Like I have been saying, the cloak doesn’t make the monk and the structure does not make the hotel.

There are many hotels in Nigeria with intercontinental brand names attached to their gargantuan edifices but dole out nauseating services that haunt unfortunate patrons for the rest of their lives.

Most of these hotels with big names still offer antediluvian services of old with obsolete décor and fittings which are neither maintained, serviced or replaced with new ones.

Any regular patron of hotels and buyers of hospitality with global exposure would be able to authenticate this opinion.

Some distinguished Nigerians were in Abuja recently for a conference. They all arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport where the protocol informed that they were being quartered in different hotels.

According to the protocol officer, the distinguished and eminent Nigerians had to be quartered in different hotels for he could not secure all their rooms in the big hotels with international brand names because of the national event taking place in Abuja that day.

Those who were lucky to be sheltered at the big hotel were happy while the others grinned about their bad luck and envied the fortunate ones.

But by the time the “so unfortunate” ones got to their hotel, they praised God for being fortunate  to have been sheltered at the hotel Hawthorn Suites.

They were impressed by the peace and tranquility which pervaded the environment.

They were also fascinated by the ambience of luxury and coziness at the reception, which  was  not characterized by mass traffic of non-resident guests.  

They were surprised that attention at the reception was fast, prompt and personalised.

They were also dazed that eligibility to the suites through the lift is personified through the magnetic key which you must use before the lift agrees to carry this.

According to a staff “this is to keep off any unwanted visitor and keep them safe.”

They were also surprised that this is the first hotel they were being lodged where it offers or sells no alcoholic drinks.

 They were surprised that at Hawthorn Suites Area 11, guests were ushered into their suites and received a brief lecture on how to operate facilities in the suites.

They were also surprise that everything about Hawthorn speaks of good quality, classical and of  immense splendor.  

The bed, the beddings, the pillowcases, the bed side lamps, the fridge, the Plasma TV, the tea maker, the microwave machine, were all in a perfect order.

To them, the bathroom seems to be out of the world, with the functional cubicle, the hairdressing machine, the mirror, arrays of toiletries, towels and mirrors.

At the restaurant they noticed that the waiters were just dotting on them doing their bidding and carrying out their orders with joy and enthusiasm.

They were happy that they had variety and fresh foods, unlike where the left overs at lunch are always retouched for dinner!

They all were of full of praises for the protocol officer who lodged them in a hotel where soul pleasing music’s was on whenever walking the corridors.

They were impressed that they had an ice meal , good and sound sleep and were really attended to as kings by the staff of Hawthorn.

In fact, the uniqueness of Hawthorn hospitality was accentuated when one of those who were lucky to be quartered in that international hotel related his experienced to the colleagues “You people are lucky for not going over to that hotel which only relies on old glory. Do you know that they had to change my rooms thrice because of deficient facilities? The first room, the door was bad! The second, the bath tub was malfunctioning  and even in the third which I just managed, some light were dead.

He had not finished when others started reeling out stories of the poor services offered at the internationally branded hotel which they thought they were luck to be.”

“This was not the case in Hawthorn Suites where we were treated like kings, enjoyed the meals and slept in a suites like that of the Queen of England where everything has been perfectly made to work for your comfort. And next time we are coming to Abuja, Hawthorn will always be our choice. It is super.”