Five-Star Deal

[Varindar Asyt]

---------------------------------

ATTN: [member="Alora Fae"]

With the low season coming up on Trandosha, we can offer a last-minute special: with each night you book at the Crown Nebula Hotel, the only five-star hotel on Trandosha, you are entitled to one free meal at the restaurant, either via room service or at the dining room. Book now, while there are still rooms left; rooms go fast!

Varindar Asyt
General Manager, Crown Nebula Hotel

---------------------------------

Hopefully cold-calling the guest personally would work, she thought, while promising to herself that she will, in fact, personally cook the meal that Alora would order, either in-room, or through the room service. She was aware that cold-calling prospective guests rarely worked. Now, she had no clue whatsoever as to how good a cook she actually was: there was no feedback from either attempt she had at using the hotel's kitchen for performing pyro/cryokinesis lessons. All that she did know was that she wasn't the sort of chef that could believably work at a five-star restaurant, unless five-star ratings were granted to restaurants on the back of the service rather than the food. And she knew service was key for the hotel portion of the business to retain a five-star rating, more so than the amenities, and she always hear about restaurant guests complaining about the service not being worth the cost, even when they can have comparable food at other lower-rated restaurants at a much lower price. That, even though they didn't complain about the food per se. It's just the cost of the cloched service didn't seem to be worth the price of the meal at the restaurant.

 

[Saraya Arenais]

Trandosha​

Early Morning​

​

Alora stepped off the ship, stretching her arms up to the sky. She had received the message about the hotel less then a few days ago. While she wasn't entirely sure what a hotel was, she was curious to learn. Someone had mentioned that hotels were the best place to be to people watch and pick up culture. She glanced over to the tall building as its large shadow crawled lazily toward the tips of her boots.

A hallow click sounded as she cracked her fingers against one another and set her jaw. Her pale green eyes scanned over the landscape as she made her way toward the building. This would be a pleasant break for her. She wasn't afraid to admit that a short holiday might be nice. It would clear her head at the very least.

Once inside she stood stock still, not quite sure of the protocol or what to do next. It seemed that people were approaching a desk to discuss something, but she couldn't be sure what. Alora guessed that was where she needed to be.

The red leather of her glove creaked as she rapped her knuckles on the desk to catch the attention of the staff.

[member="Varindar Asyt"]

 

[Varindar Asyt]

If, to [member="Alora Fae"], a six-floor building was tall, at least as far as Trandosha was concerned, that's perhaps because Trandoshans thought that vertical architecture interfered with their ability to use the surrounding forests as a hunting ground. As the guest fo the day was approaching the front desk... she could feel that guest wanted to learn more about Trandoshan culture, even though the Trandoshans working at the hotel served as security as well as maintenance, and that the rest of the staff were refugees from GA and CSA space. Since the hotel was structurally complete, the fixtures were being put into place into the sixth floor rooms before they could be rented out. Which would come in about a week or two. But soon Alora would realize how brutal Trandoshan culture really is: the hotel might still be useful for the language portion of the trip, however. And the special meal for today was called the Scorekeeper's Special - she would probably want to eat, and/or cook, a Scorekeeper's Special, probably some variation on spare ribs or some other such thing. Nevertheless, she stood ready to prepare the keys to a room.

"Welcome to the Crown Nebula Hotel. What can I do for you today?"

 

[Saraya Arenais]

Her head lent forward in the slightest of nods toward the woman. By her side her left hand flickered imperceptibly.

Having no idea what to ask she settled on raising her brow a fraction as she spoke. 'What is hotel?' She settled on asking the simplest of questions, hoping to get a simple answer in return. Her accent was thick and heavy with something all but unknown to the rest of the Galaxy.

She had tried using a translator before but they didn't seem to recognise the language well enough. She certainly wasn't going to teach someone Ochotin so that it could be added to a database. Alora could only hope the woman understood her through-out the duration of the conversation.

[member="Varindar Asyt"]

 

[Varindar Asyt]

"A hotel is an establishment where people rent out rooms for short-term use, which serves as a home away from home while the room is rented out. Often rooms are booked well in advance of the guest staying"

Yes, [member="Alora Fae"] was a little... rough in her language skills, but she was used to it ever since she began even working a hotel's front desk. Guests came with a wide variety of language skills, which was why Alora thought it was a good idea to attempt learning something at the hotel. Culture, language, among other things: for sure she will be exposed to guests from a wide variety of species and cultures, especially if she went to the bar or maybe to the restaurant if she could afford to eat at a five-star restaurant. Today, however, the special culinary deal of both the bar and the restaurant is the Scorekeeper's Special: the eponymous Little Green Men running the bar's kitchen have extended it to the bar as well. But she was nervous: maybe at some point Alora would be willing to book a room, maybe she would go to the restaurant, but she still has a free meal to cash in and the counter would start anew with the next guest if she did, in fact, use the free meal with Alora. But she feels that maybe it's a little premature for that sort of thing: there was still much to learn.

