Christmas day was wonderful, and very windy. We met our friends who had just flown in from California that morning. We walked up to Calton Hill and all around the High Street, eating a delicious Christmas dinner in the evening. Later that night, James and I were awoken by a couple in the next room. It seems they were arguing. The female was whining and we could hear a male voice, who sounded to be grumbling a half-hearted response. Around this time, I thought I heard her say in a thick brogue, "But, I Looooves Ya!" This, to me, confirmed that they were locals who were having a spat. I tried to ignore it, hoping they would figure something out.
Around 2:30am, we were awoken again This time, the female was just sobbing. It sounded like someone had killed her best friend. I was thinking that they were probably really drunk and the argument was, at this point, just pointless and protracted. We'd had enough, so we called down to the front desk. The nice young man who answered asked me to verify which room it was coming from, as they couldn't take my word for it. Well, that seemed a bit odd, but I got dressed and went out to what I thought was the next room. But as this hotel is an amalgamation of several Victorian buildings, it wasn't that easy. The next room seemed dead quiet. So, I proceeded to walk around the floor, through a storage area and over to a hallway that would have come up behind our room. As I opened the fire door, I heard it. But it wasn't the same as what I had heard in the room. Here, it was quite clear, as if I was in the room with them. This was not a Scottish couple having a drunk spat. Oh, no! This was one female and two males, all speaking Japanese. The female was role playing as a very naughty school girl who was being spanked and scolded. I really thought I could tell the difference between a Scottish dialect and Japanese.
Just then, the hotel clerk came around the corner. He acknowledged the noise and we walked back towards the elevators. He apologized for making me walk the floor to find the source and explained his colleague who requested such is new. I told him it was all worth it just to hear the real story.
After returning to our room, we heard the phone ring on the other side of the wall. The people stopped, then whispered a lot but never answered as the phone kept ringing and ringing. But shortly after, the sound ceased all together.
It was only two nights later that we were awoken again at 1:30am, but this time by the fire alarm. We both got dressed, even though the recently reported problems with the electrical system told me that it was most likely a false alarm, but we all know how deadly hotel fires can be. So, we walked down the stairs and out to the front of the hotel where scores of people were standing in the cold drizzle as the fire brigade pulled up. A pair of young women huddled together for warmth, having not taken the time to grab their coats. By contrast, I had my purse, camera and everything to stay warm and James had everything he owned from the room. Within 15 minutes, we were given the all clear and everyone returned to their rooms. About an hour later, the alarm went off again for a short burst. Then there was a very long burst, while James and I put pillows over our heads and tried to pretend it wasn't there. Just as I was putting on jeans to go outside because I couldn't stand it anymore, it stopped. Once again, we were left in our hotel bed completely awake at 3:30 in the morning. Fortunately, there was wine left over from the night with the noisy neighbors.
The next morning, we sleepily roamed around the city and made our way back to London that night. And so I must admit I was happy to be back in my London flat where the most noise at night is the radiator.
