TRAVEL THERE: ALL I NEED IS A DRAWER!
So by now we’re into the wee hours of the morning, but we’re so wired there’s no hope of sleep, so I start trying to organize the room for our stay.
So How Was It?
To tell the truth, I was a little disappointed. I expected more from the Fairmont. Except for the size, it looked good. Nice carpet and tile. The furniture and other appointments throughout the room were elegant, but it was a very tight room – like a cabin on a boat. Holiday Inn Express rooms are more comfortable.
There was barely enough room to walk between the bed and the dresser. Since Bill and I are thinner than most people, that means it was tight. A stuffed chair, a desk and an upholstered rolling chair cluttered the rest of the room. Since we had four pieces of luggage – two full size bags and two carry-ons – what space there was disappeared.
One thing I can brag on was the closet. It was certainly ample, with a full size iron and ironing board inside. However, there was virtually no other storage place. No drawers for your drawers, if you know what I mean. The dresser was filled with a mini-bar, supplies for the coffee machine and a safe.
Most people would probably think the bathroom was top notch with a bidet and a walk-in shower, but I’m not the walk-in shower type. I’m a bubble bath type. So while I could wash my privates with ease, a privilege overlooked at most American hotels, I would have preferred to soak them in a deep tub.
Overcoming Claustrophobia
Once the bellman was gone, I had a moment of, “I can’t stay in this tiny room for three nights!” I immediately settled myself down and set to making the room manageable. The first thing I did was banish the overwhelming clutter of reading material the Fairmont had spread across the room. The leather covered binders and folders were huge and there was a selection of magazines. There were paper tents to explain my pillow choices, door hangers for room-service breakfasts. Even the tv remote had a leather cover! All nice, but perhaps they should modify the size of them to jive with the room. I’m sure all that stuff looked just right in an expansive suite, but in my small corner of the hotel, they only emphasized the clutter.
The first thing I did was find a corner in which to hide the carry-ons. They didn’t have any of our stuff in them, only gifts. I’d need them soon, but not when I woke up. Next I opened the largest suitcase which the bellman had put on the luggage rack and pulled out the toiletry bags to stow them away in the bathroom. That portion of the room was more adequately-sized than the rest of the space. I think one person with a single bag could stay comfortably in the room, but we were a little bigger than it was.
On this trip there was no his-suitcase and my-suitcase. When they’d lost our luggage before, some of the bags were returned a few days later, but not the ones with my clothes or the gifts. (This was back in the day when you got two checked bags.) That’s why the gifts were in the carry-on and we each had half our clothes in both suitcases. While that proved to be an unnecessary precaution this time around, I sure wish I’d done it last time I was in Egypt.
In the bathroom I found perks I liked. There were two huge terry robes and two pairs of slippers. Usually the hotel-provided slippers are uncomfortable-looking contraptions that my feet reject, without even slipping them on. These were elegant little jobs with the Fairmont logo on them. I’ve never been clear on whether those slippers are an amenity I’m supposed to take with me or leave behind. I liked these so well that I brought them home with me and I didn’t even feel guilty, but it helped to find this article.
There were other nice touches. Sure there was the usual shampoo, conditioner and shower gel, but it didn’t stop there. Toothpaste, toothbrushes, sewing kit, shower cap, cotton swabs – even a nail file. I’m proud to report they even had a razor, which I discovered I needed. As I write this, I still haven’t found where I misplaced mine when I was fighting the battle of the luggage scale.
One Luggage Rack!
Allowing the wrinkles to hang out of our clothes was my next concern. That’s when I remembered the carry-ons actually had our evening clothes in them, so I had to retrieve them from the corner and pull out my sequined gown, Bill’s suit and the accouterments. Yep they were really wrinkled, but we had a couple of days before we’d be wearing them. I hung them up.
Next I pulled out the clothes I’d need over the next few days, which meant I had to open the other large bag. Only one luggage rack was provided, so I had to get creative and reorganized the room. There was a small, but sturdy looking side table for the easy chair in a corner. I moved the chair to the corner and put my suitcase on the table between the desk and the easy chair. Finally, I reclaimed some floor space.
Then I pulled out my wardrobe list (something I prepare for every trip, so I don’t have the what-am-I-supposed-to-wear-this-morning moment). There were a couple of small drawers inside the closet, so I was able to get almost everything I needed for our Cairo stay into the closet and started on making Bill’s life easier. That’s when the whole drawer for our drawers thing became a challenge.
So, I reorganized the contents of the suitcases. Turning the suitcase on the luggage rack into Bill’s gave him easy access to what he needed and I moved the balance of my clothes into the other suitcase to be out of the way. Finally, I could think about sleep – and I did. Come back next week and see how the next morning went.
jane sadek 