There's a time-honoured tradition in Nunavut that I'm ready to see the last of. That tradition is the doubling-up of strangers in hotel rooms and B&B's.
I had the misfortune of being booked into a B&B for a few days in one of the communities last fall. It was either that or the hotel, so I asked the travel agent to make sure that I would NOT be sharing a room, and to choose for me accordingly. I was also quite willing to not travel if I would not be guaranteed a private room for the duration of my stay.
The agent checked and said the B&B would guarantee me a private room. So, optimistically, but still doubtful since I'm not new to travel in the north, I had them make the booking.
Well, I can hear the squeals of laughter of the Arctic Agent readers from here. You guessed it. As soon as I arrived, I was told that the person previously in the room had decided to extend their stay, so I'd be sharing.
So, here I am put on the spot, as we are all put on the spot. "It's the way of the north". "It's winter in the Arctic, what do you do?".
Well, I've had enough of it, so I made the difficult decision to be a bitch. I knew there were other rooms available in town (more expensive), and I had the earlier booking, so I refused to share. It was so hard! The pressure should not have been on me. The person I was kicking out was not happy, although they did not blame me (I don't think!). If I had been the displaced person, I would have forced the B&B owner to make up the difference of having to switch to a different room after having changed my travel plans on the condition that I could extend my stay, but that was not my decision to make.
This is just so wrong. It's bad enough expecting strangers to share rooms, but to do it to someone after they had gotten a guarantee of a private room is just unethical.
I took an informal poll in the days following, and I was shocked at how many endorse the sharing of rooms. Everyone has been convinced that there is no other way to do it, that you can't throw people out in the cold.
Well, I am here today to call bullshit on that notion.
Let's face it. There are no unplanned arrivals to the communities in Nunavut. You book in advance (unless you're stupid, but face it, the travelers in the north are either well-heeled tourists or transient workers. We're not stupid, we make plans, we can't drive into town on a whim). If your plane arrives, the weather is OK, so the person scheduled to vacate your room is generally not stranded, unable to leave the community (Arctic Bay is an exception due to wierd flight schedules, and I should mention that the B&B there is wonderful, I've stayed there too and it wasn't that one!).
The reason people are doubled up are because we put up with it. We're nice. We don't want to be labeled as snobby or demanding southerners, or "culturally insensitive" at these "misunderstandings" (definitely not a misunderstanding in my case, although that card was played), so we suck up the "tradition" of sharing, due to the "shortage" of rooms.
Guess what causes the shortage of rooms? Well, I run a small business, and it's a no brainer. If you can sell the same product twice, at double the profit, and the customer bears the inconvenience and not the business, it starts looking pretty darn lucrative, doesn't it? Further, not only do the inconvenienced customers not complain, everyone just says it's the way of the north. Heck, the hotel operator is practically a hero for offering this unique cultural experience, and the pushovers- oops, I mean guests- are left to dine out on the tales of roughing it in the north. Hardly a big incentive to expand rooms when you can double the profits on the ones you've got.
I'm not a tourist looking for a unique experience though. It's not 1957 any more, and I've had enough.
I also have the solution. If rooms have to be shared due to lack of space due to "emergencies", pass a law that the guests are each charged half rate in that situation. That way at least they get a financial break for having had to sleep with (or worse, not sleep at all) the snoring stranger with the questionable hygiene who might be out on parole for all they know. The hotel operator loses nothing, their room is still rented. And you know what? If the hotel or B&B operator is denied the double income, I think the number of rooms will suddenly increase.
After all, room rates in the north cost are higher than the south, for far fewer of the amenities. Sure, it's expensive to build in the north, but the room prices reflect that, and they don't need to put in the conference rooms, the pools, or the parking lots to attract guests, so it does work out. The demand is there, otherwise, what is that stranger doing in my room?!?
Stop trading my sleep and privacy for your profits! The innkeepers of the north are not going to do anything unless we stop being such good sports about being treated so deplorably.
