A long night

We thought things were looking up until we were dropped off at the back of the hotel rather than the front, and it was pouring down. What looked like buzzer buttons that might have elicted a response from the reception staff went unheeded, so we dragged ourselves around to the other side of the building in the torrential rain.

Then, to top off our night, we had just about settled into our room when the building fire alarm activated. Eventually, after what seemed like endless alert messages, the evacuation message was given. Elaine and I got ourselves dressed and walked down the 19 levels to the street. We had got most of the way down when we started to meet people coming back up, who let us know that the evacuation was over, but we were disinclined to walk back up! Elaine was rather forthright on that!

When we reached the lobby, people from lower floors were asked not to use the lifts, but that didn't stop them. Elaine and I got split up at this point, but she was rescued by one of the hotel staff who selected half a dozen people staying on the higher floors and used the service lift.

By the time it was over, my quick calculation was that the trip had taken 21 hours from bed to bed!Read more