Turks & Caicos: Provo - Budget Places to Stay

[Tim Ingersoll]

The problem you have on Provo is that everything costs more. Food and lodging are very expensive. Comfort Suites may be on the low end of Provo price wise but its still not cheap. You also have cultural differences to deal with. Staff that seem "rude" are very often simply reacting to the American way of dealing with service staff. We tend to be very impatient and rather pushy. I have found that staff are much less "rude" if you start interactions with a simple "Hello, how are you today?". I am told that in West Indian culture it is very rude to start an interaction with "My AC sucks. Can you have somebody look at it?".

 

[Rescue Diver68]

From Tim:[/QUOTE]You also have cultural differences to deal with. Staff that seem "rude" are very often simply reacting to the American way of dealing with service staff. We tend to be very impatient and rather pushy. I have found that staff are much less "rude" if you start interactions with a simple "Hello, how are you today?". I am told that in West Indian culture it is very rude to start an interaction with "My AC sucks. Can you have somebody look at it?".[/QUOTE]


This is a bad assumption on your part. The locals were actually very nice and blamed the rudeness on the boom in tourism on the Island. The boom in tourism caused a shortage of workers in the hotels/resorts. The locals told us that they have brought in workers from other Islands such as the Dominican Republic and Haiti. You are also insinuating that we addressed the staff in a rude way (you made that part up on your own). The staff at Comfort Suites TCI was rude.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

I have been to TCI many times and have noticed that Americans tend to be unintentionally rude and then are treated shortly in return. They then complain that the staff is rude to them. I had this experience personally for a few years until someone was kind enough to explain the substance of the foregoing post to me and have had better interactions ever since. I meant no insinuation to you personally. Just trying to help. Remember you can't control anyone but yourself.

 

[Rescue Diver68]

I have been to TCI many times and have noticed that Americans tend to be unintentionally rude and then are treated shortly in return. They then complain that the staff is rude to them. I had this experience personally for a few years until someone was kind enough to explain the substance of the foregoing post to me and have had better interactions ever since. I meant no insinuation to you personally. Just trying to help. Remember you can't control anyone but yourself.

OK, well at least you cleared that up. We were rude but we are too ignorant to realize it. Thanks for the lesson. It's funny.

Stay away from Comfort Suites TCI. As Tim pointed out you'll be treated rudely by the staff because you are an American.

 

[potato cod]

OK, well at least you cleared that up. We were rude but we are too ignorant to realize it. Thanks for the lesson. It's funny.

Stay away from Comfort Suites TCI. As Tim pointed out you'll be treated rudely by the staff because you are an American.

Before a recent trip to the Bahamas I was told by a colleague who travels there often to always start any conversation or request with pleasantries and or it would be considered rude. It is natural as Americans to want to get straight to business, but by the end of my trip I found that remembering to ask how people were first was a nice reminder to slow down and take it easy--I was on vacation after all! It also meant that we initiated a few more lengthy conversations and interacted with people on a more personal level than we may have otherwise.

So, while I wouldn't know if the staff at Comfort Suites was particularly rude, like Tim said, it's a cultural thing you'll likely encounter throughout the West Indies, maybe not just at Comfort Suites.

 

[Rescue Diver68]

Try Sibonne instead.