Day 7--St. Kitts and the Crazy Over the Top Digs

We are finally in St. Kitts and it's wonderful.

As some of you may know, we are staying at the St. Kitts Marriott and Royal Casino Resort on Frigate Bay. It's a 5 star resort and the only reason we are here is because my good buddy Ken King who flies the resort CEO was able to get us a room at a fantasic rate. However, we did have a bit of an issue with the room...

It turned out to be a beautifully appointed villa, right on the ocean. In fact it was almost too good to be true. Not only was it beautifully appointed with all modern appliances, but the freezer was full of food--very high end food--cornish game hens, swordfish filets ($40US each--the price was right on it) and a fully stocked bar. The place was obviously owned by someone (and being rented out with their permission we thought), but it was kind of over the top.

The view from the balcony of our condo and no, that's not an alcoholic drink I'm holding, but it did come with a fully stocked bar!

In the cupboard we found a package addressed to "Andrea Bonciani" and a copy of an Italian newspaper from Toronto. Ah ha...it looked like maybe someone connected with Vic De Zen, the CEO. We called the front desk and they said yes everything was fine and to enjoy our stay. However, just to be safe, I sent a quick email to Ken telling him about the room. I kind of joked about the identity of the mysterious Andrea wondering if she may have been a kept woman or something like that.

Thirty seconds after I hit the send button on the computer, the phone rang. It was Ken. He wasn't laughing. Apparently, the room WAS a private villa owned by the Bonciani family of Woodbridge. Mr. Bonciani apparently was a shipping magnate who managed all the international shipping for Vic's various business interests. The room was definitely NOT to be rented out. The hotel had obviously messed up big time. Ken went ahead and called Rona, Vic's personal assistant that night in an attempt to straighten things out. The hotel manager called us at about 10 that night apologizing for the mistake and telling us we would be moved the next day…

That was two days ago and no one has called us! The only person we have seen is the maid who showed up to clean the room and asked if we wanted the towels changed each day! So in the interim, Kath and I are enjoying all this lovely stuff and waiting to move. However, I’m learning that this kind of mess up is very typical at St Kitts’ (and other Caribbean) hotels. Who knows, we may stay here the whole time!