Well - I've made it in one piece and with all of my luggage. Last night I successfully purchased dinner and am looking forward to seeing the city in daylight. For the next week I'm staying in a hotel in Pudong, near where I will be teaching. Today on the agenda is purchasing a cell phone and starting to look for an apartment - tomorrow my training begins. I will post more once I am settled in. The question this time is:
Q2 - What is your most memorable (good or bad) hotel experience? [The one I'm at now is in the middle - stayed at better and worse, but I certainly have a couple of interesting stories.] Share your comments!
Cheers!
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6 comments:
Bugs! Bedbugs in particular are the worst. But really what should I expect staying in guest houses in Thailand and India for about $1 a night?
That is a personal question! My worst hotel experience was when I went to my course 2 seminar in Iselin, New Jersey. I got to my room and there was a suprise waiting for me in the bathroom.....so I had to switch to another room. Then I had trouble falling asleep because my neighbors were having a little tooo much fun ... for 3 nights!
Back while working for the NRC, I spent 3 weeks living out of a Comfort Suites while training in Chattanooga, TN. During the first weekend, I was forced to evacuate my second floor room (two story, outside hallway hotel) and move all my possessions three doors down due to a leaking ceiling. Twas a bitterly cold rainstorm that day. I would later come to realize that Chattanooga had it in for for me, karma-wise.
All the comments seem to be bad (including mine) so here's a good story: I'm still a pretty loyal Red Roof Inn patron, and it's all because of my first RRI experience. It was a late December night near Sandusky, OH on my way back home from my first co-op semester. There were hardly any guests (Cedar Point offseason) and the place had that new-construction-wood smell. The indoor pool temp was pleasantly warm, but the hot tub was scalding, in a good way. You get in ever so slowly, and then you don't even move around because every movement causes pinprick-like sensations. But, oh, the hot water just feels so darn good! And as I relaxed in that hot tub, and watched the snow fall slowly and silently outside through the full-length windows, I became acutely aware of just how great that instant in time really was.
Then I went back to my room and slept on what is STILL the most comfortable hotel in my experiences to date. It was a king-size with a pillowtop, and I just sank into it. Marvelous. It was only a one-night stay - the next day I finished driving to Bridgeport - but that hotel remains the experience by which all my other hotel stays are judged.
Rome. After getting sick in Germany and taking the train to Rome, all I wanted was to collapse in bed. When I made the reservation I only asked for 2 things - a queen bed and a private bathroom(because I was sick). When we got to the hostel, they said the room would not be ready until 3. Killed time by taking a tour (hot, muggy, and I'm sick... misery). Got back by 3. Room wasn't quite ready. Waited. Waited. Finally, room ready. Here are your keys, the clerk said, the girls bathroom is upstairs and the boys is to the right. Errrr! No private bath. Too sick to care. Just want to lay down. Go into room. 2 twin beds. Errr! Too sick to care. Just want to lay down. Throw the backpack on the bed and CRASH! Bed collapses to floor. ((The good ending is, I stormed back to the counter, demanded my money back, and found a MUCH nicer hotel, cheaper!, with private bath and included breakfast.))
So one interesting experience was when I was travelling with friends in Amsterdam and we wound up sharing the hostel with this Israeli army officer. That place had a shower door that didn't stay closed, so we definitely took some very quick showers. In the best category - the floating hotel that we stayed at in India was exquisite. Beautiful rooms, pleasant service and the boatride across the lake was pretty incredible as well.
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