We are in Mykonos at a lovely little beachside hotel.
It is still early in the season with most hotels not open yet. Each room has an ocean view and although very much a budget property, the hotel has well-intentioned staff members, wi-fi in the lobby, and a decent breakfast. But that’s not what I want to talk about today.
As I was working in the lobby last night, a young American couple checked-in. I didn’t really pay attention except to note they presented American passports and were both wearing leggings…it made me think of the United leggings incident.
Anyway, that was 10pm and by about midnight I had finished my work for the day and began walking back to my room. In order to provide an ocean view in each room, the rooms are staggered up a gradually sloping hill.
As I stepped outside the lobby, I heard a woman screaming. I quickly looked around, thinking someone was in trouble.
Then it hit me. Ah, the couple was busy…
I suppose it could have been someone else, but the hotel was not at all crowded.
As I walked back to my room I looked up and saw the open balcony where the sounds were coming from. Come on people, close your door at least!
Somehow, looking up at the balcony reminded me of Romeo and Juliet.
Come, night, come, Romeo, come, thou day in night;
For thou wilt lie upon the wings of night
Whiter than new snow on a raven’s back.
Come, gentle night, come, loving, black-brow’d night,
Give me my Romeo; and, when I shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.
-Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Secne 2
I do hope this couple’s relationship does not end in the way of Romeo and Juliet! Hint to them: stay away from Friar Lawrence.
Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
I won’t describe it further, but I think you can use your imagination. It went on and on. Back in my room, thankfully my wife and child were sleeping. I, on the other hand, tired to fall asleep despite the sound of labor. But it was not long before the beautiful sound of silence again prevailed.
Checking out the next morning the guy at the front desk asked me how my stay was. I jokingly mentioned it was fine except for the disturbance last night, to which he gave me a puzzled look. I explained that the couple a few doors down was enjoying themselves a bit too loudly. He admonished me for not complaining, “Because they can’t do that so loud.”
Meh.
Sure, it would have been courteous to keep the volume down, but on the other hand that’s probably why a lot of couples come to beautiful Mykonos.
Frankly, I’m just surprised in all my travels this is the first time I’ve had an experience like this…
Would you have complained?
Many years ago I was staying at a hotel in Boston. I had flown in from St. Louis and the weather caused me to miss my connection in Pittsburgh. I ended up arriving at Logan after 11:00 p.m. By the time I got to my hotel it was close to midnight.
The room I was given had a broken heater and it was about 90 degrees in the room so I was transferred to a different room. After unpacking and doing a little work, I climbed into bed around 1:00 a.m, totally exhausted.
A few minutes later the couple in the adjoining room got busy. My bed was up against the adjoining wall and I could hear every bit of their antics. After about 5 more minutes she starts yelling, “Oh god! Oh god!” At this point I had had it. I started pounding on the wall and yelled out, “This is god. It’s 1:00 a.m.; I’m really tired; and you’re pissing me off. Shut up and go to sleep!”
Not another peep out of them the rest of the evening.
It’s happened to us before in Paris. I complained because it was absolutely impossible to sleep or get some work done. Ended up getting upgraded after my complaint.
I wrote about it here:
http://grabamile.boardingarea.com/2017/03/westin-paris-vendome-the-royal-suite/
The point of vacations in cheap hotels in Mykonos is the three sss – sun, sea and sex.
What hotel did you stay at in mykonos?
“Both wearing leggings.” Two women? Two men? (Mykonos is a well known gay resort). You weren’t tempted to join the party?
Man and woman.
Was it Ford and Lucky?
Travel enough and you run into this. My wife and I find it pretty funny. Complaining seems a bit pointless.
never be a ****-blocker man! haha
Once I was at the Waldorf-Astoria in NYC for a conference. I was stuck in my room for a couple of hours in the early afternoon for a conference call. During the middle of the call, the unmistakable sounds of a couple enjoying each other’s company rolled through the wall. Fortunately, I quickly put the call on mute, because shortly thereafter, their bed (I assume it was their bed – I’m afraid what the alternative might have been) began slamming against the wall, shaking the lamp and other objects on my desk.
The good news was that I didn’t doze off during my Board call, but the bad news was that I wasn’t able to say very much due to muting of the call.
But I did not complain…
On a slightly different track, with your significant amount of time spent on airplane, have you heard similar things happening on airplanes from people joining the mile high club?
I have not witnessed that, though I offer no comment on my 17hr Etihad flight from AUH-LAX in closed-door suites.
The one time this has ever been a problem for me, it lasted forever. I finally beat against the wall. Problem solved.
If it was that loud, sure, just make a call to the front desk and let them handle it. Hopefully though the front desk person won’t rat you out and say the guy in xxx said to quiet it down. Otherwise simply go to the front desk and say xxx room is make noise and the leave without saying your name/room number. Nowadays everything is a calculated risk.
Those who complain are just jealous they are not getting any.
My thoughts exactly!
Me and the wife had the same thing happen a few years ago at a resort in Mexico. They woke both of us up from a sound sleep just after midnight with the bed hitting against the common wall. The walls were paper thin there, so we could pretty much hear every detail of their activities. My first instinct was to bang back on the wall, but we decided to just let them have their fun. It really wasn’t worth spoiling it for them, we were just hoping they would finish quickly so we could get back to sleep. But after a few minutes of hearing what they were doing, we decided to make the best of it and have some fun ourselves. Hopefully we were much quieter at it than they were. I saw no reason to complain about it, I’m pretty sure we enjoyed the experience as much as they did. The most awkward thing about it was that we had just met them the day before. Not only did we know exactly what they were doing, we also knew who it was that was doing it. It was hard not to chuckle every time we saw them after that.