"Now, the Crown Nebula is the only five-star hotel on Trandosha, because Trandoshans favor simplicity, and hotels are ranked from one star to five stars, although what a five-star hotel, and likewise all other star levels, means vary a lot from a region to another"

 

[Saraya Arenais]

Alora favoured the woman with a nod of understanding as she listened. It sounded like the perfect place to take a little break. She caught the end of the word advance and frowned at it. She hoped she was not too late to make full use of whatever was on offer. Shuffling from one foot to another she listened attentively to the woman speak about the Crown Nebula Hotel.

She had already half decided on what to do first and set her frame accordingly. With a firm nod of her head she spoke plainly: 'If I am not being too late to have a room that is what I shall do.' Her credit chips clattered noisily onto the desk. She hoped it showed determination and did not come across as if she were flashing her money around.

[member="Varindar Asyt"]

 

[Varindar Asyt]

"For tonight, the only room left is the Peach Garden on the fifth floor, and with it is included a free meal at the five-star restaurant"

Typically one-star hotels, in common parlance, provides very basic amenities and five-star is perceived as a luxury hotel. In her experience, most of the variance between star rating systems occurs in the 3-to-5-star range. But even with the free meal, which is worth about 10-15% of the rate, room service or in the dining room (since they both come from the restaurant's kitchen, they also count towards anything restaurant-related, such as loyalty cards and other promotions) there was still a profit to be made. The rate was perhaps a bit high for [member="Alora Fae"] but five-star hotels aren't cheap. Now that she handed the keys to the Peach Garden to Alora, she could then enter Alora's name in the room tracking system and flicker the switch saying "Vacancy" to "No Vacancy". This year it happened only on a half-dozen of occasions where there were any vacancies whatsoever, which means she can reasonably expect high occupancy rates so long as she keeps a watch on the business. Just that she would expect the saturation point to be reached upon completion of the sixth floor's furnishings.

"Here, the keys to the Peach Garden; do you want me to guide you to your room?"

 

[Saraya Arenais]

Alora closed her fingers around the key, thankful for the cool feeling the metal spread over the tips of her fingers. Whatever a peach garden was, it sounded acceptable. She thought for a moment, taking the time to look around the hotel lobby.

It seemed various people were carrying bits of luggage with them. She wondered absentmindedly if she should have done the same. But even if she had it would have been a very small suitcase. She only owned one set of armour and two sets of other clothes, which she barely wore.

Alora had a feeling that to fit in, she would probably have to get a little credit happy.

'This I would like, if you have time to lend. Are you also a seller of clothes?'

[member="Varindar Asyt"]

 

[Varindar Asyt]

"We have a boutique in-house. Now, since it's high fashion, don't be fazed by the prices, but maybe there's something that will fit you, something that isn't overly fancy"

To be honest, she never bought anything in that boutique, although she did make one quarterly visit to the different tenants to collect their quarterly income statements. That's all she needed from the six tenants: the restaurant, the beauty salon, the boutique, the swimming pro-shop, the bar and the fitness center. If she feels she needs a trip to the boutique to get up to the restaurant's standards, so be it, she thought, while guiding [member="Alora Fae"] from the front desk to the boutique, where a selection of clothing, ranging from the simpler shirts, pants, catering for a more business-oriented clientele, to the more luxurious dresses, carefully laid out to separate the merchandise by type, including, of course, some makeup and other fashion accessories, but she was surprised to see the boutique mostly devoid of customers, probably because the boutique itself is more active earlier in the day. For Varindar she is made to feel a little bizarre, having to act as a concierge for that sort of clothing arrangement; typically concierges were doing that job for her instead.

"Welcome to the Emanresu Emporium; what can I do for you?" the boutique's manager greeted the two.

 

[Saraya Arenais]

'Pricing is of no issue. Thank you.' Alora gladly allowed herself to be guided through the maze of the building toward the boutique. Whilst walking she made a point of looking around with curious bright green eyes.

It occurred to her that the building seemed so large because of the way her own people lived. They built their homes buried deep into the rock or underground to save themselves from the harsh winds. Alora had never seen a fully fledged building, never mind a building taller than one story.

As they reached the boutique Alora pulled down her armour self-consciously. It seemed to be a very fancy place and she was definitely not dressed for fancy. At least she had made the right decision to purchase some clothes before delving further in.

