NationStates Jolt Archive

Inspired by the Best Western Thread.

I hope you will tell your fellow NSG posters, what your best or worst (or both) experience was in staying in a hotel or other form of accommodation such as serviced apartments or caravan parks.

Please share with us your knowledge.

Well, there was this one hotel with this one girl....

Hotels are for pussies.

I adore pussies, but I avoid hotels like the plague when I travel. There are such better ways to find accomodation, and to really get a feel for the place you have chosen to explore.

YOU STOLE THIS FROM MY POST!!! :p

My best was in the hotel we stayed in for the Band trip to Universal, that place was nice, it had everything...I think it was like a "communities" or something like that...

The worst was when my family took a trip to Panama City, and we reserved a room on the net, they claimed to have a nice view on the beach, but, really they used pics from teh balcony of the hotel across the street...so our room actually had a spectacular view of the sewage system...blech...

The standard of hotels in Asia blow those of Europe and the US out of the water, we're spoiled to some extent and each time I go back to either Europe or the US, I'm fairly depressed to stay in overly expensive, poorly serviced hotels so I will nearly always tap a friend to stay at their place instead.

Having said that, some of the worst paid accommodations have been among the best experiences, I say this because I once paid 2c to stay in a room where the floor was simply covered with damp mattresses in the mountain passes of Kashmir with a coachload of people, the bus had broken down.

It was grimy, flea-infested, damp, 40 of us cramped in there, the toilet was a plank levered over a cliff with a hole at one end.

Yet we drank cheap whiskey, smoked bhang and played cards all night, hearing and telling stories, we laughed so much...

As with most things, you can make something from anything.

Hotels are for pussies.

I adore pussies, but I avoid hotels like the plague when I travel. There are such better ways to find accomodation, and to really get a feel for the place you have chosen to explore.

Well as I said tell us of other accommodation experiences, youth hostels, a friendly persons room, the bus shelter etc.

I haven't placed mine on, not that I really any but I remember one time when in the US I was about 4 and everytime we were looking for accommodation (my parents had booked it prior not that I knew that at the time) and as we had stayed at a Best Western once or twice I would always be pointing them out even from afar when I could see the glow of the crown.

There was also this one time when I was about 12 (maybe 11) we were staying at serviced apartments and the pool was right below the balcony to my room, needless to say it was a hot day and there were plenty of beauties frolicking in and around the pool.

Yes Skalvia I did steal it, and you will never catch me haha *Throws down smoke bomb* Go and talk about it in Luizzo's thread :)

That is quite a nice story and I am sure is one of your better experiences that not many people can say they have had.

Best: its hard to choose out of three 'best' experiences. either the Sofitel in Bordeaux, the Sofitel in Amsterdam, or the Hilton in Zurich. the first had a great pool on a giant balcony (from where you could watch the sunset), a great restaurant (if fucking expensive), and excellent service. the second in Amsterdam was small, but full of character, very friendly indeed (and here i'm distinguishing between normal-friendly and great-service friendly), and had the best, most comfortable beds i've ever slept in. it was like sleeping on a cloud :p
the latter in Zurich, from what i remember, had brilliant views of the city, and seemed to be largely hewn out of a hillside or something.
none of the above are particluarly spectacular, but they were all well above and beyond my usual hotel experience


Worst: a hotel in Newcastle i stayed at for work. we arrived, they knew nothing of our booking (despite emailed confirmations/receipts we brought with us), were rude and unpleasant, and ended up grudgingly giving us the two worst rooms in the place. mine was ok, although the staff didn't have a key for it so they broke down the door to let me in. really made me feel safe that night only having the door "locked" by one of those chain latch things. my colleagues got off even worse with a room that seemed as if it hadn't been decorated, much less cleaned, in about 30 years. we would have found somewhere else if it hadn't been almost 1 in the morning. the next day they were even more rude to us, accused us of walking off the street and demanding rooms, to which - of course - we provided our confirmations and told them they were a bunch of ****s (in politer language of course). i won't be staying with that chain again.

