Four legs good, four wheels better

摘要

IN HOTEL BARS in many parts of Africa, foreign businessmen Like to regale each other with tales about the difficulty of arranging even simple things like accommodation or a safe ride from the airport. The head of a big American investment bank recalls how he bagged the last available room in a swanky Lagos hotel, only for the door to fall off as he entered. When he complained, the receptionist said, "No problem" and sent up two burly guards to stand in the doorway all night. Your correspondent's contribution to this fund of stories is about the disturbed night he spent in a brothel after unwittingly booking into a hotel with a reassuringly international franchise in its name.