‘Pity the cleaner’: naked Chinese couple furious over what window washer saw when they opened curtains of their deluxe hotel room

• Angry couple paid US$240 for one-night at luxury hotel with river view in top-tier city but it was the window cleaner who got an eyeful
• Under-fire hotel staff tell couple it is impossible to give a precise time for window washing due to factors such as weather

A man has complained to a luxury hotel in China after he and his girlfriend - who were both naked - opened the curtains of their 41st-floor room to find a window cleaner staring back.

The man, surnamed Xu, spent 1,649 yuan (US$240) for one night in the deluxe, river-view room with his girlfriend at the five-star Hangzhou Conrad Hotel in China's eastern coastal province of Zhejiang on March 6.

Xu said they were shocked to open the curtains the next morning unclothed and be confronted by the view of a window cleaner instead of the river, the Shanghai Morning Post reported on March 20.

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Xu said he demanded the hotel apologise for not notifying them about the times of window cleaning in advance, refund their hotel expenses and compensate for the emotional damage they suffered.

© Provided by South China Morning Post High-rise window cleaners have a tough job, naked guests notwithstanding. Photo: Douyin

The hotel suggested they stay for another two days while staff dealt with their complaint. However, Xu said no hotel executives visited them after two days and they had to pay for the extra nights.

A public relations staff member of Conrad Hangzhou, surnamed Zhong, said they couldn't gauge the exact time of window cleaning due to uncontrollable factors such as the weather.

Zhong also said that the hotel could not notify every customer because they were unaware what time everyone went to bed, adding that they could only put a notice in the room reminding people about window cleaning "in the near future".

Occupying the 26th to 50th floors of one of the Raffles City twin towers in Hangzhou, the hotel boasts its "guest rooms in the sky" and panoramic French windows, through which one could enjoy the skyline view "even while soaking in the bathtub".

While some on mainland social media showed little support to the couple and said they pitied the window cleaner more, others said the hotel should take responsibility.

© Provided by South China Morning Post The couple were promised a river view of Hangzhou city from their deluxe room, but they got more than they bargained for. Photo: Shutterstock

"I don't know if the couple have suffered shock, but I'm sure the window cleaner has," one person jokingly said.

"The window cleaner must have been very embarrassed - and he had nowhere to run!" said another.

A third person chimed in: "Hotel guests have the right to be naked in their room, and it's also their right to enjoy the river view the hotel advertised. The hotel should compensate both customers and the window cleaner."

This is the second time in a week that a luxury hotel in China was mired in controversy.

On March 13, an actress complained about the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Beijing's Chaoyang district online, saying she had a panic attack being locked in its bathroom for three hours, banging on the door and yelling without receiving any help from staff.

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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.

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