“Why should I travel? I’m already here!”
;^)
i agree with the part about internet access... a hassle!
All the sinks and showers in our house have those big X-shaped porcelain knobs with "Hot" and "Cold" written on them, just like I remember from the 1909-vintage bathrooms in my elementary school days.......
“Sowell does Andy Rooney, and beats Rooney on first try”
Ever wonder why we despised Rooney ?
Wow. As a 20 year “road warrior” I can really relate to this article. Sadly, the purgatory of navigating airports now surpasses the hassles of hotels. I once stayed in a NYC hotel that had a rental car operation based in their garage. It was $29/day to rent a car, $45/day to park it in the same garage where it was parked before my rental. (tip - just turn it in and rent it again, even if you need it twice in the same day)
Benefits of home: Actual WATER PRESSURE in the shower, enough to rinse shampoo out and soap off; knowledge of whether there is more kleenex; access to more towels and toilet paper without asking. Not that we stay at luxury places, but it seems that there is much less interest in the comfort of customers and much greater interest in austerity by management.
If it’s more complicated than “ON” and “OFF”, it’s too difficult for me to operate. - Our microwave is about 25 yrs. old; doesn’t have those plastic covered buttons that eventually crack and split, rather has a minute knob that turns. It’s small, and about all we use it for is maybe reheating a few things and sterilizing the dishcloth and scrubber. I dread when or if it retires itself on us. So far, it’s still humming along; and we have checked it for microwave leakages periodically. - Everything is simple here.
I had a flight home cancelled because of weather one time back in the days before I had a cell phone. My wife had one, so I called and got no answer four or five times, probably 10 seconds per call. Then I finally got her and spent a minute or so telling her what was up. My tab for six calls totaling probably 2 minutes of clock time and six minutes of charged phone time? $60!!! When I came to the following morning at checkout and accused them essentially of fraud for having such ludicrous non-standard rates without giving the guest ANY prior notice (at the time, most hotels were charging something like $2/minute or so, AND they had a card in the room stating the rate besides), they seemed less than impressed and refused to do anything about it. I should have filed a claim with the credit card company. AND they wanted $10 for internet access. The Grand Sierra in Reno, if anyone’s interested in avoiding the place.
On my first stay at L'Auberge du Lac Casino in Lake Charles I had on one those moments.
I won a very nice jackpot on a slot and they comp'ed me a big nice suite since it was Thursday and not very crowded.
The bathroom had HDTV, his/her vanities on each side, big shower on one side, toilet room on the other and a big, beautiful, big bear claw tub right in the middle, no knobs on it whatsoever.
There were two knobs on the wall next to the tub but the tub had no faucet?
I had to know, so I gently turned one knob and to my surprise, the water poured straight down from the ceiling above the tub. ...it actually startled me, then I thought how cool is that.
I arrived at a Holiday Inn very late one night after a hassle of a trip. I was tired, not hungry, but very much in want of a beer. Alas, the night manager informed me that the bar had closed about an hour earlier. One I noted that this was the only to be expected considering how this trip had gone, the night manager asked me to wait just a minute. He disappeared and returned with two budweiser’s and told me they were ‘comp’. I’ve returned there everytime I’m in the area.
Before you had to guess exactly how hot the room would get when the knob was turned to 'Lo' or 'Med' or 'Hi'.
What gets me mad is trying to read the small print on the little shampoo bottles in order to determine which one is actually the damn shampoo! I don’t normally shower with my glasses on. Grrr...
OMG I love Sowell.
He often makes me think and he always makes me cheer. Today he made me laugh my heart out. Other than the robe, I have experienced each of those issues more often than I care to remember.
However, I found a cure for all of that motel nonsense — I retired and bought an Airstream trailer. ;>)
Now when we travel, I stay in luxury 5 star accommodations every night, whether parked on the coast listening to the ocean or parked at a Walmart.... it’s all good.
Having traveled pretty extensively —I think I can say, travel is usually best in anticipation and memory with just a few near perfect moments in between that make it all worth it.
He’s right. A hotel room is just a running gag in figuring out the “fancy way” to turn simple appliances on and off.
Once I was disappointed in a hotel’s entrance—you kinda entered through a parking lot. I made some remark about not being sure how long I was gonna stay. Whisk. I was moved to a river-view room, at the non-river-view rate.
Another time an elevator door kept me awake throughout the night. They comped me on the room when I complained.
I don’t complain to get freebies or better deals, but sometimes that’s what happens. The staff doesn’t want unhappy campers on their watch.
