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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Author
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Topic: La Quinta - spanish for "beds harder than cement"
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Ian Price
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1714
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 04-05-2006 09:46 PM
Ok, let's start a Motel/Hotel rant.
I did 20 days at the Continental Surf Hotel in Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii. Let's just say it's the cheapest hotel on Waikiki. They were offering walk-ins a $50 rack rate. They used half the hotel for student housing for Honolulu University. All rooms come with a double bed and kitchenette. I could hear the sweet whispers of the Japanese family in the connecting room. The diesel roar of the buses tapered off after 2:00AM for the most part. But it was interesting doing the Halloween Crawl down the street by the beach. Let's just say that the warm weather encourages skimpy costumes. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
I've done a bit o' driving about in the past few months. The last La Quinta I stayed at was in Sandy Utah in December. I can't remember if the bed was hard. I remember it being a bit like a Days Inn or a Super 8. It was unremarkable, but did offer a pool and a breakfast. I remember the TV seemed small. It seems that 20" TVs seem to be the norm. Don't remember if the had porn. They didn't have Wireless Access. I think I paid $60 for this room booked by Hotels.com.
I stayed in a Super 8 for a couple of nights in South Lake Tahoe. They also had 20" TVs. It was a large room, but hadn't been updated in 20 or 30 years. I find almost all motel beds to be too hard or under dressed or something. I got this room for $45 a night through Hotels.com and I thought it was a freakin' miracle because this is a ski resort town in the middle of ski season. But I could believe it after the snow was blowing in under the door and bathroom window.
I've stayed at the Best Western in Delta, Utah twice this year. It's extremely uninspiring as I find most Best Westerns. But they are clean, consistent and I have never had a staff problem. They did not have wireless Internet or Porn, but what do you expect in the middle of Utah. They also had the smallest continental breakfast I have ever seen. 6 mini poppyseed muffins and one pot of coffee. I figured they put out as many muffins as they had guests that evening. Perhaps I should go back for the annual goose migration in March. I got the preferred customer rate of $52 just by asking for it. I hadn't made a reservation.
I stayed for a week in Snowflake Inn in Aspen courtesy of the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. As I told the desk clerk, I broke a window at the Snowflake Inn with my Super Ball in 1974. I caught hell from my Mother because she had to pay for the window and we were really poor back then. The room was nice, all rough wood with a vaulted ceiling. There was a kitchenette and the afore mentioned 20" TV, which looked really small because it was twice as for away as normal, I figure about 20' away. They had wireless Internet but you had to stop by the desk and get a code each evening. I'm sure my computer still has 7 user names and passwords in it. They had a pretty kickin' breakfast with doughnuts, bagels, cereal, coffee, a full time hot chocolate machine and hard boiled eggs. The breakfast room was alway jammin' with people mostly Brits on package holidays. I'm glad I wasn't paying because the rack rate was $300 a night. It is Aspen after all. The bed was really comfortable, but don't go making a reservation because it's being torn down this summer for a Condominium Hotel. That's where you spend $500,000 for your hotel room that you only spend a week or two in and then the rest of the year the Hotel rents your room and takes 40% or is it you get 40%?
Then I stayed st the Clarion in Las Vegas. Clarion is the mid point in the Choice Hotel chain. I try to stay away from Econolodges because they have the air of Hooker Motel about them and the managers are frequently behind glass. The Clarion had a nice lobby with a restaurant. The rooms were spacious and the bed comfortable. They had free wireless access and porn. But the staff were singularly unhelpful. They never got my reservation and just looked at me like I was stupid. I had to ask them if they had any rooms available and they did and they insisted on charging me the walk-up price instead of the Internet price. Then they pissed off the people behind me. In Las Vegas I would think that customer service would be king. But I guess if you're any good, you would be working for Winn. I paid $100 per night for 2 nights.
Then coming back from Las Vegas I stopped at the Stardust Motel on Main Street in Barstow California. Basically I drove up Main Street until I saw a sign I liked. It was '40s neon from when Main Street was route 66. The room had wood paneled walls and the 20" TV. There was no wireless or porn. I think I woke up the Chinese lady who runs or more likely owns the place. She told me that when I checked out I should just leave the key in the room as she would be cleaning at that time. Although it was tatty, it was clean and I appreciated the $36 price. I paid cash.
I have a friend who swears by Priceline.com and is always touting his really cheap hotels for ShoWest. Maybe I'll have him do my booking. He got the Sahara for $54 per night when the Internet rate was about $95.
So yes the $100 room was the best and the $36 room the worst. No I take that back, the Continental Surf was the worst. But none of the rooms were hideous and made me want to run screaming in to the night. The last time that happened was at an Econolodge in Sacramento, about 8 years ago.
I have now stayed in Hotels and Motels in may of the 50-States, England, France, Amsterdam, India, Nepal, Tibet, Tunisia, Italy, Singapore and the like. I can say with assurance that the Motel experience in the United States is a pretty good one. Most are clean and tidy. Tibet was the worst, but I think that had a lot to do with the lack of toilets, or bathing facilities. 14-days in Tibet and we had one bath, and we had to drive 50-miles to take it.
The most consistent chain I have found is Holiday Inn Express. Don't go for any of the other Holiday Inns, they are usually old and worn down. Holiday Inn Express' are usually new clean, have a pool, porn, wireless and the breakfast. They are clean, genaric and do not offend. But they usually run North of $75 per night.
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Michael Schaffer
"Where is the
Boardwalk Hotel?"
Posts: 4143
From: Boston, MA
Registered: Apr 2002
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posted 04-05-2006 11:11 PM
When I travel, I only stay in certified 5* hotels and better, and then usually only in the Presidential Suite. Where there is none of the above in town, I book at the nearest available and simply commute in my helicopter. Oh, yes, I almost forgot, of course the hotel has to have a helicopter landing pad.
I also insist on fresh Beluga caviar and Pacific oysters, not older than 6 hours. Sure, I can have those flown in in my private jet, but I do expect a *minimum* of service.
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