Drilling for work in Goa

It quickly became obvious that I had been ‘spoiled’ in Mumbai, as if I wasn’t already aware of that!

My room in centre of Goa was nice enough, with a view into the rear quadrangle containing a pool and an assortment of replica masts and sails of the old square rigger variety, erected around the space presumably to reflect the ‘nautical’ connection to Goa’s coastal position. Trouble was, the originally white sails were now stained and mildewed, matching nicely with the backs of the grubby concrete frames and balconies of the ½ dozen surrounding apartment blocks – and from the look of them there was no guarantee that the blocks were all occupied.

After the next day’s exams were finished and I had returned to relax before preparing for the following day and deciding what to do with the evening, I slowly became aware of tapping, then hammering and then drilling on adjacent floors. It was difficult to make out exactly where the sound was coming from, simply because there seemed to be so much of it! I tried unsuccessfully to ignore it or block it out, then went down to reception and politely enquired whether there was building work going on?
“Renovations Sir”
‘Renovations?’
“Yes Sir – the floor above you and below you is being renovated”
‘Oh – I see. At 6 o’clock in the evening? Will they be finishing soon?’
“Probably in about 10-15 minutes Sir, if not I will go and ask them to stop”
‘That’s very kind of you – thankyou’
“No problem Sir, it’s a pleasure Sir”

Back in my room, 10-15 minutes passed with no change, then 30, then 45.
I phoned reception – different person – re-explanation of scenario.
The lady offered to go and ask them to stop.
How kind. She said they would stop in about 20 minutes.
They did – more or less.
Another 20 or 30 minutes (I wasn’t actually counting) and I thought I heard a rogue ‘thump’.
Must have imagined it.
Thump – there it was again.
Thump, thump, tinkle.
And so it gradually crescendoed to the original hiatus of 6pm, but now at 9pm!

I gently explained to reception that this seemed a little ‘extreme’ and that whilst I appreciated that hotels need to be renovated, wasn’t it usual to do the work during the day and then stop in time to allow the guests to have peace in the evenings? Especially as some of had to prepare for work in the morning?

Lo, it was agreed, and the banging and drilling did stop after another 20 minutes.

When Chris ‘the Boss’ heard about this in the morning he was far from happy though, and at the end of the day when he dropped me at the hotel, he instructed me to report immediately to the reception desk and announce my arrival, and the connection to him.
This done, I was immediately ushered into the manager’s office and introduced to him. Much apologising for the inconvenience, and would I please consider looking at another room in a quieter area of the hotel which should hopefully be acceptable?
So off we troll to another room, which turns out to be a suite with the usual large bedroom and en suite plus an adjoining lounge with 3-piece and 2nd TV.
Who am I to complain?