A slice of French paradise! The pool at the Hotel Ritz Paris is a quiet respite for any lucky guest.
Just recently, I was a snowbird happily rejoicing in the worship of the sun, poolside in Palm Beach. The warmth, after being in five-degree weather out West, felt like a re-charging cocoon of delight for my body and soul. It was heaven on earth… for about ten minutes. My state of bliss was abruptly interrupted by a guest who picked up her ringing phone and proceeded to announce, through her conversation, that she was indeed important with many deals to discuss, loudly, for over thirty minutes. The other annoyed guests, grimacing to one another, moved away from her. It was obvious that she was going to continue to talk loudly, without any consideration to others around her. Have you had this happen to you too?
This same type of annoyance also transpired while relishing an elegant lunch in Le Cinq, at the Hotel George V, Paris. My husband and I was on one side of the grand dining room and could hear every detail being discussed by a gentleman over his mobile phone on the far side of the dining room. Guests were giving him wild glances of discernment, which did not resonate on his politeness Richter scale. After ten minutes, the Maitre d’hotel went over and asked the gentleman to kindly not use a mobile phone in the dining room, which is blatantly displayed on a sign by the entrance. He continued talking... for what seemed like an eternity, rudely ignoring the request.
So, how does one graciously deal with this public display of disrespectful phone behavior, and still be gracious? My course of action is to quietly ask the person in charge, whether it is the maitre d’hotel, the pool attendant, or a plane purser, to address the situation and hope that the guest listens to their plea to either lower their voice, step outside, or put their phone away. What would you do?