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- <text id=89TT2095>
- <title>
- Aug. 14, 1989: World Notes:Britain
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1989
- Aug. 14, 1989 The Hostage Agony
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- WORLD, Page 42
- World Notes
- BRITAIN
- Money Down The Drain?
- </hdr><body>
- <p> At home the Japanese enjoy the soothing comfort of a hot
- ofuro, their traditional bath. On the road it's not so easy.
- Trying to re-create abroad their beloved steaming, full-tub
- soak, Japanese tourists have acquired a reputation for wreaking
- havoc on British hotel bathrooms.
- </p>
- <p> London hotel managers claim that Japanese guests fill up
- the tubs, leave the taps on, then pull out the drain plugs to
- ensure a constant flow of clear water. The result: heavy damage
- from the overflow flooding through carpets and cascading into
- rooms below. Says Geoffrey Gold, general manager of the Swallow
- International Hotel, where 20% of the guests are Japanese: "It
- got to the point where an average of one bathroom a day was
- flooded." Some hotels are warning Japanese guests that flooders
- will face fines; others have made a simple but costly
- technological adjustment: installing drains in bathroom floors.
- </p>
-
- </body></article>
- </text>
-
-