'Hello.' She said in the politest tone she could manage. She also attempted a smile. 'I am needing of some clothes. Plain and simple clothes.' Her eyes darted nervously toward the dresses and the makeup. How was one even supposed to wear a thing like that? It would just get in the way of things. As she scanned the rest of the outfits she came to a stop on a brightly coloured forest green shirt and a simple pair of brown pants.

'How about these things?' She lent forward to caress the material with the tips of her fingers.

[member="Varindar Asyt"]

 

[Varindar Asyt]

She could tell that [member="Alora Fae"] needed some time to get adjusted to a culture that lived above-ground and that didn't live in caves or on vast single-floor expanses. Then it was clear to Varindar that the guest wanted something simple that would be wearable in a variety of contexts, even in much less formal environments. Now, makeup did much less to impede one's movement compared to dresses; that's why she didn't wear dresses much, outside of formal events. Nor did she keep too many of them either. The guest brought her attention to a forest-green shirt and brown pants. Simple, but never did she suspect anything - she expected another combination of colors. Especially since it made Alora look like a tree. A tree of the varieties that exist on Dathomir's mountains. But were there not any jeans at her size left? That would fit Alora much better than those brown pants. Or, at the very least, last longer. But pants' durability is typically highest when the jeans are shorter than the wearer's ankles, especially crucial when one is dealing with high heels of the variety many of the human/Near-Human female guests wore.

"The shirt is just fine, but what about those jeans? These are made of rugged, blue denim, much more durable than those brown pants"

 

[Saraya Arenais]

Alora turned her head toward the blue denim jeans. A strange material she had never laid eyes on before. Most of her people wore simple items of cotton or linen, despite the violent winds that sometimes plagued their planet. Idly she fingered the buttons and the material. It felt comfortable in her hands least, but would it be comfortable wrapped around her legs for long periods of time?

'I can be trying them on first?' Her eyes flicked over to the attendant, hoping she could at least test the wears before she made a purchase. She definitely had her heart set on the green shirt. The colour would compliment her eyes something fierce. But she was more then willing to accept advice and suggestions. If she didn't how would she learn anything?

[member="Varindar Asyt"]

 

[Varindar Asyt]

"Now, could you please follow me to the dressing room?" the boutique's manager asked [member="Alora Fae"].

Any good boutique would have at least a few dressing cabins, with the inner doors of these cabins sporting one big mirror. Yes, denim was, in fact, some sort of reinforced cotton, just that it seemed alien to the guest; for work, however, Varindar preferred to wear the sleeveless white lace shirt, and then she could wear a black skirt, which was the outfit that appeared often in Crown Nebula ads when she personally took part in their production. She was the muse of the Trandoshan hospitality industry by virtue of running its most prestigious property, that five-star hotel. Now, she could kind of feel that it was to see whether the jeans fit her, and on two levels: fitting on her guest's body and matching with Alora's green shirt. But out of courtesy towards the guest, neither the manager nor Varindar would be entering the array of dressing cabins: dressing cabins were spaces of intimacy to them. Obviously if, afterward, she wanted to use her free meal with her, so she would need to eat it, too, and she would need to go to the kitchen to prepare both servings. And then and only then will she know for sure if, for the few recipes she can actually prepare, she is actually up to the standard of a 5-star restaurant.

 

[Saraya Arenais]

Alora gratefully followed the manager through to the changing rooms after gathering her chosen outfits up in her arms. She was doubly grateful when both the manger and the friendly woman from the desk left her to her own devices in there. She quickly stripped of her red mercenary leathers along with the white, protective layer of cloth that prevented chaffing.

It felt strange stepping out of the armour. Apart from to sleep, she had not been fully out of it since she had left Ochota. It took a while to remove all the belts and buckles that attached it securely to her frame. She shook a wondering thought that she was now completely defenceless from her mind and stepped into the jeans. The fit her snug and, to her surprise, they were rather comfortable. She took a few moments to turn slowly in the mirror provided to inspect her figure in them. They were as close to her skin, if not closer, than her armour was.

The shirt was comfortable too. Made from a fine, breathable material that flowed loosely over her torso. The sleeves poofed out slightly and then came to a tight fit at the wrist. It was perfect. She gathered up her armour and took her leave of the changing room. Once out, she stopped in front of the two and made a halfhearted attempted at turning around to show off her new outfit. 'Is ok?'

[member="Varindar Asyt"]

 

[Varindar Asyt]

"Too pretty to be true!"

