s/o Never Shopping - I'm never STAYING there again!!

[MissRose]

I've done my fair share of traveling over the years.... lets see where I shall start:

*A hostel in London, England.  I understand the accommodation is very basic but it was worse than the college dorm I stayed at - they did not even offer a towel for the shower (and the website did not say you had to bring your own) and the rooms were a bit messy.  The live in front desk clerk was offended when I asked for my room key deposit of 5 quid back as you were entitled to it when checking out.  I think he was offended at the fact I had to get up at 630am to leave for the airport and wanted his snooze time instead.  Once I made it to Denmark to see my friend, she allowed me to take a shower before we went looking around after I told her my story of the hostel.  I've stayed at a few other hostels where the rooms were clean, you got a few towels to use for the shower rooms, the beds were decently comfortable, and the staff were far more helpful.

*A Knights Inn in Indiana.  I was driving back from a concert and was tired from driving plus I had a migraine.  At least I won't be going that direction any time soon as the room had some missing ceiling panels, the bathroom and stuff looked like it was from the 50's, and someone left behind a few scrabble magazines.  At least I got a decent night's sleep and felt better.

*A BnB in Belfast, Ireland.  The rooms were decent but they cut off the hot water for the showers after 10 am and didn't put it back til later in the evening.  My friend was not too happy with taking a cool / cold water shower not a hot shower as we had slept in late but I managed to get up and shower before the cut off time but he slept in longer than I did.  Next time I go to his hometown, I will get a hotel that will not cut off the hot water for showers for those who sleep in late after a night out on the town.

*A hotel in Mackinaw City, Michigan.  I can't remember the name but I won't stay there again.  The staff was not very helpful and the rooms were not very clean as they did not completely clean the room from the previous guest who had enough beer bottles there to stock a party store.  I dealt with it by spending more time in the casino in nearby St Ignace and walking around town before leaving Saturday morning to see my cousin who lived 2 hours away before I made my way home which was 3 hours from her home.  I would have sought out a different room but the area fills up fast for the weekend unless you book in advance in the summer time.  I got better service in the past from other hotels with far less amenities including a cheap place 2 hours away I stayed at that costed half the amount I paid at the bad hotel.

[Elfmama]

A now-defunct motel in Maryland, near Jessup. 

DH has a peculiar mix of skills such that his only viable employer is a particular branch of the FedGov, based in Maryland.  As such, we've had a number of moves to/from MD over the last 40 years.  On the last one (our much-lamented move from the UK back to MD) I came back early to go househunting.  So we were familiar with the area, relatives had stayed at this motel 3 or 4 years before, and it was cheap but OK.

Apparently in the interim it had been taken over by the Bates Motel Management Group.  The bedcoverings were stained, as were the carpets; the door fit so loosely that you could see through the cracks on either side, and the AC made a horrendous noise without appreciably cooling the room.  The tub and sink were grimy, and I cleaned off the toilet seat myself with hot water and soap.

I was stuck there for at least overnight, since that was the only way that DH would know to find me in case of an emergency.  (No cell phones then.)  Now I think I would have the spine to take one look and say "No.  Here is your key back," and gone to the Econolodge or similar chain.  I didn't bathe.  I didn't unpack.  I didn't even change into a nightshirt.  I slept fully clothed and with a chair wedged under the doorknob as tightly as I could.  No problems, but if there had been I was at least not going to face it wearing nightclothes!

The lovely realtor, a personal friend, let me use her phone the next  morning to tell DH that I was moving to the Econolodge, where I stayed the rest of the week. 

[Lynnv]

The HI Express in Snowmass Village.  As a general rule, I stay at this level of hotel for business all the time.  And I know what to expect from the chain.  But it was clear, once I got there, that the hotel was some other hotel that HI bought out, and never brought up to standard.  It was hot (NO AC and no way to even turn off the heat), dirty, dated and dumpy, and had horrible responses to my complaints while I was there and after I left.  I was only (thank goodness) staying one night.  I imagine they get away with it by being pretty cheap during the ski season with a good location for skiers.  But they are a terrible example of an HI Express (and I have the highest status with the chain, so I know what one should be).

[Zerbinetta]

The only really uncomfortable experience I've had was when I was touring around Ireland as a student. I stayed in hostels, and had generally good experiences, including one awesome one in Northern Ireland where the owners went out of their way to ferry a group of us to the Giant's Causeway and back.