-- F.St
11 comments:
I think you're absolutely right.
I found this post interesting because I plan to open my house as a B&B when I retire.
I ran a northern hotel thirty years ago and I must confess that I took advantage of every opportunity to double my revenue. However, since the practice remains as unpopular as ever I decided quite a while ago that when the day comes I will have a policy that nobody shares unless they ask to share.
That should create an advantage for me, as long as my competitors continue to piss people off.
Great post! Many shameful truths in there. As I was reading I thought "That sucks, but at least this person would have only paid for half the room." I am disgusted that the hotel would still charge full price. That is something the Better Business Bureau should hear about.
"pass a law that the guests are each charged half rate in that situation."
That should be the law. Tourism here is quite unregulated, and that should be common sense, but would likely have to be legislated.
I hear that you are buying a bed for the night, not a room.
Does anyone know, can they put you in with the opposite sex? Or do they respect that boundary? My greatest sympathies for the people sharing with snorers!
Anonymous, you are right I would rather stay in your B&B if you can offer a share free room! Good business plan!
I have had this happen as well, with not notice. Being someone who travels frequently I was impressed that stuck a stranger in my room, with my SLR Camera, PS2 and Ipod prime for the taking. It is BS, and so is the per night per bed policy. In many of the smaller communities they would charge for the number of people in a room.
This is a pretty weak post. Come on! Complaining about hotel service???? Most other jurisdictions in Canada of equal size would not even offer hotel and meal services. I can Nunavut residents concerning themselves with the quality of government they recieve and other important issues but this one is soooo low on the totem pole as to be declared unimportant and irrelevent.
I think this is a reasonable post, if you are concerned at all about the economics of Nunavut, and tourism being a possible money maker. Tourism might not be huge now, but you won't get people in if you cant offer them the same standard you see hotel business in the rest of the country. The kind of people that have the money to come to these remote communities (art buyers and mid life adventure seekers) aren't the type of people who want to stay in boarding room conditions.
Not to mention it's just not good business practice to give your customer half of what they pay for. And we all want to see good healthy business to help Nunavut Flourish.
@ Anonymous #3. Think you can do better? Send your stories to arcticagent@gmail.com
I knew someone who was given a roommate who was clearly psychotic. She had to find another place to stay as it wasn't safe with that roommate. Lucky for her she was able to.
I once was travelling with a pet (hotel had approved), and found out on arrival that I had a roommate. Can you imagine being that other person and a cat and litterbox arrives? What if they're allergic or hate animals? What if the cat jumped on them in the night (he would have!)? What if they allowed my cat to escape? In that case I was rescued by an aquaintance and taken home for the night. Phew.
What if your roomate is careless and leaves the door unlocked and your stuff is stolen? What if they're a thief?
I don't want to be exposed to someone else's headcolds, TB, whatever, or to expose them to mine if I happen to be sick.
When you rent a hotel room, it's for a bit of peace and quiet, privacy and sleep after a hard day of travelling and/or work. I don't want a roommate. I want to lock the door and have the world be on the other side of it, not right there in the room with me.
Like everything else you should be careful about lumping everyone in the same boat. Not every venue of accommodation in Nunavut forces people to share room. Pick your beef with the particular venue and don't patronize them if you don't want that. If you come to Arctic Bay you will see that my B&B, Kiggavik B&B guarantees single accommodation.
As for the rates, we try and keep them as low as possible but until you have to pay the mortgage..., and an American client advised us that for similar accommodation in Cape May one would pay well over $400/night.
Come stay with us. I'm sure you'll have a delightful stay, ask anyone who has stayed here.
Clare, read it a little more closely, I think you're reacting to what you think it said rather than what was actually said. Cost is definitely not the issue here. And it's hard to not patronize an establishment when you're already arrived and realize you've been lied to.
Just because you're not doing it (and good on ya for bucking the norms there!) doesn't mean it's not happening, and that it's not widespread. Your establishment is way above the norm, and you should definitely be proud of that.
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