People sometimes comment about how much travel I do for work. People with families sympathize with the time spent away from home. Fathers of young children fantasize about getting a full night's sleep uninterrupted by crying kids. Non-marrieds usually say something along the lines of "You must love getting away from the kids!" Trust me, it's not as glamorous as it may appear on the outside.
Let's take this week as an example:
Wetaskiwin, AB Super8... after checking in, the desk clerk informs me their keycard coder is broken and won't be replaced until tomorrow, which means he has to let me into my room using the hotel master keycard. I felt somewhat like a prison inmate being escorted to his cell. I had to follow him to the second floor and down to the end of the hallway where he let me into my room. I didn't dare leave again because I didn't want to end up locked out of my room. With my luck, I'll go out for dinner and he'll get called away on some hotel emergency and I'll end up sleeping in the lobby. Then in the morning when I went to iron my shirt, I discovered there was no ironing board. This would've been more of an inconvenience if there had actually been an iron in the room. They probably figured I wouldn't need an ironing board without an iron (which makes sense). To add insult to injury, my room was so far down the hall I couldn't get a good wireless internet connection (it was a long-distance phone call to the front desk).
Courtenay, BC Travelodge... home of possibly the hardest mattresses and thinnest blankets I've seen in a long time. I'm used to having blankets you can see through, but not pillows. I have three or four of them piled up in my attempts to get comfortable. Two wonderful nights of car alarms going off in the parking lot, water pipes that squealed like cornered pigs, and a room heater that didn't want to go above 68F no matter how high you crank the dial. Apparently there is a shortage of ironing equipment, or a conspiracy. Maybe they're just afraid I'm going to hurt myself. I knew a guy who once burned his neck ironing his shirt collar... no word of a lie.
Campbell River, BC Travelodge... situated right across the road from the ocean, and I get a view of the rear parking lot. Seems about right. Two double beds huh, that should be fun. Maybe if I slide them together I could lay down across both of them. Oh good, the outlet where my laptop has been plugged in all night apparently doesn't work, nothing like starting out the day with 5% battery capacity. I've given up on expecting irons/boards in the rooms now. On the plus side, this is one of the first rooms I've had where the curtains actually close all the way. That's because it's just one big curtain, which is fine because I didn't really want to look at the parking lot anyway.
Courtenay, BC Best Western... why didn't I stay here the first time? Comfy bed, nice blankets, it had been so long since I had seen an iron or ironing board in a room I almost didn't recognize them. You know you're in a good hotel when you want to steal the pillows. I was really close to stuffing one in my suitcase and blaming its disappearance on the cleaning staff, but it wouldn't fit. What's this?? A real shower head?! And it even had water pressure too, this is almost like Christmas.
Saanichton, BC Super8... I don't think this room had been updated since the 70's. A padded chair and a recliner which don't match (each other, or anything else in the room), both looked like they were obtained at the "Raymond Flea Market" (the last Monday of the month when we can stick pretty much anything on the curb and the town will haul it away for us... sometimes people will pick up items early if they see something they like). I'm not sure what the official term for imitation imitation-leather would be, but the chair was covered in it. This was seriously one step away from the plastic furniture covers. I realized that the dirty laundry bags must come as a package deal with the iron/board because this one didn't have any of them, good thing I picked one up at the Best Western. And I love having to pull the desk away from the wall so I can access the only wall outlet in the room, it's a good workout.
So go ahead, envy me for my carefree life of travel and leisure. Trust me, it's not as glamorous and rosey as it looks. Did I mention the front desk staff at the Calgary hotel recognized when I started using my new Airmiles MasterCard? He also gets worried about me if I don't check in before 10:30pm when I've made a reservation. When I put on my shoes at home, the kids ask me how many days I'll be gone this time. Yah, livin' the dream...
Let's take this week as an example:
Wetaskiwin, AB Super8... after checking in, the desk clerk informs me their keycard coder is broken and won't be replaced until tomorrow, which means he has to let me into my room using the hotel master keycard. I felt somewhat like a prison inmate being escorted to his cell. I had to follow him to the second floor and down to the end of the hallway where he let me into my room. I didn't dare leave again because I didn't want to end up locked out of my room. With my luck, I'll go out for dinner and he'll get called away on some hotel emergency and I'll end up sleeping in the lobby. Then in the morning when I went to iron my shirt, I discovered there was no ironing board. This would've been more of an inconvenience if there had actually been an iron in the room. They probably figured I wouldn't need an ironing board without an iron (which makes sense). To add insult to injury, my room was so far down the hall I couldn't get a good wireless internet connection (it was a long-distance phone call to the front desk).
Courtenay, BC Travelodge... home of possibly the hardest mattresses and thinnest blankets I've seen in a long time. I'm used to having blankets you can see through, but not pillows. I have three or four of them piled up in my attempts to get comfortable. Two wonderful nights of car alarms going off in the parking lot, water pipes that squealed like cornered pigs, and a room heater that didn't want to go above 68F no matter how high you crank the dial. Apparently there is a shortage of ironing equipment, or a conspiracy. Maybe they're just afraid I'm going to hurt myself. I knew a guy who once burned his neck ironing his shirt collar... no word of a lie.
Campbell River, BC Travelodge... situated right across the road from the ocean, and I get a view of the rear parking lot. Seems about right. Two double beds huh, that should be fun. Maybe if I slide them together I could lay down across both of them. Oh good, the outlet where my laptop has been plugged in all night apparently doesn't work, nothing like starting out the day with 5% battery capacity. I've given up on expecting irons/boards in the rooms now. On the plus side, this is one of the first rooms I've had where the curtains actually close all the way. That's because it's just one big curtain, which is fine because I didn't really want to look at the parking lot anyway.
Courtenay, BC Best Western... why didn't I stay here the first time? Comfy bed, nice blankets, it had been so long since I had seen an iron or ironing board in a room I almost didn't recognize them. You know you're in a good hotel when you want to steal the pillows. I was really close to stuffing one in my suitcase and blaming its disappearance on the cleaning staff, but it wouldn't fit. What's this?? A real shower head?! And it even had water pressure too, this is almost like Christmas.
Saanichton, BC Super8... I don't think this room had been updated since the 70's. A padded chair and a recliner which don't match (each other, or anything else in the room), both looked like they were obtained at the "Raymond Flea Market" (the last Monday of the month when we can stick pretty much anything on the curb and the town will haul it away for us... sometimes people will pick up items early if they see something they like). I'm not sure what the official term for imitation imitation-leather would be, but the chair was covered in it. This was seriously one step away from the plastic furniture covers. I realized that the dirty laundry bags must come as a package deal with the iron/board because this one didn't have any of them, good thing I picked one up at the Best Western. And I love having to pull the desk away from the wall so I can access the only wall outlet in the room, it's a good workout.
So go ahead, envy me for my carefree life of travel and leisure. Trust me, it's not as glamorous and rosey as it looks. Did I mention the front desk staff at the Calgary hotel recognized when I started using my new Airmiles MasterCard? He also gets worried about me if I don't check in before 10:30pm when I've made a reservation. When I put on my shoes at home, the kids ask me how many days I'll be gone this time. Yah, livin' the dream...
