Do Not Disturb. Do you understand those three little words? Apparently the people at Sunparks do not. I have been living in hotels for the past 19 months and it is the first time I encounter a place where the staff consistently disrespects this simple request when they see the sign on your door.

First, there is the cleaning staff. Cleaning day is a major operation. Every Tuesday afternoon, they have a small army of people doing the weekly cleaning. Just like in the army, everything is highly organized. One "batallion" changes the sheets, another does the cleaning, then another comes to pick up the dirty linens. This should be a good thing, right? Well, not really.

I am sitting in the living room, working on my computer when someone knocks on the door. I open, it's the bedding brigade. Not wanting to be in the way, I grab my jacket and go for a walk. I come back later and they are gone. I return to the computer and am almost back in the proper frame of mind when there is another knock on the door. This time it is the cleaning lady. Realizing that I would not get any work done at home that afternoon, I decide to go try the Cirque common room.

The place is a horrible mess. There was a birthday party in there two days earlier and nothing has been cleaned. Beer bottles everywhere, ashtrays full, food on the carpets. And the smell, the awful smell... I start thinking perhaps the cleaning brigade should review their priorities.

A bit later, when I return to my "villa", I try to figure out what it is that the housekeeping lady actually did. The dirty dishes are still in the sink, the garbage can is still full, there are still moldy stains on the bathroom wall and my shower curtain is still rotting. Even the white moss which grows between the floor tiles in the kitchen was left untouched. However, the curtains which I had carefully closed to make sure bored teenagers could not peak inside our house have been left wide open. In my bedroom, I find a plastic bag containing new sheets and towels. They did not even make the bed.

Then, there are also the furniture people. They go around houses replacing plastic white tables by wooden tables in some houses, while replacing wooden tables by white plastic tables in others. One night you return to your "villa" to see that they changed your ugly, uncomfortable couch by another ugly and uncomfortable couch. A friend came home one night to find that he had now four couches in his living room instead of two. On one of the couches was a memo saying that they tried to deliver the two extra couches next door but could not get in. And yes, the "Do Not Disturb" sign was on the door.

TO BE CONTINUED...