[member="Alora Fae"] finally had a chance to be wearing something other than this armor; for that Varindar was grateful. But perhaps Alora could feel that the hotelier could be flattering the guest, and yet, the most important person at any hospitality establishment, be it a hotel or a restaurant, no matter how luxurious (or not), is the guest. Hopefully she will wear that outfit regularly when not needing armor, she thought, while she would like to be eating this Scorekeeper's Special, even though she knew it would likely be not much different from an ordinary set of grilled spare ribs, regardless of whether or not she is the one cooking them. Meanwhile, a Trandoshan female customer entered the boutique but instead dashed for the dresses. Just that they must have realized that Trandoshans have different color and morphological needs because of their bodies: they are typically much bulkier than humans at their height level. And she also hoped that Alora would get to the cashier before getting to either her room or the restaurant, and actually wear that outfit in either location.

"Just tell me what you would like to eat, provided it's on the restaurant's menu"

 

[Saraya Arenais]

At the compliment she did her best to put a grateful smile on her face. She did feel rather more comfortable in this then in the leather. 'How am I to be paying for this?' Her fingers fumbled through the mass of leather, searching for the pocket that had her stash of credit chips. The second customer dashed into the room, startling Alora from her concentration.

She allowed herself a few moments of staring curiously at the very alien woman. But she had already learnt not to stare too hard or for too long. Alora pulled her eyes away before the stare became uncomfortable for both her and the woman.

Almost as if her stomach had read Varindar's mind, it gave a gentle grumble that could only signify hunger. Alora came to the realisation that she was indeed rather hungry.

But of course, she had no idea what was on the restaurant's menu. Nor could she read Galactic Basic.

'What is best thing on menu?'

[member=Varindar Asyt]

 

[Varindar Asyt]

That guest is as if the guest was alien to the greater galaxy. I've had a few guests like her, she ought to be grateful for me, although I know that some of the guests of that nature would instead return home afterward and not to get out until absolutely necessary, Varindar thought, after [member="Alora Fae"] was finished paying for that outfit. The cold, hard truth was that Alora was, in fact, hungry. In fact, she would be placing an order for 2 Scorekeeper's Specials into the room service system, registered to be delivered in Alora's room. Just that Alora's Scorekeeper's Special will be cooked rare because of the special cloche used for room service delivery of that instead keeps food in the cloche warm, which will make the rare Scorekeeper's Special medium rare or medium even, when it arrives. For this reason, there are, in fact, two sets of cloches in this hotel's restaurant. Varindar decided to answer outside the boutique, so as to not disturb the Trandoshan customer, and she was getting closer to the restaurant's kitchen, when she finally could answer the question the guest asked of her.

"Here's the deal: I'll personally cook one of those Scorekeeper's Specials and process it as if it was a room service order, so you will receive it in your room, and I'll be there in your room after the cooking is done. In the meantime, just enjoy your room"

 

[Saraya Arenais]

That sounded just fine to Alora and she nodded her head in agreement, following after the woman.

'That is sounding nice. I will see you there.'

They departed at the kitchen and Alora made her way to the rooms she had been assigned. Whilst waiting for her food she took the time to explore. Inside she marvelled at all the wondrous technologies she had never before laid her eyes on. She recognised the black screen placed atop a stand as a TV. There had been plenty of them aboard the ships she had travelled on but they were a much smaller size. Alora wondered what kind of detail you would you would be able to pick up on one that size.

She poured through the rest of the room, feeling the soft towels between her finger tips. She tried turning on a fancy looking hair dryer but quickly shut it off when the hot blast of air caught her in the eye. There was also a closet which was far too big for what Alora owned. Her red leathers would look lonely in there but they would be pride of place which she liked the idea of.

[member=Varindar Asyt]

 

[Varindar Asyt]

As with the first pyro/cryo lesson with bantha steaks, she would be preparing the mushroom and red wine gravy that was part of the Scorekeeper's Special, with all the ingredients being ready to serve eight cups of that gravy; all that she had to do by now was to put in the olive oil at the bottom of a skillet, to ensure the mushrooms won't stick to it, cook the cremini and porcini mushrooms using pyrokinesis, and then add in the whole content of a red cooking wine bottle, while adding in fine herbs and flour near the end. Thirty-two servings of the mushroom gravy won't last that long at the rate grilled food (be it Endorian chicken, skewered meat, steaks of any cut or Scorekeeper's Specials) was being ordered, so as she began roasting the two spare ribs, again using pyrokinesis to cook it until they reached a rare doneness level, the rest of the side dishes are then placed onto the two plates. Which included a Monte Carlo potato, some rice and some steamed carrots, enclosed within a tray big enough for two thermal cloches, as is usually the case for the cloches used in room service, cashing in the loyalty card. She thus carried the tray with two cloches and the utensils to the Peach Garden on the fifth floor, making sure not to trip over anyone. Once she arrived at the Peach Garden, she knocks on the door, expecting [member="Alora Fae"] to respond:

"Room service!"