Dubai - Part I(a) - Hospitality

Last night was definitely interesting. About an hour after I fell asleep (about 3am local time), someone started banging on my door, demanding to be let it. It was a very drunk American, insisting that this was his room. Scared me - really scared me. I called security, but he left by the time they got here. This morning was less interesting and more annoying. At 8:30 am, I was awoken by knocking - a steward wanted to know if I wanted the minibar recharged. I went back to sleep - and was disturbed again at 10 am, when another steward wanted to pick up my room service tray.

Then the fun began, when I used the bathroom and the toilet flooded (it was a second flush - so at least the water was clean. By the time maintenance came to fix it, there was 2 inches of water in the bathroom, and it was spilling into the room. I was packed and dressed- my plan was to get moved to a different room. I found a note from the hotel manager waiting for me. I went down to see him, and to my surprise, he was giving me an upgrade to a suite, in recompense for last night's trouble. A very nice upgrade - when I checked in, I was asked if I wanted to upgrade, but I declined - it was an additional $120 a night.

I'm still pooped, but at least I've been able to shower and get a little more rest. Going to get a bit to eat and think about going to the markets for some shopping. It's 98 degrees out and very very humid.