oh, Campbeltown Loch, I wish you were whisky,
Campbeltown Loch, och aye!
Oh, Campbeltown Loch, I wish you were whisky,
I would drink you dry.

Now, Campbeltown Loch is a beautiful place,
A place where the whisky is trim;
How nice it would be if the whisky was free,
And the loch was full up to the brim.

Oh, Campbeltown Loch, I wish you were whisky,
Campbeltown Loch, och aye!
Oh, Campbeltown Loch, I wish you were whisky,
I would drink you dry.

I’d buy a yacht with the money I got,
I’d anchor her out in the bay;
If I wanted a nip, I’d go in for a dip,
I’d be swimming by night and by day.

Oh, Campbeltown Loch, I wish you were whisky,
Campbeltown Loch, och aye!
Oh, Campbeltown Loch, I wish you were whisky,
I would drink you dry.

We have a gathering of the clans,
They come from near and far;
I can see them grin as they’re wading in,
And jumping from the bar.

Oh, Campbeltown Loch, I wish you were whisky,
Campbeltown Loch, och aye!
Oh, Campbeltown Loch, I wish you were whisky,
I would drink you dry.

But what if the boat should overturn,
And drowned in the Loch was I?
You would hear me shout, you would hear me call out,
“What a wonderful way to die!”

Oh, Campbeltown Loch, I wish you were whisky,
Campbeltown Loch, och aye!
Oh, Campbeltown Loch, I wish you were whisky,
I would drink you dry.

But what’s this I see, ochone for me,
It’s a vision to make your blood freeze;
It’s the police afloat in a dusty bright boat,
And they’re shouting, “Time, gentlemen, please!”

Oh, Campbeltown Loch, I wish you were whisky,
Campbeltown Loch, och aye!
Oh, Campbeltown Loch, I wish you were whisky,
I would drink you dry.

Oh, Campbeltown Loch, I wish you were whisky,
Campbeltown Loch, och aye!
Oh, Campbeltown Loch, I wish you were whisky,
I would drink you dry.

PS: Should Scotland’s famous beverage be spelt ‘whisky’ or ‘whiskey”? Well, the ‘water of life’ as the Scots call their brew, was originally called whisky (plural=whiskies). And the Irish and Americans concocted their own versions which they felt was superior and to distinguish it from the Scottish version called it whiskey (plural=whiskeys). Ask a pure bred Scot and he will tell you the Scottish whisky is the original and the Yankees can’t spell right! A simple rule of the thumb is that if your drink comes from a country which has an ‘e’ in its name, spell whisky with an ‘e’; else dispense with it!