What's the first thing you do in a hotel room?

What's the first thing you do in a hotel room?

Sunday 19 August 2012

This afternoon, I checked into The Buttery Hotel in Oxford. I was at a wedding in Hampshire yesterday, and I haven't had an awful lot of sleep. It's also been a scorcher of a day, which made for beautiful conditions to explore the city, but unfortunately it has turned me into a shiny red-faced streak of disaster.

So when I arrived at the hotel, I was a little worse for wear.

I walked in the door, and took my trousers off. Immediately. It's the first thing I do whenever I enter a hotel (unless, of course, I'm sharing a room with someone. And to be honest, that's no guarantee I won't do it irregardless)

I feel instantly at home once I've stripped off. Preferably, I scatter my clothes all around the room. I'm marking my territory, perhaps. Either way, it was just what I needed when I reached my room (which, incidentally, is on the fourth floor of a building with no lift... not helpful for the aforementioned shiny redness)

Then it's time for a quick explore, before I run the bath. I don't have a bath at my place, so it's something I never fail to do when I stay in a hotel. I tip in the contents of whatever toiletries have been left in the bathroom, and sink back into the bubbles.

This evening, I took a cold bath, in an attempt to cool down (it was my trick in Paris during the massive heat wave of 2003).

What made it even better was the punnet of strawberries next to me. And I have a little confession, which will either make you think I'm a genius, or a slob. The TV is quite portable in this room, and right next to the bathroom. So I popped it on a chair, and watched The Big Bang Theory as I soaked.

Slob or no, it was AWESOME, and I defy you to say otherwise.

My only concern is that it would somehow electrocute me. And you just know that story would be on every "funny news" segment around the world.