However, I did have one less than stellar stay. The hostel was attached to a really cozy looking pub in a rural town. Unfortunately-

 - The bedclothes were obviously, from the smell, unwashed
 - There was no heat (it was October)
 - There was no hot water in the bathroom
 - There was no ELECTRICITY, and therefore no light, in the bathroom

[Margo]

I've done my fair share of traveling over the years.... lets see where I shall start:

*A hostel in London, England.  I understand the accommodation is very basic but it was worse than the college dorm I stayed at - they did not even offer a towel for the shower (and the website did not say you had to bring your own) and the rooms were a bit messy.  The live in front desk clerk was offended when I asked for my room key deposit of 5 quid back as you were entitled to it when checking out.  I think he was offended at the fact I had to get up at 630am to leave for the airport and wanted his snooze time instead.  Once I made it to Denmark to see my friend, she allowed me to take a shower before we went looking around after I told her my story of the hostel.  I've stayed at a few other hostels where the rooms were clean, you got a few towels to use for the shower rooms, the beds were decently comfortable, and the staff were far more helpful.

I don't think I have ever stayed at a hostel which provided towels automatically - I have stayed at some where towels were available at an extra charge but in my experience the default is always that you have to bring your own - out of interest, where (which countries) were you visiting where providing towels was the norm for a hostel?

One of my own worst experiences was a hostel in Krakow which had given away my (pre-booked) bed (despite my having phoned from the airport to say my flight was delayed but I was definitely going to arrive, and them assuring me that they would hold the bed)
I ended up sleeping on a mattress on the floor in a corridor, and woke up the following morning covered in insect bites.
I moved to a different hostel the following morning.

Another was in a Days Inn motel in Charleston. The room was grubby, and we found several gigantic cockroaches in the bathroom. We also discovered, in the morning, that no breakfast was being serviced that day (despite having checked the evening before and being given detailed information about the timing for breakfast.

I don't know whether these are run on a franchise basis - we were on a road trip and stayed at several others in the same chain with no problems, but that particular one was dire!

I also stayed in a hotel in London a few years ago which was just bizarre - it was advertised as having been recently renovated, and they had lots of 'luxury' touches such as leaf-tea and freshly ground coffee in the rooms rather than teabags and instant coffee, and expensive toiletries in the bathroom, but the bed had the most uncomfortable  mattress I have ever (attempted to) sleep on - you could feel every individual spring. Fortunately it was a very warm night so I wended up using remaking the bed, using the duvet and throw as a mattress topper and sleeping under a sheet. In the morning I found that I couldn't make any coffee as the kettle didn't work, and no one answered when I rang downstairs to ask for fresh milk.

It was advertised as a hotel but was really rooms over a pub - the pub was very nice, the  food was good, and it was very convenient for the gig I was attending.
 
a couple of years later a friend of mine happened to book the same place. I asked her about it afterwards (I didn't know she was staying there until it was far too late to warn her!) and from what she told me it was pretty much the same as when I'd stayed - well [presented, good food, terrible beds!

[AmethystAnne]

^
Charleston WV or Charleston SC?

[MissRose]

I've done my fair share of traveling over the years.... lets see where I shall start:

*A hostel in London, England.  I understand the accommodation is very basic but it was worse than the college dorm I stayed at - they did not even offer a towel for the shower (and the website did not say you had to bring your own) and the rooms were a bit messy.  The live in front desk clerk was offended when I asked for my room key deposit of 5 quid back as you were entitled to it when checking out.  I think he was offended at the fact I had to get up at 630am to leave for the airport and wanted his snooze time instead.  Once I made it to Denmark to see my friend, she allowed me to take a shower before we went looking around after I told her my story of the hostel.  I've stayed at a few other hostels where the rooms were clean, you got a few towels to use for the shower rooms, the beds were decently comfortable, and the staff were far more helpful.

I don't think I have ever stayed at a hostel which provided towels automatically - I have stayed at some where towels were available at an extra charge but in my experience the default is always that you have to bring your own - out of interest, where (which countries) were you visiting where providing towels was the norm for a hostel?

I've stayed at a hostel in Ireland and also one in Chicago where towels & bedding were supplied.  The London hostel never said on their website as far as I can remember that you had to bring your own towel.

[Chipmunky]

For our wedding night, I booked us the Emerald Suite at the local swanky hotel- Hotel Duval, in Tallahassee FL. It was not worth the money.

