A Soap Opera
The following letters are taken from an actual incident between a London hotel and one of its guests. The hotel ended up submitting the letters to the London Sunday Times.
Dear Maid,
Please do not leave any more of those little bars of soap in my bathroom since I have brought my own bath-sized Imperial Leather. Please remove the six unopened little bars from the shelf under the medicine chest and another three in the shower soap dish. They are in my way.
Thank you, S Berman
Dear Room 635,
I am not your regular maid. She will be back tomorrow, Thursday, from her day off. I took the three hotel soaps out of the shower soap dish as you requested. The six bars on your shelf I took out of your way and put on top of your Kleenex dispenser in case you should change your mind. This leaves only the three bars I left today and my instructions from the management are to leave three soaps daily. I hope this is satisfactory.
Kathy, Relief Maid
Dear Maid
I hope you are my regular maid. Apparently Kathy did not tell you about my note to her concerning the little bars of soap. When I got back to my room this evening, found you had added three little Camays to the shelf under my medicine cabinet. I am going to be here in the hotel for two weeks and have brought my own bath-sized Imperial Leather, so I won't need those six little Camays, which are on the shelf. They are in my way when shaving, brushing teeth, etc. Please remove them.
S Berman
Dear Mr Berman,
The assistant manager, Mr Kensedder, informed me this morning that you called him last evening and said you were unhappy with your maid service. I have assigned a new girl to your room. I hope you will accept my apologies for any past inconvenience. If you have any future complaints, please contact me so I can give it my personal attention. Call extension 1108 between 8am and 5pm. Thank you.
Elaine Carmen, Housekeeper
Dear Miss Carmen,
It is impossible to contact you by phone since I leave the hotel for business at 7:45am and don't get back before 5:30 or 6pm. That's the reason I called Mr Kensedder last night. You were already off duty. I only asked Mr Kensedder if he could do anything about those little bars of soap. The new maid you assigned me must have thought I was a new check in today, since she left another three bars of hotel soap in my medicine cabinet, along with her regular delivery of three bars on the Bathroom shelf. In just five days here I have accumulated 24 little bars of soap. Why are you doing this to me?
S Berman
Dear Mr Berman,
Your maid, Kathy, has been instructed to stop delivering soap to your room and remove the extra soaps. If I can be of further assistance, please call extension 1108 between 8am and 5pm. Thank you,
Elaine Carmen, Housekeeper
Dear Mr Kensedder,
My bath-sized Imperial Leather is missing. Every bar of soap was taken from my room, including my own bath-sized Imperial Leather. I came in late last night and had to call the bellhop to bring me four little Cashmere Bouquets
S Berman
Dear Mr Berman,
I have informed our housekeeper, Elaine Carmen, of your soap problem. I cannot understand why there was no soap in your room since our maids are instructed to leave three bars of soap each time they service a room. The situation will be rectified immediately. Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience.
Martin L Kensedder, Assistant Manager
Dear Mrs Carmen,
Who the hell left 54 little bars of Camay in my room? I came in last night and found 54 little bars of soap. I don't want 54 little bars of Camay. I want my one damn bar of bath-sized Imperial Leather. Do you realise I have 54 bars of soap in here? All I want is my bath-sized Imperial Leather. Please give me back my bath-sized Imperial Leather.
S Berman
Dear Mr Berman,
You complained of too much soap in your room, so I had them removed. Then you complained to Mr Kensedder that all your soap was missing, so I personally returned them - the 24 Camays which had been taken and the three Camays you are supposed to receive daily. I don't know anything about the four Cashmere Bouquets. Obviously your maid, Kathy, did not know I had returned your soaps, so she also brought 24 Camays plus the three daily Camays. I don't know where you got the idea this hotel issues bath-sized Imperial Leather. I was able to locate some bath-sized Ivory which I left in your room.
Elaine Carmen, Housekeeper
Dear Mrs Carmen,
Just a short note to bring you up-to-date on my latest soap inventory. As of today, I possess:
• On the shelf under the medicine cabinet - 18 Camay in 4 stacks of 4 and 1 stack of 2.
• On the Kleenex dispenser - 11 Camay in 2 stacks of 4 and 1 stack of 3.
• On the bedroom dresser - 1 stack of 3 Cashmere Bouquet, 1 stack of 4 hotel-size Ivory, and 8 Camay in 2 stacks of 4.
• Inside the medicine cabinet - 14 Camay in 3 stacks of 4 and 1 stack of 2.
• In the shower soap dish - 6 Camay, very moist.
• On the Northeast corner of the tub - 1 Cashmere Bouquet, slightly used.
• On the Northwest corner of the tub - 6 Camays in 2 stacks of 3.
Please ask Kathy when she services my room to make sure the stacks are neatly piled and dusted. Also, please advise her that stacks of more than four have a tendency to tip. May I suggest that my bedroom window sill is not in use and will make an excellent spot for future soap deliveries. One more item, I have purchased another bar of bath-sized Imperial Leather which I am keeping in the hotel vault in order to avoid further misunderstandi ngs.
S Berman
