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I’ve been thinking of writing something about love because even though I don’t celebrate Valentine’s, I can’t discount the fact that February is always associated with the word love. And love for me is always associated with kindness.

Yesterday, one female guest was shouting at my colleague at the reception. She wanted to move to another villa on the other side of the island away from strong wind. My colleague informed her that one villa will be vacated soon however, the guests of that villa decided to extend their stay. Unfortunately, my colleague forgot to inform that female guest, hence the ruckus yesterday morning.

Last December, while my colleague at the reception was talking to a guest, another guest, a middle-aged lady dumped a sack on the reception desk, wet and full of sand. The lady screamed at my colleague complaining about sacks on our beach and reef. Those sacks were used as sandbags that we place on the beach to prevent erosion. After some time and due to the weather, those sacks wore out and the ropes loosen. When that happens, the sacks would either get stuck on the corals or wash up on the shores. The lady ranted about how we as a brand promote ourselves as socially responsible when we couldn’t even clean our own beach and reef.

Both guests are not entirely wrong. They pay a certain amount and they have certain expectations. Of course, we all do. In both cases, we admit the negligence from our side. However, my colleagues, me, and all of us working in the service industry are also human beings. I am not trying to make excuses but we also get tired and we can also make mistakes.

When the whole world was on lockdown, most of us if not all, must have wished for the time to come that we can travel again. And now that the world is slowly opening up, I hope we don’t forget what we have been through inside the four walls of our houses.

At this time, hoteliers are also front liners just like health care workers. We nurse mental and emotional health by providing service so all of our guests can have a great holiday, the break they have been all longing for a while on lockdown.

If you would be able to travel soon and stay in a hotel or eat in a restaurant, as a hotelier, I ask you to be a little bit kinder. Let go of minor mistakes if it doesn’t really affect you at all. If the employee admitted that it’s his or her mistake, please forgive them. You know how difficult it is to admit mistakes and say sorry. If the error is unbearable, you may always let us know but you don’t need to scream. We can hear you enough and we understand.

Because of COVID, the cleaning and hygiene standards doubled. That means, in order for us to provide a safe environment to our guests, we have to double our efforts in cleaning, sanitizing, and following the safety standards. It entails a lot of round-the-clock work that you don’t really see.

As a person in the service field, we know that we get paid because of the service we provide. However, even a little appreciation and a simple thank you can go a long way.