the other worst was actually where we stayed and had a great holiday in Crete; just a shame about the hotel. it was grimy, the shower was little more than a drip, the hotel was next to a major road, and the room had no double glazing or any other even mildly effective soundproofing. between the cars driving past at all hours, the chicades, and the neverending drip from the shower, and the couple next door who would shout at each other before fucking loudly at 3 in the morning, we hardly slept.


edit: WTF!? it just censored me! :mad: i said c-u-n-t-s FYI

edit: WTF!? it just censored me! :mad: i said c-u-n-t-s FYI

Really?

****s

Fuck

Well, my word of advice to you all is: If you ever fall out of a bunk bed on a school camp at 3:30 in the morning whilst sleeping naked, make sure that in your concussed state that you get back into your own bed.

It is a tradition for me to jump out the window of the hotel room, or if the room is on a high floor and there is no pool in range, climb out the window. For extra points, this should be done naked. *nod*

My best hotel experience was in the Hotel Alfonso VI in Toledo Spain. That was a fucking awesome hotel. Super comfy bed, old fashioned looking room, nice wood framed windows and a view. A bathroom that despite being on the inside with no windows, actually ventilated somehow, and it included a bidet, which is quite the luxury. And it had a TV mounted up high on the wall opposite the bed so that you could watch it while mostly lying down. And then of course, there was the lobby/dining room/hallway decor that mainly consisted of suits of armor and cool medieval stuff like that.

Worst hotel experience? Can it be a motel? One time, going down to a show in LA (the band, damn them, was not playing up in the bay area), my friend and I had to stay at a Motel 6 because my debit card had been stolen and all I had was the $80 on me. So they gave us the smallest smoking room at the damn place. I and my friend are both nonsmokers and find the smell quite irritating, but it was all we could get for our measly amount of dough, and the alternative was the street. This room seemed to have been made for hotboxing. The windows didn't even open, they hadn't even been built to. The sheets and quilt had so many stains on them that my friend was like "fuck no, I'm sleeping on the floor." Some of the stains were obviously semen, but others were quite a bit darker. Add to that the usual crappy motel bathroom that doesn't ventilate and so gets super humid, making it next to impossible to take a hot shower and then dry off or shave (due to the fogged up mirror), and the fact that we had to get up early to clear out so they wouldn't charge us even more, and it was a shitty shitty experience.

I've snuck into my share of hotel swimming pools. The key is acting like you belong there - a good policy outside hotels as well, I find.

Radisson Hotels are good for winter pool-going if you live in a part of the country where snow happens. There were several dozen Radissons within 25 miles of where I lived in Illinois back before I came West, and I probably hit them all. Most (maybe all nowadays) have hot tubs. A Marriott is a good second choice.

Best:
Loews Hotel, Philadelphia PA
- Awesome restaurant on site, great staff, good location, uber fast elevators, general awesomeness.
Hilton, Mystic CT
- There's a Starbucks right across the street, how can you not love it?
L'Enfant Plaza Hotel, Washington DC
- Awesome views from room, om nom nom restaurant, right at a metro station..
Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel, Philadelphia PA
Awesome location, good coffee, big rooms..
Hershey Lodge, Hershey PA
- I just love this hotel.. their lobby smelled like chocolate, they made great coffee, the rooms were awesome. Lots of rules were broken during our stay. *nods*

50/50:
Embassy Suites, Philadelphia PA
- Insanely slow elevators..
The Dunes, Ocean City MD
- Meh, it was a motel, but right on the beach.

Worst:
The Onyx Hotel, Boston MA
- No.. just no.. I swear to god the shower curtains were covered in feces, the room was insanely small, they looked like the designer got drunk and said "Hey, let's get that guy who drinks dye and then vomits on canvas to help pick the color scheme!" The staff was weird; and it cost $8 for a 4 pack of Milano cookies. Gah.
Days Inn (The entire chain..)
This. Hotel. Must. Die.

