I should have known something was amiss when the hotel clerk handed us our room number handwritten on the back of a torn recycled room roster. I glanced at the paper and the room key, and my only response was, “That’s fancy!” I let the thought vanish because I know that the supply chain has been stretched thin because of Covid. Perhaps they just ran out of those cute small hotel room card key holders.
Usually, we do not need a hotel room card key holder when we travel because we do not need a hotel room. But, this time, we opted for a hotel instead of driving our 34’ Bounder motorhome. We thought that because we are only staying for a short amount of time it would be more cost-effective to stay in a hotel. Our motorhome gets six miles per gallon of gasoline. So, with gasoline prices averaging $3.25 a gallon, a 1000 mile round trip would cost us approximately 541.00 dollars in gas.
I researched my hotel options in advance. Booking.com advertised 91.00 dollars a night plus tax for a suite at the La Quinta on Primacy Parkway. I thought a suite would be a nice room, and we would have some room to spread out and enjoy our stay.
The very first thing I noticed when we entered our hotel suite was the smell. It was anything but fresh! Then looking for a place to set my bags, I saw the sofa. Caked on food and drink stains covered the entire surface. I didn’t even want my dog to sit on that dirty couch! I set my stuff down and told Joe that I would go and ask for a second set of sheets.
Once again, I trudged down to the lobby. When I asked for a second set to cover the furniture, the clerk didn’t bat an eye. He never once asked me why I wanted to cover up the furniture. My first task when returning to the room was to cover the couch. Once I had the sheet in place, I was pleased, but it was super uncomfortable to sit on. So, I went to the bedroom to grab some extra pillows from the bed. It was then that I noticed the lampshade. Or rather the lack of a lampshade! One of the lights was missing a shade on the wall sconce lamp!
I then went looking for bed bugs, and I am thankful I did not see any evidence. At least, that was a plus! I intentionally, at this point, started looking for other things wrong with this expensive trash heap. An ugly picture of some brown sunflowers hung off-center on the wall behind a chair. There was a hole in the wall under the picture. When I went to look at it, the picture fell off of the wall revealing an extensive cavernous section of missing wall!
The smoke detector is missing its battery. I wonder if the management secretly wishes that this place catches fire and burns to the ground? I don’t understand not keeping essential emergency equipment working and in good order.
Half of the electric outlets in the bedroom do not work. But, we are resolved to make do. I can live with less than perfect. However, our bill here for our three-night stay totaled $300.41. When we checked our bank balance, we noticed that we were charged an additional $40.00 for our canine friend. They did not mention a pet fee on the front end, and it was never discussed!
Oh, how I miss my little house on wheels! I hope the Hotel uses my forty dollars wisely. Perhaps they might buy a lampshade and rent a carpet cleaner??
330 SQFT 