The shower was huge, and there was a separate soaking tub, but the shower's rainfall style shower head had to be angled exactly right to prevent water from spraying out over the top of the glass door and all over the marble floor.

The bed was terrible. Hard and lumpy, not conducive to rest. Even worse, considering the occasion, the whole frame SQUEAKED if you even turned from your side to your back. Not the most romantic thing in the world. We did get a good laugh out of that.

I will say the front desk clerk was very nice the next morning when we woke up at 5 and just decided to get out and go home (10 minutes away). We got home and began to unpack, and that's when I found that DH, in his efforts to be helpful in unpacking in the hotel room (we stayed there the night before the wedding as well), had taken the manila envelope that had all of our honeymoon, travel, and local reservation paperwork out of my bag and had placed it in the drawer of the hotel room desk...without telling me. I was able to go back, talk to the clerk, and retrieve the envelope well before we had to be at the airport. Phew!

[wordgirl]

LOL Chipmunky I have another Florida honeymoon story!

A family member got married in Sebastian. They had made some sort of reservation at a place called Capt. Hiram's, which from the reviews seems like a great place to stay. Unfortunately, the young couple had many, many problems.

I saw the original contract. The reception was to be held at the hotel. They had booked a block of rooms for the parents and the attendants, including one suite for hair/makeup, and a deluxe suite for the young couple that was to be stocked with champagne, nibbles and flowers. The trouble started when people started to arrive on Friday. They gave the first two people (a groomsman and a bridesmaid) rooms. Everyone else was told they did not have rooms. (At this point, the bride and groom were told they did have one of the suites they reserved - but not the hair/makeup room.)

This was an easygoing young couple, so they adjusted. The night before the wedding, all the bridesmaids crammed into the two rooms available. Family members not in the wedding party hastily relocated to a chain hotel about seven miles away. The groom and his attendants slept on the beach, which they reported was "kind of cool."

The wedding was Saturday. Everything seemed OK, except that the wedding guests were held out in the pool area for what seemed to be quite a long time (well over an hour). This was June; people were melting. Turns out the reception room was in no way ready, and the bride's parents were trying to get everything the way it was supposed to be. The reception, when it finally started, was great.

Then the coup de grace. The newlyweds had been given a keycard to their suite, but were told it would not be ready until after the reception. But when they got there - there was another couple in the room!  The snacks and wine that had been prepared for them had been opened and consumed. (I don't know what the couple in the room was thinking, but they didn't hesitate to dive into things they had to have known weren't theirs. By report, they were quite entitled-acting and sneery when confronted, and objected to the bride taking the flowers with her.) The young couple spent their wedding night in a standard room.

I never did hear what the hotel did to make this comedy of errors right, but I can't imagine any response that would have been adequate, especially since they were quite blase about all the goofups before the wedding. I suspect the bride's father (who is a sweet, gentle, kind man) got back a considerable chunk of the Very Large Check he'd written to the resort. I also believe the bridal party was to refrain from posting about this on social media websites.

I wasn't in the bridal party. 

[MrTango]

I'll never stay at another Motel 6.  I used to stay at the one in the city near LadyTango's college.  I stayed there because it was cheap enough for me (also in college) to afford it.

I'm actually quite fond of staying at AmericInn hotels.  They tend to be solidly built so that they minimize how much noise one hears from other guests.

[wordgirl]

And now here's my own somewhat similar story, considerably less dramatic, but annoying. I'd probably give this hotel a second chance given the circumstances.

I was assigned to attend a major convention at the Fontainebleau in Miami. Usually our company's policy was to find cheaper lodgings nearby, but in this case I was told to just go ahead and book a room there. So I snagged one of the last rooms in the convention "block." I didn't expect anything spectacular because 1) I wasn't paying and 2) I'd be working every hour I wasn't sleeping, for the three days of the convention.

But when I got there, they had run out of my size rooms - so they put me in a suite! Sweet! It actually had room for six people. I got in, pulled my clothes (professional wear) out  of my suitcase and hung them up, took a quick shower, scattered my toiletries in the bathroom then ran downstairs to the convention space. I worked hard until late that night.