A Marriott is a good second choice.

I've only been to one Marriott, but I definitely had a good time. We went to one in North NJ for a wedding reception about two years ago and the bartender didn't ID, so of course I took full advantage and he introduced me to G&T. A few drinks later he cut me off. (:eek:) But oh well, we went straight to the bar connected to the lobby and started drinking Guinness and random mixed drinks until 3:30am.. At breakfast the next day I heard about how my cousin lost her shoes and some clothes when some of the wedding party snuck into the pool.

I miss that hotel. :(

Worst: a hotel in Newcastle i stayed at for work. we arrived, they knew nothing of our booking (despite emailed confirmations/receipts we brought with us), were rude and unpleasant, and ended up grudgingly giving us the two worst rooms in the place. mine was ok, although the staff didn't have a key for it so they broke down the door to let me in. really made me feel safe that night only having the door "locked" by one of those chain latch things. my colleagues got off even worse with a room that seemed as if it hadn't been decorated, much less cleaned, in about 30 years. we would have found somewhere else if it hadn't been almost 1 in the morning. the next day they were even more rude to us, accused us of walking off the street and demanding rooms, to which - of course - we provided our confirmations and told them they were a bunch of ****s (in politer language of course). i won't be staying with that chain again.

Geordies hate people from the south. I mean, they really, really, really hate you guys. Next time pretend to be an american and you probably won't have these problems.

St Regis is the best chain.

For business, a friend of mine stayed at the Ritz-Carlton in Cleveland, and by his report it was the worst hotel stay of his life.

The room was uncleaned, there was leftover food in the fridge, the thermostat was broken, and that night when he returned from the bars, when he knocked the mattress off of the bed, what did he find but two porno mags. Their names? Black Legs and Black Tail.

I will never stay at the Ritz-Carlton in Cleveland. Holiday Inn for me.

Geordies hate people from the south. I mean, they really, really, really hate you guys. Next time pretend to be an american and you probably won't have these problems.

St Regis is the best chain.

well i guess that's fair, cos now i hate them back ;)

Although, the best hotels I have stayed in have been Hyatt's. Especially the Hyatt Regency Arcade in Cleveland. Filled with class and nineteen-twenties charm, with a great view of the viewable parts of the city.

Most hotel experiences I have had were decent. The best was Caribbean Beach resort at Walt Disney World. I had a friend who was asthmatic and had problems walking, and we were walking with her six year old niece to the bus to take us to Disney. Our original room assignment was smack between bus stops, and a walk in in humid 95 degree heat...

My friend had an attack, and I ran back to the room to call for help. They sent a van, and once my friend had her inhaler she wanted to take her niece to Magic Kingdom. They told us to go to the front desk when we came back to the hotel -- not to the room.

When we came back they re-keyed our keys and drove us to our new room -- right at the bus stop. All of our stuff had been moved, and was laid out exactly as we'd had them in the first room.

Most hotel experiences I have had were decent. The best was Caribbean Beach resort at Walt Disney World. I had a friend who was asthmatic and had problems walking, and we were walking with her six year old niece to the bus to take us to Disney. Our original room assignment was smack between bus stops, and a walk in in humid 95 degree heat...

My friend had an attack, and I ran back to the room to call for help. They sent a van, and once my friend had her inhaler she wanted to take her niece to Magic Kingdom. They told us to go to the front desk when we came back to the hotel -- not to the room.

When we came back they re-keyed our keys and drove us to our new room -- right at the bus stop. All of our stuff had been moved, and was laid out exactly as we'd had them in the first room.

aww that's fantastic :)

My fav chain is Crowne Plazas - I was lucky enough to spend a month in one in Delhi whilst on business. Not only was I being paid to live in free luxury, I amassed so many loyalty points I got upgraded to Platinum class. Now whenever I stay in that chain I'm automatically upgraded to the best room available (which impressed the wife when I took her to London for a free night in the Intercontinental on Park Lane)

Hotels are for pussies.

