I am writing to share a very unpleasant incident that we experienced at the Southern Cross Motel: 53 Bealey Avenue, St Albans, Merivale 8013 Christchurch, New Zealand. I booked a unit in this motel for three nights, four people in total: my husband and myself, and a couple of Chinese friends, starting from the 2nd of February 2024. We were given unit 16 (two bedrooms, living room, bathroom and kitchen). We had been travelling around the South Island for several days, having a pleasant and professional treatment at every motel we stayed. However, upon our arrival at the Southern Comfort Motel, we noticed the difference in treatment. On entering the unit, we noticed the bathroom mirror seemed to be held on the wall by pieces of thick tape, the bathroom door was also damaged. We approached the receptionist about it, and she informed us that people had been stealing pillows and other objects from the motel. She also mentioned that an Indian family had thrown curry on the floor and had to pay the one hundred dollar penalty. However, she said, ‘we had nothing to worry about’. All this information about throwing curry, and pointing out that they were Indians, sounded very unprofessional to me. I am 74 years old, and because I have red-dyed hair, a pale reddish colour appears on the towel after I dry my hair. However, by washing the towel, any red tint disappears. On the 3rd of February, after returning to the unit around 1.30 pm, we found rubbish in the living room. When I entered our bedroom, I noticed a masticated chewing gum attached to the bedspread. It was evident that it was deposited there on purpose. I went to the motel reception, accompanied by our Chinese friend, to ask if there was any reason for the rubbish and the chewing gum. When we arrived at the motel reception, we found the manager/owner and two females, one of them was the woman who had checked us in. The manager immediately started shouting at me and using foul language, telling me to leave the motel and repeating one of the most offensive words in the English language. The receptionist showed me a picture on her phone of a towel with a reddish colour. I tried to explain without success that the "towel" just needed to be washed for the reddishness to disappear. Because I was not intimidated by his horrible yelling and insults, the man's next move was to diminish me physically, referring to my ugliness as a woman in every concept possible, and questioning my morality and decency. While writing this report, I am trying to avoid the exact words said by this man, as they were insulting and denigrating to any human being. I believed that the extraordinary aggression towards me had the purpose of intimidating. He wanted us out of the premises. For him to keep our money, and at the same time to have the unit free to accommodate someone else. As a client and a woman, I decided to stand up for my rights. I informed him that I was going to report the abuse I had experienced to the police. My Chinese friend attempted to calm the situation by speaking to them in Mandarin, the native language of the motel manager and the two women present. However, this man kept yelling his head off without interruption and now was invading my personal space threatening constantly with offensive language and physical mannerisms. When my husband was aware of the incident, he went to ask for the owner's name. My husband, who is eighty years old, was certainly not looking for a fight. This man threatened my husband as well, making gestures and invading his physical space to the point that he caged my husband with his arms while proliferating insults. The police took our declaration. The police officer contacted the premises, and the receptionist confirmed they would not return the money. I informed the policeman that I only wanted to document the incident, as the man involved was extremely aggressive and we did not feel safe. After a few enquiries, I know that what happened to us was not an isolated occurrence and that the man may have been targeting certain individuals at his motel for his satisfaction or to obtain extra money. I was charged a $100 penalty, despite being informed by one of the female receptionists that the towel in question had come out completely clean after being washed.…