I am responding in my capacity as the Relief Manager, who hosted Ms Lakay on the night of the booking. Ms Lakay and her male companion arrived at 17:45. I welcomed them and escorted them to their room. I enquired about their preferred breakfast time, to which she responded that it would need to be very early and that her companion, who I hadn't been introduced to, would not be staying the night. I offered to prepare a take-away breakfast pack for her if she needed to have breakfast before 6 am, which she accepted. As she mentioned that her companion would be leaving, I gave him the keys and explained their use to him, in her presence, so he could exit the premises. Everything was in order at this point.
About an hour later, I received a complaint from another guest who couldn't park his car in the drive-through parking entrance due to a vehicle blocking it, despite a clear No Parking sign. I had to knock on her door multiple times before they opened, at which point I apologised for the interruption and requested her companion to kindly move his car as it was parked in a no-parking zone, and no parking request had been made for the booking. He complied, albeit irritably. I also provided her with the requested breakfast pack for an early departure.
Later in the evening at 19:35, I received a WhatsApp message from Ms Lakay requesting an iron and ironing-board for the next morning. I responded that I could assist her at 08:00 when the house-keeping staff arrived, to which she replied, 'Thanks, all good.'
At 06:00, during breakfast preparation, another guest complained that he couldn't leave for work because a vehicle was blocking the exit. After eliminating other prospects, I realised that it must again be Ms Lakay's companion from the night before's car. Once again, it took several knocks before they answered the door. It was an awkward interruption during which I had to request him to move his car, yet again. This time, both Ms Lakay and her companion were quite upset with me, despite the fact that it was her guest's violation of the guest house rules and disregard for common courtesy that led to their dissatisfaction.
Contrary to Ms Lakay’s assertion of an ‘early check-out’, she left the premises after 09:00 without talking to me and having declined the offer of an iron at 08:00 as I had promised. I was available in the guest house from 06:00 to 10:00 for her to raise any complaints about the breakfast pack, which I could have easily replaced with a full breakfast at any time. Neither the cleaning staff, nor I, found any sign of the uneaten breakfast pack left in her room as she claims, so it seemed there was no problem with it.
I will facilitate this feedback to the owner upon his return from his annual vacation as I do with all guest feedback. For the record, I have managed his Guest Houses over the past 7 years without any negative feedback. I am confident he will reach out to Ms Lakay personally upon his return as there are always two sides to a story.
Kind regards,
Eric