I adore pussies, but I avoid hotels like the plague when I travel. There are such better ways to find accomodation, and to really get a feel for the place you have chosen to explore.
Elaborate.
Do you wait around to get picked up at a bar?
Study the Michelin's travel guide?
Sleep in the alley's?
Hostels?

Inspired by the Best Western Thread.

I hope you will tell your fellow NSG posters, what your best or worst (or both) experience was in staying in a hotel or other form of accommodation such as serviced apartments or caravan parks.

Please share with us your knowledge.

My favorite chain is Embassy Suites, but only if the company pays. They all have a nice, long happy hour with free well drinks.

My fav chain is Crowne Plazas - I was lucky enough to spend a month in one in Delhi whilst on business. Not only was I being paid to live in free luxury, I amassed so many loyalty points I got upgraded to Platinum class. Now whenever I stay in that chain I'm automatically upgraded to the best room available (which impressed the wife when I took her to London for a free night in the Intercontinental on Park Lane)

Well, my word of advice to you all is: If you ever fall out of a bunk bed on a school camp at 3:30 in the morning whilst sleeping naked, make sure that in your concussed state that you get back into your own bed.

I don't know what to ask first

Why were you naked at a school camping trip?

What happened when you climbed into someone else's bed?

Hotels are for pussies.

I adore pussies, but I avoid hotels like the plague when I travel. There are such better ways to find accomodation, and to really get a feel for the place you have chosen to explore.

...like where?

Both of my best and worst hotel experiences were in France, ironically.
Starting with the worst, because it was REALLY bad.

Our tour group had obviously skimped a bit, and put us in what was basically a hotel from roughly the time of the French Revolution. Somebody had been kind enough to install plumbing around the 1950's, though, so we had toilets, at least.
First thing, the hotel owner apparently hated Americans, and was willing to say so quite loudly. The tour company had neglected to research this, apparently, so the tour guide was forced to negotiate with her for an hour while we stood on the street with our bags. In Paris.
This being an old building, no two rooms were the same size. One room was rather nice, having three queen-size beds, and enough space to walk around in, as well as a rather nice TV with (shock!) a working remote control. Naturally, the tour organizers son got this room, along with his friends.
Since the tour organizers son didn't like me, I (being in middle school at the time) got stuck in a room roughly the size of my parents walk-in closet, which had four beds in it. Three of those beds were actually touching, leaving a roughly one-food wide corridor between them and the fourth bed, in a sort of squared-off 'W' shape. Even better, my roomates were high-school seniors. Needless to say, I didn't get any sleep that night.
I'll leave it at that, since my repressed rage from my Middle and early High School years is threatening to surface.

The BEST hotel we had was, somewhat amusingly, a Best Western about half-way to Switzerland, from Paris. The staff were nice, the rooms were big, the beds were free of insect life, several rooms had two stories and patios, AND there was free lesbian porn on the TV.
There was a pool too, but it had old men in speedos in it, so we decided to avoid it.

I learned a lot from that trip. Possibly the most significant fact being that every negative stereotype about the French is true, within the city limits of Paris. Possibly this is arranged by the whatever arm of the French government is responsible for tourism.
(The exception being the French predilection for swimming thongs. On everybody. From ages 8 to 80.)

I've never stayed in a hotel when traveling, but I've had friends from out of town who came to visit me who did. Those experiences were fun.

I don't know what to ask first

Why were you naked at a school camping trip?

What happened when you climbed into someone else's bed?

Well.. the school camp was in late January/Early February when temperatures are still around 30degrees+ at night. It seems that I may have kicked my boxers off in my sleep :$

Well... Unsurprisingly they kicked me out. However, as it was my first week at a new school, it hung over me for a while...:(

I hope you will tell your fellow NSG posters, what your best or worst (or both) experience was in staying in a hotel or other form of accommodation such as serviced apartments or caravan parks.

Please share with us your knowledge.

I've worked at a hotel for the last three years.

