Saturday, April 8, 2017
Another World hr590
At the end of a glass corridor in the hotel, there were heavy double
doors painted to imitate marble. It was an entrance to the hotel’s
outrageously expensive exclusive fitness club although its appearance
was rather like some shady bar. I mentioned the membership fee is
expensive, but the degree of expensive far exceeds my definition of
expensive. It’s a five-digit matter. I was standing at the doors holding
a magic piece of paper that nullified the fee. It was given at the
front desk when I checked in as I was staying here with a special
low-priced promotion that included the free use of the club. I pushed
the heavy doors open with my trembling hand. I prepared myself for a
counter, but instead I saw a huge vase of flowers majestically sit on
the center of a small hexagonal room. The club spares this space just to
welcome a member. Walking into the next room, I finally found the
reception desk behind which two clerks were standing. I handed them my
magic ticket and they told me the club rules. Those were common rules
such as no tattoos, no makeup, and a shower before a tub, but required
my signature on the paper. Then, the clerk acted as a guide and
courteously ushered me to an exclusive elevator at the back of the
reception room. The elevator door opened to a member lounge and a member
restaurant. Beside them, round marble stairs led to an entrance to the
locker room. Along the carpeted hallway, several private massage rooms
lined. Rows of lockers were surrounded by luxurious tables, chairs, and
benches. Each locker had a display and the key was digital, by entering
numbers of my choice on the pad. Inside, I saw a purple robe neatly
folded. Up to this point, the place was already much more gorgeous than
any club that characters of Michael Douglas had used in the movies.
Since the club rule strictly indicated to wear the robe in the locker
room area, additional purple robes of all sizes were abundantly stacked
on the shelves, like at an apparel shop, not to mention fresh soft face
towels and bath towels, which were all free to use as many as I liked.
After my personal guide left, I removed my makeup at the spacious powder
room section. All kinds of high-end amenity I’d never seen were arrayed
with cottons, tissue and a hair dryer on the dressing tables with sets
of mirrors. I was looking around restlessly like a bumpkin and went in
the pool. It had a glass dome roof above and wooden tables and deck
chairs, shower booths, a sauna, a Jacuzzi and a tanning bed on the
poolside. On the edge of the big pool, there were wide round stairs to
get into water that looked like an edge of a stage. Except for a pool
side clerk who stood behind the counter and politely greeted me, no one
was there. I monopolized the heavenly place, swimming, taking a Jacuzzi,
looking out a night view of skyscrapers and streets. When I was
leaving, a fresh towel was handed by the clerk. Next to the pool was the
spa. It had both a Finnish sauna and a steam sauna beside a hot tub, a
cold plunge and shower booths. I got in them repeatedly and used
imported shampoo by an amount I never used daily. By then, I was dying
of thirst and went out to the locker room area for some water. Beyond
the powder room section was a relaxation section that had a circle of
five or six robotic massage chairs. On the wall, I found something like a
water cooler. I took a paper cup and my eyes popped out with surprise.
What looked like a water dispenser was a free soda fountain! A wide
variety of quality-brand soft drinks such as sports drink, 100% fruit
juice and soda came out for free. While I was gulping down eight cups of
all kinds, I was quite certain that I had somewhere died and was in
heaven now. I spent three hours in total, which wasn’t enough to look at
the gym, the indoor tennis courts, the indoor driving range and the
putting greens. I wondered how happy I would be if I could live in this
completely different world from the one I knew. I also duly knew I was
only a visitor who had to leave since I can’t possibly think of a way to
be a resident of that totally heavenly world…
Labels:
amenity,
health club,
hotel,
jacuzzi,
juice,
locker,
membership,
Michael Douglas,
pool,
promotion,
putting green,
robe,
robotic massage chair,
sauna,
spa,
sports drink,
swimming pool,
travel,
trip,
water cooler