Chapter 16 The Song of Distraction #2
“Come on in.” He held the door wide open for us.
The hotel’s foyer had undergone a complete transformation.
It used to be all dark wooden paneling, a red carpet, and lots of creepy paintings.
Now the floor was covered in cream-coloured tiles that reminded me of movies from the 1920s.
The walls were covered in light oak paneling with built-in indirect lighting strips, giving the space a modern, sophisticated feel.
While the right half of the floor was still covered in plastic sheeting to protect the work already done from additional construction, the left side of the room looked ready to open tomorrow.
It was set up like a café, with ten tables of various sizes, separated from the entrance by healthy-looking palm trees.
Next to it was a small shop with a coffee bar and empty food displays.
Even though it wasn’t finished, and the shop’s shelves were still empty, I could already imagine how magnificent it would turn out.
If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought I had been teleported to a trendy hotel in L.A. or New York.
“Wow, this has changed a lot since the last time I was here,” I said, craning my neck to get a better look at the back of the room.
“Two years of work, yes.” Nicholas puffed out his chest proudly, his smile widening. “So I take it you’re a native Seastonian?”
“Psst!” I brought my index finger to my mouth and leaned closer to Nicholas. “Don’t let my boyfriend know.”
“Well, that’s a word I didn’t expect to hear so soon.”
We both glanced at Alex, who stood with his back to us, studying the store layout as if he weren’t paying attention to our conversation.
“But in all honesty, what a transformation,” I added. “Wonderful job. I’ve stayed in quite a few hotels in my life, and this looks like a place I would enjoy coming back to regularly.”
“Thank you. People like you are part of our target group, so it’s good to hear that.”
A rumble from the back, followed by the plastic sheeting on the floor flaring up, caused us to turn around. A guy wearing an eye patch, black bathing shorts, and an open dark blue shirt that showed off his chest muscles joined us.
“Hey, guys,” he said.
“This is my husband, Jason,” Nicholas explained, then pointed at me. “And this is Sebastian.”
“Sebastian?” Jason narrowed the eye that wasn’t covered. “You look somewhat familiar.”
He did, too—and not just from the horror prank video. “Yeah. I think we met years ago, before I moved away. You’re the one who took over the gas station, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. And you are…?”
“You probably know my dad, Daniel Draper?”
“Oh, you’re Dany’s boy!” His eye widened, flicked to the ceiling for a second, then back at me. “Good to see you again… Sebastian.”
Alex joined us and waved at everyone.
“Now,” Jason said, gathering all the attention on him. “Jack just called me. They’re running late because Noah had a work emergency. They told us to start without them.”
“Yeah, I can’t wait that long,” Nicholas said, but then turned to me. “Unless you want a tour?”
I was excited about the spa, but after seeing the changes to the foyer, I was equally eager to explore the rest of the hotel. I looked at Alex, whose mouth curled in amusement.
“I’ve already seen it,” he said, “but you can go on a tour.”
“How about you and me,” Jason said, pointing at Alex, “warm up the hot tub, and you two,” he glanced at Nicholas and me, “go for a quick walk around the hotel?”
“Sounds good,” Alex said. I nodded in agreement.
“Then let’s go.” Nicholas motioned for me to follow him.
As he led me upstairs, we watched Jason and Alex walk past the reception desk and down the hallway to the former dining room.
“Since you’ve been here before, try not to compare it too much to what you remember,” Nicholas said. “We’ve changed a lot, and I’m interested to hear your thoughts.”
“Just a heads up, I’m probably not the unbiased end consumer you expect. I’m actually studying hospitality and hotel management.”
He paused for a second. “That’s perfect. Then you can give me some professional advice. We’ve relied on intuition for many things, but we worked with a hotelier from Ashbourne so we wouldn’t go into it entirely blindly.”
“But you have a background in the field?”
“Not at all.” Nicholas laughed. “Sorry to disappoint.”
For having no prior experience, they had already done a fantastic job based on what I could see. “You’re doing great. Enthusiasm and fresh ideas are what the industry needs.”
“So, before I show you the rooms, here’s the idea: we’re aiming for a mix of short-term and long-term stays up to three months.