I can reveal secrets, wonders, and horrors...for a price. :tongue:

Well.. the school camp was in late January/Early February when temperatures are still around 30degrees+ at night. It seems that I may have kicked my boxers off in my sleep :$

Well... Unsurprisingly they kicked me out. However, as it was my first week at a new school, it hung over me for a while...:(

Yes that is always the best way to start at a new school. :wink: I can imagine I hope it wasn't something that hung around you for your schooling life.

Early February, that would have to be one of the first few weeks of the school year. I can't imagine why they want to do it so early (unless it was year 12) my old high school has now started this up as well for the year 8's.

All mine didn't happen till about October or in the case of year 12 which was held in March. (Actually I remember that I was on the Year 12 camp and that was the week that we started the invasion of Iraq)

my hotel experiences are pretty much limited to furry and science fiction conventions, with only a very few other stays at more modest road houses.

at any rate, no major surprises good or bad either way.

i'm usually a bit disappointed in the cost/gratification ratios of hotel food, but then not in the sense of ever expecting not to be. the one exception is the breakfast buffettes, which while not always cheep or included with the room, well i love help yourself buffettes on general principals anyway.

other then the breakfast buffette's, i tend to pack a picknic when i travell anyway. and look for grocery stores when i get there too. powdered instant soups and bullions and cup a soups can be made with the hot water from the coffee makers in the rooms of convention hotels, which also, yah, if you pay extra for the convention banquite, if they have one, that's usually pretty good and worth it too.

concerges and courtesy cars are useful, if the hotel picks you up from the station, or, well, where i went to the last furry con i went to, which was furcon at the san jose doubletree, well the hotel's only a block and a half from the nearest trolly stop, and there's a denny's right there at the trolly stop, where we usually stop and have something to eat on the way in.

when it was at the dumfy, the last one that was there was the first one i went to, there was a trader joe's practically accross the street. where they were used to fursuits in the fur going in and buying groceries at convention time.

(i understand baycons are being held there but i haven't made it to one of those yet)

=^^=
.../\...

Yes that is always the best way to start at a new school. :wink: I can imagine I hope it was something that hung around you for your schooling life.

Early February, that would have to be one of the first few weeks of the school year. I can't imagine why they want to do it so early (unless it was year 12) my old high school has now started this up as well for the year 8's.

All mine didn't happen till about October or in the case of year 12 which was held in March. (Actually I remember that I was on the Year 12 camp and that was the week that we started the invasion of Iraq)
I survived from grade 8 to 12 in that school... By the end most people forgot it. The key advantage I had was that nobody knew me then, so most people didn't know who to pick on about it.

They held them at the start of every year to get people to know each other and drive us out of our 'shells' they claimed. I think it was just a scam so they could get more money upfront.

I survived from grade 8 to 12 in that school... By the end most people forgot it. The key advantage I had was that nobody knew me then, so most people didn't know who to pick on about it.

Haha, well I suppose if you are going to embarrass yourself do it when know one knows who the hell you are. And I aplogize I meant to say I hope it wasn't something that hung around you at school not was sorry mate.

They held them at the start of every year to get people to know each other and drive us out of our 'shells' they claimed. I think it was just a scam so they could get more money upfront.

Yeah it wouldn't surprise me.

And I aplogize I meant to say I hope it wasn't something that hung around you at school not was sorry mate.Sure you do...
:P

One of the best for me was at a place called the Hotel Akademia in Kosice, Slovakia. It's a massive building, with probably 400 rooms or so, amazing entrance lobby, etc, etc. And was dirt cheap. £11 a night (cash up front - or choose to leave your passport at the front desk...).

Apparently it was built in Soviet times for some major conference that was taking place and the Soviets, like they did, wanted to impress, so they built this whacking great hotel. It's slightly basic, but functional, with great views of, uh, Soviet-era tower blocks.

And then breakfast is an unattended buffet. A very extensive unattended buffet. Which was very useful for the 12 hour train journey to Zagreb we had that day.