Day 12: Aishi's Hotel

          It's said that everyone has skeletons in their closest.  Today I learned that my older sister Aishi has an entire hotel hidden in hers.  I wouldn't mind, I mean, who wouldn’t want a luxury hotel in an exotic location to earn them thousands of dollars every month.  There is nothing wrong with that, certainly nothing to be ashamed of...
          What gets me is the fact that she never told me.  Even when I told her I was going to Tanzania.  Not one word.  Seriously, if you had a luxury hotel near somewhere one of your family members was visiting, you'd invite them to stay there, wouldn't you?
          But no, my dear, sweet sister Aishi breathed not one word about the hotel she owned in Machame.  Not one!  Nor did she offer us free room and board.  Oh well, despite this horrid lack of sympathy, I still got to see the place, as it had been remodeled by my Mjomba Terevaeli and his best friend, Macmillan.
          When Aishi first got the hotel, it was a rather ugly box that just sort of sat there in the middle of the lawn and dared passers by to look at it, let alone actually come inside.  Sticking the whole thing in a giant brown paper bag would have been a vast improvement.  To breath some new life into the hotel, Terevaeli and Macmillan would need to completely change its look.  And they did.  First, they needed to add on a new reception, bar, restaurant and pool for the hotel.  Since this is Tanzania, they decided to use dark wood to decorate everything, from the covered walkways to the chairs.  The roofs of both the reception desk and the restaurant/bar are made from native thatched banana leaves.
          One of Hotel Aishi's most unique features is the tree that forms the center of the bar.  Located on one corner of the restaurant, the bar encircles the trunk of a large tree that forms the main support for the bar's roof.  Wrapped around the middle of the tree is a large wine vat that is cleverly exposed to form shelves for bottles of rum and whiskey for the bar.  The greatest achievement, however, was the dressing of the original box that was Aishi's Hotel.  False balconies were added to breakup the box shape, and a false tiled roof for character.  Hideous pipes crawled along the outside of the building.  Since these could not be moved inside, they were encased inside hollowed out logs, transforming them into beautiful support beams.
          I tried to get a couple nights free stay, but the receptionist wouldn't listen to me.  I guess I'll have to go have a talk with my sister...


E’ya! - Tate


P.S. – I just found out that Aishi had to sell the hotel to Protega, a large chain of African hotels.  Perhaps it was the shame of this that kept her from mentioning it.  I’ll have to see.


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