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Hilton in downtown Chicago. Went there for the Fray and Vedera concert at the Metro. There was a conference of Jewish rabbi's there - no big deal. They were a harmless bunch.

So we're getting ready to go down and snag a cab to go to the concert when I keep hearing this chanting coming from what sounds like the room below. No big deal, it's just late afternoon and still light out.

Was looking out the window and noticed the cops had Wacker drive blocked off and then I see why.

There was a huge crowd of Muslims demonstrating in front of our the hotel. We had to snake our way through them and walk around the side to get our taxi.

I was slightly buzzed and my wife was concerned about some of my comments as we passed through the crowd.

We got our cab, went to the concert where there was a line that stretched as far as I could see standing there in the cold. We got some weird looks when we were escorted in through a side entrance to enjoy the show.

:D

I asked for a refund and they wouldn't budge. Bastards.

The Flamingo in Cancun.

Room smelled like a high school locker room and overlooked the street. We griped, told them we didn't come all that way to overlook the street and smell the inside of someone's dirty athletic sock. They swapped rooms and we had an ocean view. So great. Smelled fine too.

Then for the whole time we were down there they were doing some remodeling somewhere in the hotel and all day long there was constant jack hammering above us. Reminded me of that commercial where every time the guy tries to talk, the noise starts up.

Of course we didn't spend a lot of time in the room during the day but it was still annoying as hell.

The best I've encountered was a hotel outside of Paris... it was 600 euro/night (~$900), reduced to 200 euro/night based on a deal with my company. I got there around 8am, and knew the room wasn't ready. I gave them my suitcase and laptop, and wandered around Paris for several hours.

Went back to the hotel (after they called me to tell me my room was ready, which was nice), and they couldn't find my suitcase. They ended up giving it to someone else, and it was hours into a trip to Switzerland by the time they figured it out. The stupid part was they had given me a tag for the suitcase, but apparently didn't put their half of the tag with my suitcase. :doh!:

The laptop was still there, which is nice, but all I had on me was the clothes I had been wearing through 10 hours of flying and 6 hours of wandering Paris... and I had to work the next morning.

For the inconvenience, I received:

Free room service that night
Toiletries (of course)
About 2-3 hours of effort from the staff to find work clothes, and I got to keep a couple of shirts and a couple pair of socks.
A $250 bottle of wine, which I brought home.


So, in that case, staying at a high-end place did make a difference, but it's obviously not a Holiday Inn Express.

Well, sort of..... a week and a half later, I found an empty bottle of mini-bar rum on the desk, and a full mini-bar. I went to the front desk and got a printout of my bill (and checked it before saying why), and sure enough had 20 euro of alcohol charged to my room for that day. The same person who took care of the suitcase issue was there, so she took it off my bill while trying her best to ignore the fact that housekeeping was drinking on the job.

You (usually) get what you pay for.

The only times I've really gotten screwed were the rare times I didn't have time to do some research, and was traveling on the fly.

Now, I don't book a hotel room without consulting TripAdvisor first.

I can't imagine the number of potential hell stories that website has saved me.

Yes.

If the front desk tells you your room isn't ready you tell them that's dissapointing but complimentary drinks at the hotel bar will help the wait (or food in the hotel restaurant if that is your thing).

Any time you are not happy with your room you ring the front desk and ask them for a satisfaction survey as you have items with which you are so displeased you want to be sure and report them so the next guest isn't as unhappy as you are. See what they will do for you.

Never smart ass the staff or management, always keep your cool. Calm but persistent and unwaivering. And it should go without saying to treat room service staff like gold. When I was a college kid I worked room service for a summer and have seen first-hand the room service waiter's revenge on guests who are abusive, insulting or don't tip. Oh boy.

Ooh, ooh...stories!

i had to stay in this shitty ass ghetto hotel once in San Diego. We went down there years back because my friend had orientation at SDSU. This was the same ****ing week that xgames was going on, so all the hotel's were booked. I only slept a few hours, i didnt feel comfortable at this motel. Holes in the wall and shit. It was just dirty, but there wasnt much choice. My el camino was to small for 2 guys to sleep in overnight. lol

i swear those sheets were blood stained before we got there!:D
sec

ROFL

While last night was bad, I went to the front desk, raised hell Bwana style and got it for free after making the post. I had one that was worse. We were putting a store in Lemmon, SD. The name of the Motel is/was the Prairie motel http://www.prairiemotellemmon.com/


It was the only ballgame in town at the time so I was hosed. I drove up and looked at it and you could tell it was a complete dive. The rate was, $31 a night, enough said. I went into the office and some Russian named Borris owned the place. He didn't speak much english, but I got him a credit card and he got me a key. I walk into this place and it was really dark, poor lighting. I look down and it has about 40 year old Austin Powers looking orange carpet. The bed was about the size of a Barbie bed.

I shook my head and said, I can stay any place for a night and went out to get some dinner. I ordered steak and shrimp and chased it down with some cold beer. Back to the room I go. I kept hearing this buzzing, but couldn't figure out what the hell it was. I ended up going to sleep, feet hanging over the bed. I woke up about two hours later sicker than a dog, I ate some bad food. I was up all night sitting on the shitter, holding a garbage can and yacking. That was as sick as I had ever been in my life. I went to get dressed the next morning and stepped on a wasp in the Austin carpet and got stung. I took a closer look and there was a wasp nest in the far corner of the room.

I felt like hell not getting any sleep, but made it in, did my part of the the install and got the hell out of there. I never called on the town/store again.

Ok, so this isn't a hotel like most of you are describing, but an extended stay type of place in Washington, D.C.

We had driven to the place from Michigan and were exhausted. The front desk gives us our key and we take the elevator up to the 8th floor and walk down the corridor. It's kind of dark, dirty, not a great vibe. Oh well, we were just exhausted and ready to sleep.

I put the key into the door (yeah, this was awhile ago) and when I open the door and look in I see a family of 6 having dinner. The husband gets up, reaching into his pocket for God knows what and yelling at us. We apologize, tell the front desk, and get re-assigned.

A week later we're watching TV and the door opens and a man starts to walk in with his luggage. Apparently, there wasn't a lot of clarity on which suites were taken and which ones were vacant.

That night, we relocated to Alexandria, VA.

+1

I guess there will be some stories generated in Kansas now.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/break...y/1608789.html

Posted on Thu, Dec. 03, 2009
Kansas suspends hotel safety and sanitation inspections
The Associated Press

TOPEKA | Budget cuts are forcing the Kansas Department of Agriculture to temporarily suspend safety and sanitation inspections of hotels across the state.

Agriculture Secretary Josh Svaty said Thursday that the suspensions are a result of Gov. Mark Parkinson's cutting $303,000 from the agency's operating budget.

The agency licenses 825 hotels, motels, lodges and bed-and-breakfast locations in Kansas. Each facility must pass a safety and sanitation inspection to hold a license in good standing.

Svaty says all the facilities currently licensed have been inspected, but future inspections will depend on whether the Legislature can restore the funding.

The Agriculture Department has a $9.8 million budget for the fiscal year that ends June 30, 2010.