Mavis howls when Rita's pet ferret clamps onto her finger, but Mavis' ordeal just begins whens she heads for the emergency room and is ignored for hours while her finger swells -- and she gets too clever for her own good when she tries to sneak inside for treatment. However, Courtney gets better service when he takes the furry ferret to the vet's office while back at the abandoned hotel, Nasim jockeys with Jadwiga for control of the check-in desk.
In the series premiere, former singing diva turned hotel owner Mavis Rae makes room for her brother Courtney after his recent employer, Enron, suffers a small financial setback. However, her new hotel guest is in love and Mavis soon has the pleasure of meeting Rita, Courtney's white girlfriend who talks and dresses like a "sister" -- and is just too much fun for her to ignore. Meanwhile, the hotel's need for a fulltime concierge prompts Mavis to promote her reliable handyman Nasim giving him a shot at this new position.
When the nation's security threat level is elevated to an orange alert, Nasim's paranoia over an abandoned designer briefcase in the hotel lobby and fear of getting SARS from a group of Toronto tourists, carries over to Mavis, who calls the police bomb squad to blow up the attache. But when Mavis discovers that Courtney is missing his expensive new briefcase -- which was a gift from girlfriend, Rita, she scrambles to find an inexpensive knockoff.