Thursday, May 24, 2007

  • The comforts of Eygpt

    Currently Reading
    The Holy Bible King James Version: 1611 Edition
    see related

    Mama Ann (my grandmother) kept a clean house and insisted on clean motel rooms when they traveled.  Before a check-in would be considered, Mama Ann would inspect a room.  If it didn't meet her standards, down the road they would travel until suitable lodgings were found.  On one trip they made with my sainted aunt, they had run into a particularly bad streak of unacceptably dirty motels.  Finally, at about 2 AM, they stopped at one motel and, as usual, Mama Ann inspected a room.  There, on the dusty window sill, two dead flies.  Unaccountably, in the bathtub, a tiny, live frog!  Pa never complained about Mama Ann's fastidiousness, but my sainted aunt was growing weary and longed to stop for the night.

    "Please mom, let's stop.  This room has only three of the ten plauges!"  Laughing and tired, they booked a room.

    ************************************

    Once while travelling (alone, thank goodness), I discovered that sometimes the term "flea-ridden" is not just figurative. Alas, I didn't discover that fact until the morning.  What a dump!

     

    What's your worst motel experience?

Comments (13)

  • iamdixiedydo

    Once I was with my mother, sister, aunt and cousin on some sort of outting.  We stopped in Lubbock very late and took a room in some little motel.  Right as we crawled into bed and turned out the lights, I began to feel something crawling on my legs. I jerked back the covers and my mother and I flew out of the bed.  When we turned on the lights, we found the bed covered in ants!  My mother got dressed, went to the motel office and asked for a new room.  They moved us, but I don't think any of us slept too soundly that night.  And that is how I always remember Lubbock.  Gross.

    Also, a funny trip with my mother (who by the way, is the best traveler because every trip is an adventure with her).  She and I took a "girls trip" to Asheville, NC for a about 3 days.  On the flight from Nashville to Asheville, the 12 seater prop plane we were on experienced the worst turbulence imaginable.  It was 1 solid hour of ups and downs and side to side throws.  Well, she and I got the giggles.  It turned into really just she and I laughing our heads off in literal hysteria. The next day we were touring the beautiful Biltmore Estate and coming down the grand staircase, we were met by a couple who had sat behind us on that crazy flight.  They stopped us and talked.  The man said, "you know I was really scared on that plane but when you two started laughing I just thought well, I guess if they think this is funny, we must be going to be alright."  Also on that trip, I reserved a room at a B&B and went with the cheapest room they had.  It was the "Shangri-La Suite."  It was also in the attic.  In the middle of the night I woke up thinking the bed was on fire, it was so hot.  I discovered that my mother had gotten hot and thrown all of her heavy covers on top of me!  I asked why and she said, "You looked cold to me." 
    Like I said, she's crazy to travel with!
  • dancingqueenjanine
    What a funny post! When I was a child, my mother did the same thing you speak of here! When we traveled she would go into the hotels/motels and check for cleanliness and inspect the mattresses! I just accepted that everyone did that, until I got married! We always book our places in advance because we know we will arrive late. It didn't take too many times of not being able to find a suitable place to stay before we started doing that. I haven't really had bad experiences because I always choose places with inside doors. These places cost a little more, but the safety and cleanliness are worth it. One place we no longer use because we found out that they permit dogs. I don't want to sleep on a bed where someone's dog has been. At least in the past people had to sneak their dogs in......
  • peacefulveganmom

    RYC: Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this discussion. Good stuff!!

    I'd love it if you would come back and take a look at the link I just posted in my comment section. It's pretty intrigiung stuff, and I'd like to hear what you have to say about it.  :)

    Peace,

    Jamie
  • darabrat
    funny.
    I should take the time to check out the rooms first.
    We look for terms like "recently remodeled" but last major trip in Bakerfield, Ca. found that only meant they put in a new sink and the rest is still old and smelly. I've not stayed in any place that had things crawling fortunately!!
  • triciaplumley
    No weird hotel stories...they've been pretty good. My one secret though? I bring my own sheets....I cannot stand the thought of sleeping on sheets that hundreds if not thousands of other people have done the same.
  • huntertx
    i had a close call with a crappy motel in The Woodlands, TX which was run by Hindus so they had statues of elephants and such like all over the place. The room was way filthy so i didn't stay.
    that was a close one though.
  • jaytherm
    Microtel - Kingsport, TN.  It's pretty bad when one of the room numbers is written on the door with a sharpie.
  • the_good_fight81
    ooooh. one time, i can't remember the state we were in. but we stopped for the night in this town that was having some sort of event that had all the hotels filled up. dad said it had to be this town though, 'cause he couldn't drive any further. so we searched and searched and finally found one. they only had one room for the 5 of us, but it was only for the night, so whatever. to list some of the many issues in the room: the bed had fleas, or some sort of small black bug-like infestation, there were no towels, and when we went to ask for some, they gave us half shredded wash rags from the CLEANING BAG! they were bleached white. there were some sort of lovely stains on the actual bed sheets, if you could have gotten past sleeping with the fleas. some of them actually looked like blood maybe. who knows. it was horrible. we all slept on the floor and left before check out, most certainly. great experience. i wish i could remember the town. i'd tell you to never go there.
  • Marsillius

    Fleas, huh?  Fun!

    I almost hesitate to tell this motel story but hey, what the heck.  We stayed at a Motel 6 in San Antonio a few years back.  When we pulled back the covers to get in the bed there was....are you ready for it?.....pubic hairs.  Imagine our displeasure.  Urp.  :(

    But it had no fleas!

  • beli_grrl
    Dirt and hairs that looked suspiciously pubic all over the sheets in a Motel 6 room in Vacaville. We slept on top of the bedspread. YUCK. Other rooms have been a little diry but that was the one time I was really grossed out.
  • brenluvsblue
    The very practical folks at Comfort Inn of Arkadelphia, Ark. include a flyswatter in every room.  That came in handy!
  • settlers_fan
    Once, pre-kids, we went to yOyQ's mom's family reunion in Mt. Vernon, IL. His dad hadn't made reservations, thinking Mt. Vernon would have plenty of available rooms as it's not the most happening place in America. Well, that weekend, it was -- an antique car show/parade/club was in town and not a decent room to be had. We ended up staying at the "Economy Inn", which was normally $25 a night but they upped it to $50 'cause the carshow was in town. I remember it had a biker bar in the middle of the square of rooms and the bath towels were the size of washcloths. We pushed furniture up against the door, as the locks weren't much to speak of, and didn't get much sleep, but it made for a great story to remind Dad when he hasn't made reservations yet!
  • seedsower
    That is great!!!
    We woke up in a bed with little curly hair that were not our own!!!

  • Choose Identity

  • Give eProps (?)

  • New! You can now edit your comments for 15 minutes after submitting.

Who recommended?

Who gave the eProps?

2 eProps from: