An edited portion from my master's thesis. The account recalls my first experience of a five star hotel environment. The writing acknowledges the assimilation of circulating images, ideas and cultures within the Indian built space. The thesis understands five star hotels as the means as well as product of such intensified circulation in the global world.
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Five star hotels were always far fetched
territories to experience within the city I lived in. As a simple middle class city
dweller, I could not afford the luxuries of five star hotels. One of my first
experiences of a five star hotel was when my to-be-brother-in-law invited us
for a breakfast in one of the hotels he was staying in, while visitng our city
for a business meeting. This was Tulip Star (?). Along with my sister, we
chanced upon this opportunity of visiting the five star hotel. My interest was
not as much in the breakfast, as much as a legitimate excuse to enter the
confines of a five star hotel. I was more excited to find out if such spaces
were as grand as their entrances. I was curious to find out what these
fortress-like buildings contained within them. What existed behind these
seemingly large, elusive backgrounds?
Most five star hotels within the city set
themselves back from the main street frontages as much as possible. The
entrance to them is highly curated, taking a person through trees, bushes and
foliage that are framed through extremely large doors that already announce
their grandeur. They almost harbour a sense of surprise that we may encounter leading
through colonial classical pathways or driveways that take you to a “drop off”
point covered generally by a huge canopy. These canopies are essentially as
large to take about 5 rows of cars together, where escorts then take you and
your vehicle over.
In such a setting, it almost seemed awkward
to enter the premises of a five star hotel to merely visit it, since neither did
we own a car, not could anyone amongst us drive. (There were no rent-a-car systems
in cities either, and borrowing a car from a friend was pointless given our
incapability to drive). We simply took an auto rickshaw to visit the place
thus, in our best possible attires. Shoes, it seemed, were an important element
of the dress code (not flip-flops or sandals, that are typical to the tropics).
Naturally then, formal outfits to suit the shoes became obligatory.
Within the hotel, everything was double or
even quadruple the size of a typical setting. The staircases hovered within such
grand volumes connecting levels containing different activities, and were
coupled with escalators. There were water fountains and even plants as large as
trees inside the halls. I wondered if they were real or fake. Reading some
directions, we arrived at the information counter and spoke to the receptionist
to communicate our arrival to our guest, who was also the host. At the
reception, we were greeted by a young lady – wearing semi-western clothes. She
looked unnaturally fair, and the make up on her face was evident. “Good
Morning, How may I help you?” she spoke in English. Although my sister
communicated on behalf of us, it was one of the first times that I felt my
English medium education would get put to use thus! It secretly pumped my ego.
The receptionist made a call to the room
through the intercom, and asked us to wait, pointing us to the lobby. We
promptly moved to a family-style seating arrangement with extremely comfortable
sofas. Thinking back, these sofas opened up our otherwise contracting bodies –
we stretched our arms to rest them on their arm-rests. Although the seating
made us face each other, our gazes were distracted – we looked all around us –
noticing the height, volume and space of the surroundings. All of us carefully
looked at the minute details of furniture, lighting, cushions and the fountains
that lay around. Foreign magazines from different countries were placed on the
table. The plants were definitely not Indian – orchids, and exotic flowers were
carefully placed within containers that adorned the interiors. Seemingly
expensive artworks hung on the walls.
We were soon greeted by our guest and taken
to a large breakfast hall. The arrangement was a buffet style organization
where one could pick a plate and choose one’s breakfast – certainly quite
contrary to what one would have at home – one kind of dish in everyone’s plate;
or in a small restaurant – where a couple of items would be ordered and shared.
The buffet style made our choices highly individualized. Here, there were
choices ranging from various types of milk to breads from different continents.
There was butter, cheeses, sprouts, fruits from different continents, along
with Indian snacks. In another section, were hybrids: French samosas, American
sandwiches, Mexican burgers, Italian idlis, cocktails, and so on...
We had to constantly keep on reading up the
names of cuisines and their ingredients to make sure that we weren’t picking up
anything non-vegetarian (we being vegetarians). By the end of our rounds, all
of us had different things on our plates, nevertheless with some safe choices
like bread and butter with mixed-fruit jams! Over the table, we discussed our
impressions of each of our dishes, speculating the proportion and mix of ingredients,
tastes and textures as well as the way in which they were made. We did multiple
rounds of the buffet to experiment with cross-suggestions based on everyone
else’s opinions on the various items on the menu. It was almost afternoon by
the time we finished our breakfast. “I will have to skip my lunch now” I said.
“That’s why it’s called brunch,” my sister informed. I learnt a new word,
rather a new concept – that which is in-between breakfast and lunch, morning
and afternoon, and perhaps also the East and the West?
--
I was too young then. I believed that one
could only enjoy the conveniences of a five star hotel if one is living there.
That the hotels within the five stars were open to cater to the public, and
anyone with spending potential could access them did not occur to me. However,
as I grew up, five star hotels opened themselves up to the public in more ways
than above.
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