Think digital nomads looking for affordable places to get out of the city and work on a project in quiet.
So, fast Wi-Fi and recreational spaces are big priorities.
We also want to offer hiking tours in the summer and skiing in the winter.
We’ve partnered with the town and are in the process of getting a permit to build a ski lift. ”
“Impressive.”
We reached the upper floor, which had the same oak paneling but felt cozier because the ceiling was lower. Two hallways stretched out to my left and right, winding around the corners of the building.
He showed me every nook and cranny. They hadn’t finished all the rooms yet, but four model rooms were fully furnished.
Two were designed for short-term stays and included a bed, a bathroom, and everything guests would need.
The other two were the long-term options.
They had the same basic set-up, but were bigger and also included a height-adjustable desk, an ergonomic desk chair, and a kitchenette.
It was quite clever of them to build two versions of each room first, so they could test the designs before finishing all the other rooms and only then figure out what they didn’t like.
Nicholas asked for my opinion on which rooms I preferred, but didn’t reveal whether it matched their own.
We also toured the cinema, the co-working space in the back, and the small arcade, which had billiards, darts, shuffleboard, and three vending machines with non-alcoholic drinks, smoothies, and snacks.
The backyard was still untouched, but he explained their plans to expand the outdoor seating area, rebuild the pool, and create a small park with secluded spots where people could sit and work in the summer.
Half an hour later, we made our way back downstairs, and he led me down the hallway where Alex and Jason had gone earlier.
“This is the space we turned completely upside down,” Nicholas explained. “The kitchen, staff rooms, and dining room used to be here. But by moving everything to the foyer and into a new extension, we freed up all this space for one of our main selling points.”
“The spa?”
“Exactly.” He opened the door on the left, revealing a small but tall room with a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the back gardens. The view of the mountains behind it was magnificent, but otherwise the room was untouched, with only drywall.
“This will become the gym once we’re finished with the foyer.
It will have treadmills and other equipment, as well as a small racquetball court that can be used for, well, racquetball and yoga.
Jason is in the process of getting his yoga instructor certification, so he can teach classes when we open. ”
Nicholas led me toward the spa, which was separated from the rest of the hotel by glass doors. A common room with shelves stocked with towels welcomed everyone before two additional doors separated the sexes.
The men’s changing room had lockers and benches in the middle. Though there were no windows, the ceiling lights made it still feel cozy and warm. To the left was a small restroom with three showers. A door to the right led to the spa itself.
“You can change here. I’ll meet you inside,” Nicholas said before leaving me alone.
I quickly undressed, shoved my belongings into a locker, and put on the swimsuit Alex had lent me.
When I pushed open the door to the spa, I found two saunas right in front of me, and a small empty room that I couldn’t quite figure out the purpose of.
Next to them was an indoor pool large enough for a workout, though it wasn’t filled with water yet.
To the left were more floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the mountains, and in front of them were two indoor hot tubs.
The one in the back was already bubbling.
Alex and Jason were sitting in it, and Nicholas was standing next to them.
All three of them were laughing, and when they saw me, Nicholas waved me over.
“You could have gone inside already,” I called out, my words echoing through the room.
“Jack and Noah will be here any minute, and I don’t want to be all wet when I have to let them in,” Nicholas replied. “But you go inside. Actually… I think I’ll excuse myself for a moment.” With that, he walked away.
The hot tub looked inviting. With the view of the mountains, it was easy to see why they had flipped the hotel’s layout inside out. I walked around to the side where Alex was sitting and climbed in next to him. The water was warm and soothing, the bubbles gentle against my skin.
“Did you and Nick get along?” Alex asked as I sat down.
“We sure did.” I scooted close to him and put my arm around his shoulder.
His back straightened, and his head twitched toward me as if he wanted to ask what I was doing, but after a second, he leaned into me, his hands underwater, searching for my knee to hold onto.
If he wanted me to act like a boyfriend, I sure as hell was going to try my best to show him what I could do.
Jason, who was sitting on the opposite side of the hot tub, eyed us, his lips curling into a half-smile. “So, Nick told me you study hotel management?”
“Vegas, baby,” I laughed.
“Apparently, it’s one of the best schools, I heard?”