After the all-day trip to Panama City yesterday I dropped Gloria at her house rather than having her come back here, and headed to the hotel for dinner.
She is thrilled with the new washing machine, which now sits in her kitchen. She couldn’t get it hooked up because there was no water in the village last night or this morning. That means no water for drinking, cooking, washing, or bathing. No water period.
The lovely hotel Bristol Buenaventura came on line just as the recession hit.
Night view from the hotel lobby
The developer, Sr. Vallarino, is said to have deep pockets. He has the largest villa in the Buenaventura complex, and he arrives in his private helicopter most weekends. He owns the company that supplies dairy foods to the country, and has been in high levels in politics.
I hope Sr. Vallarino has very deep pockets. Because I was eating alone most of the waitstaff – many of whom live in Rio Hato – stopped by, one by one, to talk. They are worried about their jobs. Last night there were 20 guests at the hotel – not 20 rooms, 20 guests. I believe total occupancy is 129 rooms. I don’t know what break-even might be, but it certainly is more than 20 guests. A few parties were having drinks while I ate, but I was the only one dining at 7pm. A few more parties came in as I was leaving.
Rooms here cost in the $225 range, not super high by US standards for a luxury hotel. But, ten minutes down the road is the Playa Blanca – same beach, same ocean. For half that price, a traveler can get a spacious room, three meals, and all the house liquor you can drink. The rooms are less luxurious but are clean, have flat-screen TV’s, air-conditioning, and little balconies. The Playa Blanca is usually filled with vacationing South American families. The Decameron, also nearby, specializes in inexpensive tour groups from the US and Canada. The BB is going after the luxury market. Wealthy Panamanian families have weddings here, and the hotel is more crowded on weekends. The staff tell me they were filled for the week between Christmas and New Year’s, and expect to be filled again for Carnavales.
The hotel offers the highest-paying jobs for locals as servers, kitchen workers, bell boys, groundskeepers, maids, bartenders, and – if their English is good enough – front desk staff. I pray for Sr. Vallarino’s deep pockets.
Tags: global culture
January 21, 2010 at 10:24 am
Your description sounds a little like an artful old black and white movie… you at the table with the waitstaff talking to you, the trickle of guests, the wealth of the owner and his helicopter (think of the helicopter scene from Slumdog Millionaire!).
You, of course, are the star of the film, which is about your modern relationship with the people of Rio Hato.
hmmm….
January 21, 2010 at 1:58 pm
This is an infinitely complex place, with no easy answers.
Couldn’t help using the photo of the hotel’s fountains in conjunction with the village – 4 miles away – having no water at all.