Terri and Brian Cody are hoping to sell their “One Star Hotel” in the
Florida Keys, to the only man who has expressed any interest in buying
it, a Mr. Sam Lewis from New York. They are not expecting him for a
couple of weeks, and are rather caught off-guard when they receive a
phone call informing them that he flew into Miami today, is driving
down, and will be arriving this afternoon. Unfortunately, they have so
few guests they are afraid that Mr. Lewis will see at once, that the
hotel is a bad investment. You can see where this is leading…it is a
farce after all…
So, in order to bolster Mr. Lewis's interest, Terri and Brian devise a
plan to make the hotel appear busier and more prosperous than it
actually is. Their staff will masquerade as paying guests, thereby,
giving Mr. Lewis the impression that the hotel is overflowing with loyal
customers and vacationers. Their plan has one hitch, their entire staff
consists of a maintenance man named Hopkins and a sexy housemaid named
Maureen. They plan to tell Mr. Lewis that Mrs. Cody is shopping in
Miami, while she plays the role of a wealthy Palm Beach socialite, Mrs.
Winthrop-Smythe. Hopkins is to become the Reverend Hopkins, and Maureen
is to combine the duties of receptionist, maid and room service. The
plot becomes more complicated when the one paying guest they do have,
Major Ponsenby, wants to help out. Suddenly, an Arab sheik, Abdul El
Hajj, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the Major, checks into the
hotel, stating he is a potential buyer. Their scatterbrained maid,
Maureen, is totally inept at the job she’s been asked to do, and can’t
seem to remain completely clothed for more than five minutes at a time.
It turns out Hopkins has a propensity to drink, and has bottles of booze
hidden all over the hotel. And finally, the one other guest they have
checking in later today, is Hayley Harrington, a predatory nymphomaniac,
affectionately known as “The Barracuda."
Into this “Hotbed” of intrigue arrives... Samuel Lewis and his wife
(or is she?), Ashley. He is an extremely moral and upstanding
businessman and expects nothing less from those around him. She is an
extremely attractive woman, and is only interested in getting Mr. Lewis
into bed. Brian spends the rest of the play trying very hard to please
Mr. Lewis, keep the Major/Abdul under control, and stay out of the way
of “The Barracuda."
How do the Major, Hopkins and Mr. Lewis end up in the same bed? Why
is Ashley always losing her clothes? Where do The Barracuda and Abdul
fit into all this? Who really is Abdul El Hajj? When does the real Mrs.
Lewis arrive? What more could possibly happen?
Much to the horror and chagrin of Mr. Lewis, the real Mrs. Lewis, who
can best be described as “a humorless old battle-axe”, does show up. In
order to hide his relationship with Ashley from her, he bribes Brian
with an offer to purchase the hotel, for more than he was asking, only
to get another offer from Abdul. But the final twist is yet to come - a
show stopping coup-de-theatre, which leaves the audience knowing they’ve
been “had," but not knowing how it was done.