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Once Upon a Time...
It all started in 2003 in Sunee’s yoga class, they all came for their own reasons. Sunee was teaching her first yoga class, she had just finished her training the week before, and she was so nervous. Amanda had gotten tired of the Stairmaster and decided to try this thing called yoga, which was supposed to help with her blood pressure—she was skeptical. Holly had been working on sketching the human body, and while working with models was good, she wanted to watch the natural movements of the human body, and what better place than a yoga class. Besides, no one could do a back bend like Holly, and she didn’t mind showing off. Natasha had just moved to the U.S. from the U.K., and wanted to meet some new friends. Alexandria enjoyed reviewing local restaurants, gyms and shops for her concierge. It gave her a chance to get out of the hotel and meet other local entrepreneurs. Plus, it kept her staff on their toes, knowing the boss was always checking up on their recommendations. So, she came to this studio and this class on the recommendation of one of her staff.
Somewhere between the downward dog and Amanda knocking Holly out of her swan pose—a bond was created. After that, Mondays at 6:00 were a part of the girls’ routine. Other women came and went from the yoga class, but Sunee, Amanda, Holly, Natasha and Alexandria became fast friends. And when they were not busy with their careers and families, the girls would try to get together for happy hour, at least once a week—well, maybe once every two weeks.
But, of course, good intentions are sometimes thwarted by day-to-day life. Amanda kept getting busier and busier at work, so she began to skip happy hour. Alexandria’s job kept her traveling so much that she missed a whole month of yoga in the fall of 2005. Natasha kept taking on new clients, and with her mothers’ health declining, she missed happy hour more than she liked. Holly had two art shows that kept her from yoga, and one that the girls attended in lieu of yoga, to show their support. The girls kept up their friendships and they continued to see each other as much as possible, but life sometimes got in the way.
Then in January of 2006 their friendship was tested when Amanda’s husband, Brad, was killed in a car wreck on his way home from work. Amanda was on her way out of yoga when she got the call. She was walking to her car when her phone rang. The officer told her she needed to come down to the police station, and that she needed to have a friend drive her. Sunee was the last one out of the studio, she saw Amanda crying on the phone by her car. Sunee walked up and immediately agreed to drive 
Amanda to the station. While Amanda contacted her family and made arrangements for them to come into town over the next few days, Sunee waited quietly in the waiting room. Sunee was amazed at Amanda’s calm, she handled the problem like a business crisis—making the necessary calls, instinctively knowing what needed to be done, contacting all the right people—but, Sunee knew that her reality of the situation would hit Amanda soon. And then she would collapse.
After leaving Amanda at home with her daughter, Sarah, and her assistant who kindly came over after hearing the news, Sunee called an emergency meeting of the girls at the nearest Starbuck’s. After explaining what happened, they began by setting up shifts of meals and people who would be able to sit with Amanda, run her errands, take Sarah to all her activities and generally take care of their friend. But, Amanda was not the kind of person who wanted to be surrounded when she was upset. And she certainly didn’t let other people “handle” her. So, after many angry words and many, many unreturned phone calls, the girls began to get the message. They adjusted to their class, and their happy hour always being one person short.
 Despite the broken friendship, the girls were thrilled when Amanda surprisingly showed up to yoga three months later. She looked drastically different; she had lost a lot of weight and chopped off her beautiful hair. But, she was smiling, which was more than any of them expected. She also brought a friend with her, her baby sister Megan. After the class, the girls talked Amanda and Megan into joining them for a drink. Megan explained that she had been modeling for the last ten years, and that she had been looking for a way to get back to a normal life; and that when Brad died, she decided to move in with Amanda and help her raise Sarah. Amanda had also quit her job and was just staying home right now. Amanda explained that she had always been a person who was in control, but that this was just more than she could handle, and that giving Megan some control had been one of the best things she could have done. And she apologized to her friends for abandoning them; they (of course!) forgave her instantly.
So, Megan became part of the group. She encouraged Amanda to go with the girls whenever they got together. Megan believed that Amanda needed to get out of the four walls of her house and see her friends. That was when the girls decided to go to Thailand. It all started when Alexandria mentioned she needed to go to Bangkok to see a new hotel she was interested in investing in. She was going to be meeting her best friend and security consultant, Michele, there for work and a few days of R&R. The girls joked that they should all go with Alexandria, just to get out and see a new part of the world. It was meant as a joke—but Megan decided right then and there to make it a reality. Megan believed that Amanda had to get out and experience something new, to forget some of her grief, and that a trip with the girls was the only way to do that. Megan even called her friend Skye to see if she had some time in her schedule to go on a trip—they needed some time together—Skye’s job as a journalist kept her too busy!
And so the Hotel Girls were born - Amanda, Megan, Holly, Natasha, Alexandria, Skye, Michele and Sunee.
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