If the girls figured out we were staying in a dump, they didn't let on. My first choice, like I said in the last post, was to stay at the Grand Prairie, but I screwed around too long and it sold out. The shiny new Holiday Inn Express next door was my second choice, and while I was making sure there wasn't a better deal on something that nice in Hutchinson that weekend, the last room in it sold out on me. I even called the hotel and asked, and yep, some less indecisive individual had my room.
So I decided to look for the cheapest rate I could find. I've had good luck with CheapTickets.com for airline tickets, so I assumed they were good at everything they brokered. When I got to the Econo Lodge I'd booked, I was told the rate would be less than what I expected, to the tune of some forty bucks for the two nights. But my credit card had already been billed. Hell, I'd already paid the credit card.
No, I was assured by the cute Indian (red dot, not feather) chick, you only reserved the room with the card. I was dubious, but I figured if I got home and found duplicate charges, I'd just put the more expensive of the two in contest.
Then, when we decided to add a third night, I was told that the girl who checked me in was full of it, I'd already bought my room through the 'discount' website for $183, so they weren't going to charge my card the $141 for my first two nights. I was only going to be charged (by them) the $70 for the third night.
Nice. Basically, in search of a bargain I got hosed. Won't be fooled again by that website.
But what did I pay $42 too much for? Well, as David Sedaris pointed out in an audiobook we listened to on the way down, you don't mind economy hotels so much when you're paying your own expenses. I'm not on book tour, so this was definitely on me, but I can say the Econo Lodge in Hutchinson is exactly what you get when you only search for the lowest price. The Indian family that runs it is nice, and I wish them success, but...
For a start, I had to move the provided clock radio because the power chord kept falling out of the socket because the cover on that socket was busted. A big deal? Nope, but would it be a big deal to fix the damn thing?
Taking a shower was like being in a wounded submarine. The water was ice cold for a long time, then only lukewarm. I waited, hoping it would get hot to find the tub filling despite the drain being as open as I could get it. I did finally get hot water, but when I did I had to race through my shower to avoid flooding the joint.
This wasn't just during one shower, but during all three showers I took in this stay. Em took it in stride, only noting after the second shower that the water only got 'barely warm.'
The motel is also about three centimeters from the railroad tracks, judging by the train noise.
And then there were the brush trucks apparently in to help Hutchinson recover from the ice storm of a month or so ago. I think the goons who went with these noisy machines were probably responsible for most of the beer cans littering the parking lot and more than their share of the shouted conversations at 4:00 am in the parking lot.
Maybe I should have shown them my hat.
When I was at the front desk the last time, I asked how why not curry the eggs in the continental breakfast? Curried eggs are delightful, and with a last name like Vishnu... This drew a blank, at first, from the original Indian chick who had checked me in, but when she got the question she explained that she was a vegetarian, Hindu and all that, and had never had an egg curried or otherwise.
Ah, well...
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