Prestige Park

I was back at the Prestige on Saturday to invigilate the CAE exam. The receptionist on duty was different from the one I’d met the previous week, but just as friendly and professional. My earlier visit had been for the Cambridge University FCE exam. While there, I saw two professional tennis players ask whether continental breakfast came with their reserved rooms. The receptionist was helpful, courteous, and spoke perfect English. I recognized the men’s West African accent and introduced myself in French, asking if they were from Cameroon. They confirmed they were. They now lived in Paris, but said their hometown was Yaounde, Cameroon’s capital, where I had lived for several years. I switched to Ewondo, the language of that part of the country, and asked, “Mbolo, wa ka ve na wa zu ve?” meaning, “Hello, where are you coming from just now and where are you headed.” They were amazed and asked the receptionist how I could speak their tribal language. I told them, “Ma anga atili bekalata minkana wom”, meaning, “I have written some books about your tribal proverbs.” I had work to do, so I left them to check in. I later told the story to my Lunch and Learn students at Vallis, who are reading my English-language book about Cameroonian children. A few days later, while the students were at an outdoor cafe, one of the tennis players came up to ask for directions to an address. They showed him the way, then asked whether he was from Cameroon and repeated African names from the book’s characters. He was astounded that Slovaks had recognized his nationality just by looking at him and knew words from his language. The Prestige is rated four stars, but I’d give its conference facilities none. The events staff were unbelievably rude to the seventeen exam candidates and shouted at them until the Vallis director had to step in. It reflects badly on the Prestige. The Hotelstars Union, which awards hotel stars in Europe, would surely lower its rating if it knew how event guests were treated and how dirty the conference room was. There were broken bottles, and we had to sweep up the glass and mop the floors ourselves. We had to ask for toilet paper in the bathrooms, fix the curtains, and clean and arrange the tables and chairs for the exam ourselves. We won’t use the facility again unless the events management changes. Many of the CAE candidates who were shouted at came from a school that had booked its stužková banquet at Prestige that year. They said the food was bad and the restaurant staff were quite rude. A four-star hotel should have considerate, polite, responsive waiters and supervisors. In an economy with competition, good service is the key to success. Clients in Slovakia have choices now and will go elsewhere if they’re mistreated. A bad waiter and an irresponsible organizer can eventually bankrupt a business. The irony is that these things would never happen in Africa. In Cameroon, for example, staff at a four-star hotel would be far more professional and take pride in their work and service, and the conference rooms would be spotless and ready when the client arrived.