When I got back to my room, I was locked out. Long story short: They had given the room to a larger party, and moved me to a single room on the other side of the (very large) hotel. Making matters worse, it took them quite a while - at close to midnight - to figure out exactly where they'd put me. When they finally got me there, I discovered my clothes and toiletries had been crammed willy-nilly into my suitcase and left. Everything was horribly wrinkled; a few garments had toothpaste on them. The anxious teenaged bellboy offered to have them cleaned, but that would have left me with nothing to wear the next day. So I ended up spending an hour trying to get the marks out.

The next day I had to hit the ground running, but made time mid-morning to talk to the manager. He was mildly apologetic, but all he could offer was a reduction of the bill ... which I wasn't paying (I took it anyway, of course, because my employer likes money).

The thing that really ticks me off is that they had always had the option of putting me in that smaller room. It wasn't as close to the convention, and I would have been annoyed about that, but not too annoyed. Instead, it became a wholly unnecessary disaster.

[mmswm]

I've only ever had one really bad hotel/motel experience.

It was February 26, 1993.  Dad and I were driving to NYC for my Juilliard audition the next day.  We were due to arrive around 2PM and were planning on staying in a hotel near-ish to Lincoln Center.  As we neared the city, traffic was an absolute nightmare, even by NYC standards.  We hadn't had the radio on, but decided this would be a good time to turn it on to try to figure out if this was just some run-of-the-mill traffic snarl or if we should be looking for an alternative route to the hotel.  This would have been shortly after 1PM that day.  In case you don't recognize the date (and I suspect most won't) that was the day that the World Trade Center was bombed the first time.  Getting downtown was going to be impossible.  Dad called the hotel and tried to figure out options, but it just wasn't happening.  They kept our reservation for the next day, but we were on our own for that night.  Everything in our budget was booked or inaccessible that day.  We wound up just over the state line in New Jersey at this no-tell motel, that probably rented in 15 minute increments.  It was so dirty that I sacrificed my sneakers to take a shower without having to touch the tiles. (I couldn't show up at a freaking Juilliard audition without having showered!).  Thankfully Dad travels with blankets and pillows, so we were able to spread out extra blankets over the bed and still have some to cover us up.  I still shudder thinking about how awful that place was.

[Sirius]

We stayed at a motel in Astoria, Oregon that wasn't bad except that the bed was so hard I don't think either of us got much sleep.  If I stayed in the same position for more than about 5 minutes I'd start to ache.  Mr. Sirius said he was having the same problem.  The place was clean and neat, and the heavy rain wasn't the motel's fault, so it really was a nice stay except for that hard bed. 

[siamesecat2965]

I've only ever had one really bad hotel/motel experience.

It was February 26, 1993.  Dad and I were driving to NYC for my Juilliard audition the next day.  We were due to arrive around 2PM and were planning on staying in a hotel near-ish to Lincoln Center.  As we neared the city, traffic was an absolute nightmare, even by NYC standards.  We hadn't had the radio on, but decided this would be a good time to turn it on to try to figure out if this was just some run-of-the-mill traffic snarl or if we should be looking for an alternative route to the hotel.  This would have been shortly after 1PM that day.  In case you don't recognize the date (and I suspect most won't) that was the day that the World Trade Center was bombed the first time.  Getting downtown was going to be impossible.  Dad called the hotel and tried to figure out options, but it just wasn't happening.  They kept our reservation for the next day, but we were on our own for that night.  Everything in our budget was booked or inaccessible that day.  We wound up just over the state line in New Jersey at this no-tell motel, that probably rented in 15 minute increments.  It was so dirty that I sacrificed my sneakers to take a shower without having to touch the tiles. (I couldn't show up at a freaking Juilliard audition without having showered!).  Thankfully Dad travels with blankets and pillows, so we were able to spread out extra blankets over the bed and still have some to cover us up.  I still shudder thinking about how awful that place was.

Ewww. I think I have an idea of the area you stayed in, and yes, I do believe that many of the places around there do rent by the hour or minutes. Blech.

[GreenHall]

For our wedding night, I booked us the Emerald Suite at the local swanky hotel- Hotel Duval, in Tallahassee FL. It was not worth the money.


I was able to go back, talk to the clerk, and retrieve the envelope well before we had to be at the airport. Phew!
[/quote]

...I was enjoying your PD stories much more before I found out Queen and Pita are probably in the same town I am (And didn't you mention state connections to your work...Oy, another round of Florida stories in the news...)
Probably makes me a snowflake to enjoy the stories more when they don't affect me...

The Tally airport does have advantages in that there are rarely long lines/delays