Dubai A woman gave birth in the lobby of a hotel on Monday and the surprised hotel owner said he will offer a lifetime free stay to the baby girl.
The Kazakh woman had got down to the lobby from her 17th floor room to go to a hospital when the contractions started.
"I saw her leaning on the sofa and when I rushed to her and asked her if she needed a wheelchair, she told me to get two towels," said Ram Chandra Sharma, the bellboy at the Grand Midwest Hotel in the Dubai Media City.
He said he knew the couple well as they had been staying at the hotel for the past two months. The husband was standing next to her but their five-year-old boy was in the hotel room. "I ran up to the sixth floor health club and got the towels," said Ram, who had never faced such an emergency before.
When he got back she wanted a bed sheet and Ram again rushed to the seventh floor to get a sheet. He said the woman then lay down and was given a pillow from the sofa to rest her head. Ram said the baby girl was then born. "We know how giving birth is difficult for a woman, but God made it so easy for her," he said.
Naming of room
Mohammad Arshad Shah, the owner of the group of hotels, said they will name the room after the baby. Room 1708 is usually reserved for Shah [who operates out of Ireland] and his family, but the front desk had offered the room to the couple, he said.
"I have six children, and this baby also feels like he is part of my family," he said. The couple could not be contacted at Al Wasl Hospital where she was taken by paramedics. But the woman is expected to return to the hotel room today. "The baby is doing fine," said a front office manager who spoke to the husband.
When he grows up the baby will be assured a free stay whenever he decides to come to Dubai for a holiday. His parents will be offered some free nights whenever they book into this hotel again.
