I am off to …., where the host company has graciously booked a hotel at the cost of ₦185,500 per night. For obvious reasons, I am not comfortable with that.
Out of courtesy, I sent a message to one of the staff of the company facilitating the trip, kindly attracted by Mr. Peter Obi, which will eventually take us across a few countries. My message read:
“Dear Toyin,
I have boarded and I’m on my way to Abuja. Thank you very much for your kind assistance.
May I please enquire about the possibility of changing the hotel that has already been booked for me? While I deeply appreciate the company’s generosity in covering the cost, I feel that a room at ₦185,500 per night is excessive. I believe that a good hotel in the range of ₦50,000 should be more than decent and comfortable. In fact, in my experience, many such hotels often provide better and friendlier services than the so-called luxury ones.
Thank you once again for your support.”
The truth is, when I travel on my own, I stay in hotels that are decent, clean, and comfortable. When another person is footing the bill, I still prefer the same, for many reasons. If I do not break banks for myself, why should I be comfortable another person doing so for me? But beyond this consideration, there are many other reasons.
Let me sample one of them: suppose, for any reason, I do not wish to eat outside the hotel. A hotel that charges ₦185,500 per night will hardly charge less than ₦30,000 for a plate of food. In an average hotel, the same meal, even better, will range between ₦5,000 and ₦10,000.
Drinks and water are another matter. If the complimentary supply is not enough, the cost of buying even a bottle from such hotels is outrageous. I recall visiting a wealthy man – Igirigi of Nnewi – at Eko Hotel many years ago. While waiting for him, I glanced at the menu and saw soft drinks labelled at absurd amounts. With my limited exposure at the time, I honestly thought those drinks were a different species, not the same ones sold on the streets!
And then there is accessibility. People like me, who occasionally enjoy “mamaput,” the everyday food of the streets, would struggle to find it when lodged in such exclusive hotels. Part of the joy of travel is tasting the local flavour, and that becomes difficult when one is locked up in the cocoon of luxury.
Should I go on and list more reasons—apart from the quiet lesson in simplicity and moderation that anyone around Mr. Peter Obi would easily imbibe?
Leave a Reply