by Allen Williams
The event was held at the Four Season's Lodge, a plush resort featuring
championship Golf, a Japanese garden and SPA, ample meeting room
accommodations and other amenities. Services were held in the Lodge's
Marbella rooms located on the lower level of the main complex lobby with
seating for more than 400+ attendees.
The hotel complex was built in 1964 before the Americans with disabilities act' was passed and so has a number of shortcomings although there has been an attempt to make internal improvements such as adding parallel ramps for those who prefer to avoid the stairs where small elevation changes permit. General lighting conditions are deficient in the Marbella room unless you're fortunate enough to be sitting directly under one of the overhead lamps. Lighting is poor in the hotel corridor access to a number of the hotel rooms and outside lighting along the walkways is virtually nonexistent and a sure fall hazard unless you have a cell phone or separate flashlight. There is only one elevator around the bend from the hotel's front lobby desk. I did not see a route to that elevator upon exiting several locations around the lower level Marbella room where we met. Stairs appear to be the only access in or out.
On October 18th about 30 minutes prior to daily services in the Marbella
location we were informed that the water would be shut off for the
entire complex for TWO HOURS. And when I say the entire complex, I mean
ALL of the corresponding hotel rooms as well.
I immediately went to the hotel lobby desk to get confirmation of the shutoff as I was not certain that it hadn't been somewhat exaggerated.
Later I checked with several patrons who confirmed water was shut off to
their rooms. If someone was ill and needed to use the facilities during
the shutdown, they were simply out of luck. In all the years that I've
traveled, staying at some of the best hotels, I've never experienced
anything like this! No word of apology from the hotel management,,,nothing..It's as if this was just another normal occurrence and
according to Cornell it's entirely plausible.
The hotel complex was built in 1964 before the Americans with disabilities act' was passed and so has a number of shortcomings although there has been an attempt to make internal improvements such as adding parallel ramps for those who prefer to avoid the stairs where small elevation changes permit. General lighting conditions are deficient in the Marbella room unless you're fortunate enough to be sitting directly under one of the overhead lamps. Lighting is poor in the hotel corridor access to a number of the hotel rooms and outside lighting along the walkways is virtually nonexistent and a sure fall hazard unless you have a cell phone or separate flashlight. There is only one elevator around the bend from the hotel's front lobby desk. I did not see a route to that elevator upon exiting several locations around the lower level Marbella room where we met. Stairs appear to be the only access in or out.
I immediately went to the hotel lobby desk to get confirmation of the shutoff as I was not certain that it hadn't been somewhat exaggerated.
When I spoke to the young lady behind the hotel desk, she seemed
somewhat shocked and promptly called hotel maintenance who confirmed the
two hour shutdown. Why was this action necessary for the entire
duration of our service? Why not two hours before or two hours
afterwards? This maintenance effort is something you'd expect to be
done in the off hours of the night when people are asleep, especially
since there was no indication of serious leakage. The Four Seasons
management likely wanted to save repair costs at the expense of the
hotel guests. A likely consequence from Cornell University's School of
Hotel Administration titled 'Environmental Sustainability in the
Hospitality Industry.'
https://scholarship.sha.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1199&context=chrpubs
Some individuals dared using the restrooms during the shutdown reported
that hotel staff inside the restroom offered a bucket of water to
patrons to flush the commodes. I can't confirm that as I hurriedly left
to use the facilities at my hotel some 3 miles away as Erskine
Caldwell's," Tobacco Road" came to mind.