One of the weirdest and most disturbing hotel experiences I've had was back in the late 1980s.
My then employer had flown me business class to Rio and I had a stopover there for a couple of days before carrying on down south to my final destination.
They put me up in the Sheraton Hotel on Ipanema beach in a very nice mini suite which had a balcony and outside seating area. Everything was on expenses and even the journey from the airport was in a chauffeur driven car.
I was feeling pretty pampered by the time I reached my room and as it was early morning when I checked in I decided to order breakfast to be brought to my balcony.
The view to the right was stunning, overlooking one of the most famous coastlines and beaches in the world which as it was Saturday morning was already beginning to fill up with the rich and beautiful.
The view to the left though was tragic, straight into a cliff side favella, people with less than nothing living in cardboard boxes perched on ledges in the cliff. Separated from me only by the high walls of the the hotel complex and a road.
The juxtaposition of our circumstances troubled me greatly and to this day I can see the face of a young guy who was probably about the same age I was then ( late 20s ) staring back at me from his cliff side dwelling, sitting on my balcony with my sumptuous breakfast.
The human condition really is a lottery sometimes.
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Sun 20 Mar 16 at 11:33
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