The stories need not be about these characters, but the staff of the hotel should all be the same in each of the stories.
DAVIS CHOW
Concierge
Conservative-looking but is in fact cheerful and charming. Very eager to accommodate guests and skilled at getting things done for them. There is some tension between him and Jennifer Tse but since he is a competent concierge, Tse has to accept him. Chow is devoted to the hotel to such an extent that he even spends his days off in the hotel gym. He is thirty years old.
JENNIFER TSE
Day Manager
She comes across as rather austere, particularly with the other hotel employees. She is not enamoured with the idea of guests leaving tips, believes it instills a sense of insincerity in employees' actions. Very professional and always immaculately dressed, hair tied back in a ball. Only four feet ten inches tall but has a commanding presence. Thirty six years of age but her manner makes her appear older. The rumour among other workers is that she can be a party animal outside the confines of her work.
CHARACTERS APPEARING IN PEOPLE'S STORIES
Feel free to integrate these characters in your own story, but try to make sure that they are not in two places at one. So check back with the writers whether your role for the characters fits.
MAGGIE: (From a story by Christine Shin)
is 5'5" in height and weighs about 110 pounds (48 kg). She is 16 years old and attends the French School during the day where her mother is the head nurse. She has long dark hair which she has put up in order to look older and porcelain skin with almond shaped eyes. She has on fake eyelashes which are too big for her eyes and too much make-up along with her only skin tight black lace mini-dress which is a fake Valentino that she bought on the streets. She has on 6 inch gold sandals which she has stolen earlier in the day. Her working name varies on her mood of the day and her drink of choice is a strawberry martini, because it is pink and she thinks therefore will be sexually appealing.
Maggie longs to fit in with the i-pod/lap-top/designer bag totting crowd at school who are the spawn of wealthy ex-pat parents but is disadvantaged financially. She has given a few blow-jobs to men at nearby clubs in Wanchai for a couple honkies, but through the advice of a friends has become determined to get involved in hotel prostitution with much older men for much, much, more money.... however...despite her attempts she has not been sucessful, which brings her to the bar at Hotel China to seek her next prey.....
JAMES: (From a story by Reid Mitchell)
For a white American male, JAMES is short–about 5' 4". He’s in his middle forties, wears glasses, still has a full head of curly dark hair. It’s overgrown–not because it’s fasionable but because he is a busy man, this lawyer, and this trip to Hong Kong was unexpected and he didn’t have time for a haircut. He’s dressed in a well-cut, two piece dark blue wool suit, which is rumpled from travel. His drink is Maker’s Mark; his cigars are Macondos.
JAMES is in Hong Kong because a childhood friend of his suddenly left his family and job to run away to Hong Kong. JAMES is trying to find him, and find out what he is doing, and bring him back. JAMES is absolutely devoted to his friend. JAMES is also a man who finds comfort in sensual pleasure.
JAMES is from New Orleans, of course.
JAMES may never get the story of his quest for his friend told, but he does encounters the young prostitute that Christine Shin is writing about. JAMES is, however, likely to be found in the bar at any and all hours.
SHEETAL: (From a story by Lawrence Gray)
Indian. Middle-aged. Suave. Very very rich. A powerful man, or at least he would have you think. He drinks whisky. He has huge investments. He was always rich. He lives to the full. He knows no sleep. He snaps his fingers and others do his bidding, because he pays them, or promises them that he will pay. And he knows everyone and can introduce you to anyone, or so you one might think, and he has no reason not to let you think what you like. He likes to entertain liberally. He can get you into show business. Especially if you're young and attractive. He has many cousins, many brother, many uncles, many sisters, many fathers, many mothers, many passports and many names. Did you find him, or he find you?
JAZ: (From a story by Lawrence Gray)
Indian. Beautiful. Young, maybe illegally young. Very expensive. Knows everyone. Likes a good party. Runs a very smart little sports car. She does not know what sort it is. She can put both her legs behind her head. She dances. She acts. She likes bracelets. She speaks Hindi, English, and Cantonese, in that order, in the same sentence to three people, one on her phone, one at her table, and the other serving her. Men are her play things, or she is theirs, depending what you want to believe. She has a plan, but she is not telling anyone. But don't worry. There are no strings attached to Jaz.
COLIN TEAGUE: (From a story by Ian Greenfield)
Colin Teague is just under six-feet tall, 80kg, mid-thirties and an own-up baldy with a close crop. He arrived in the hotel on a very hot and thirsty day and ends up dead and naked in one of the rooms the next morning, after an unfortunate and intimate relationship with a pair of bolt cutters. One of the maids discovered him and no doubt finds that it sticks in her memory somewhat.
AMANDA LEWIS: (From a story by Noble Hughes)
Amanda Lewis is a 5'8" criminal defence attorney from San Francisco. She's in Hong Kong with her boyfriend, a soft-spoken music teacher. Unbeknownst to him, Amanda has a devious plan involving a former lover. She already requested the same room as before, room 1207. She has not concocted an alibi yet. But she's stubborn and she will find a way. She's going home alone.