What is the worst hotel you've ever stayed in?
Sep 18th, 2002, 07:26 PM
#24
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1. A youth hostel we stayed in Athens about 30 years ago. I remember trying to take a shower without any part of my body touching the shower walls which had obviously not been cleaned since the building was first constructed.<BR><BR>2. Small hotel in Frankfurt about 4 years ago. I booked it for a business trip on a friend's recommendation and unbeknownst to me they were tearing it down in a few weeks. Need I say more?<BR><BR>3. Cheap hotel in Bodrum, Turkey, where the cockroaches were so huge that neither my husband nor I dared to say what they were until we left. We called them "bugs". I think if we had acknowledged what they were we couldn't have spent another minute in the hotel.<BR><BR>4. Some place in San Cristobal de las Casas (Mexico) recommended by a guidebook. It was very cold, the sheets were damp, and even going to bed with all my clothes on I couldn't get warm. The desk clerk SWORE they had hot water but there was none. He finally took us to another room and had us use the shower there!<BR><BR>I guess I better stop now...
Sep 18th, 2002, 07:49 PM
#25
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It was on our way back from seeing the Bilboa museum that we travelled thru a horrible downpour thru the pyrenees(sp?)<BR>Anyway, we stopped at a hotel, no choice, after dark, rocks falling off the road.It was like Norman Bates, the mother sat in the middle of the dinning room, stradding a chair while the husband cooked and the son nervously walked around taking orders for dinner , we two and another couple from Canada.The decor:To me amazing!faux peeling rock paper in the dining area<BR>the bedroom with squeeky floors and peeling faux marble paper on the <BR>and,worse, in the toilet/shower that made so much noise
Sep 19th, 2002, 01:28 AM
#29
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A "Days Inn" outside of Houston, TX. on our way to New Orleans.<BR>Should have known better, all the lights were on and it had a very BAD feel. Within 20 minutes we knew we had a few extra guest (FEW!!??) the six legged variety. I had started to change my clothes and when I looked down on the bed these not-so-little fellows were snuggling into my PJ's. Let me tell you we were out of there pretty quick. I have been in places that had a few roaches but this place was INFESTED. Will never stay in a "Days Inn" anywhere again, rather sleep in my car or an airport or a beach ... anywhere.
Sep 19th, 2002, 11:34 AM
#31
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MJS,<BR><BR>Please elaborate on what you did not like about the Scala House-many people on these boards love that place. I found the bathrooms weird, the hall outside always smelled of who knows what cooking, the garbage facilities inadequate, and the beds completely uncomfortable (couch in the living room was fine though). Other than that, and the fact that the proprietors made be very uncomfortable-why, I do not know-they just creeped me out-the place was fine.
Sep 19th, 2002, 12:23 PM
#33
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To me too:<BR> I actually thought the front desk people were quite nice and responsive. I know some poeple including some we met, who like the Scala but we did not. I would say that the amount of room in the apartment was nice but the bathrooms were quite dingy and of lessor quality than your garden variety motel 6. Worse, the amount of hot water available was enough for one three minute shower. Others would have to wait 45 minutes before their turn. If you have a family of four and want to take a shower or bath every day after touring it is unacceptable. The beds were uncomfortable and most of the furniture K mart quality that appeared to be from the 1970's. The kitchen and tv were adequate. Broken hinges, windows that would not shut, coffee maker that would not make coffee..... All fixed quite promptly however. It is like living in a 1970 apartment that has never been renovated with changes only when something beaks. Reminds me of Cuba. We find the Citadines to be much nicer for alittle more.<BR> Now the Scala is not as bad as some places I stayed at in various places around the globe during my younger days. In fact in some ways the Scala reminds me of one of the apartments I lived in while in West Philadelphia during my student days. It is however not a place for us.
Sep 19th, 2002, 12:52 PM
#34
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A nameless flophouse in Mora, Spain. We got stranded there because of horrific weather that made driving too treacherous. There were motorcycles parked all along the "hotel" corridors. People coming and going all night long. Plastic sheets, and a used condom in the bedside table drawer lying on top of a Bible. We slept in our coats and shoes and socks and were out of there at the first light of dawn.
Sep 19th, 2002, 01:40 PM
#35
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I'd say the worst was an Econolodge (I believe) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The balloon festival was on and we were landing too late to get to our hotel in Santa Fe. I had trouble finding a place and this was it. It was awful - smelled like someone or something had died in the room. We threw open the door and windows and went out at 2 AM to get something to eat while our room aired out. <BR><BR>Another bad place was just outside Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. I think it had originally been a house. We were warned by another guest that the toilet (which was across the hall) didn't work properly. I ended up using the "facilities" on the main floor. As I brushed my teeth in what had originally been a kitchen, I heard a noise, looked around and found a couple of live chickens in the room with me! What a hoot!
Sep 19th, 2002, 02:13 PM
#36
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Nice paragraph, William James. What would make someone overdose on acid and freak out on the Fodor's web site?<BR><BR>Anyway, The Crillon in La Paz Bolivia checked me into a room that had no beds. The Caledonian Hotel in Oban Scotland had to move me 3 times to find a room with working heat. The room doors at Taroko Gorge Hotel at Taroko Gorge Taiwan had 4 inch gaps "so the rats wouldn't get trapped in the room". Also the Guest Services Directors at the Roma Hotel in Taipei kept sending "hostesses" to my room after I repeatedly told them I wasn't interested.<BR><BR>Steve
Sep 19th, 2002, 02:52 PM
#37
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A hotel in Chengde, China. Blech - the carpet was a sticky sickly black mess - originally blue some years ago but coated with some sort of greasy gross dirt. We balanced all our bags, etc. on top of the television and night stands due to the grossness of the carpet. Amazingly unfriendly and unhelpful staff - the sort not at all invested in customer care of any kind. (I'm not sure that you would encounter this sort of staff outside of a communist country.) Location: out in the middle of no place, more or less in an industrial park. The worst beds imaginable - sort of like old department store beds for displaying bedspreads. Rock hard - painful to lie on. The floor probably would have been more comfortable, except the sticky gross carpet prevented any contact with the floor. Random fluctuation of hot and icy water in the shower - which consisted of a tiny trickle of water running down the shower wall. And, the breakfast included in our room cost - a pot of instant coffee made with lukewarm tap water, a cold and rubbery fried egg (maybe cooked the night before), and one piece of cold toast.
Sep 19th, 2002, 03:34 PM
#38
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A river cruise boat on the Yangtze River in China was the dirtiest! The carpet and drapes had never been cleaned since the 1960's and this was in the 90's. I cant remember if it was booked through Uniworld or Grand Circle here in the States, but 90% of the people on the tour came down with some virus. The boat was damp, mildewed, dusty, musty and we were stuck for five days and nights! <BR>The first night my toothbruth flipped out of my hand and landed on the filthy floor. My pillow fell off the bed and when I saw the carpet I put my sweater over the pillow case. I went to take a shower and there were p--ic hairs on the drain. I turned the knob to open the window and my hand stuck to it. Heard enough?
Sep 19th, 2002, 04:33 PM
#40
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<BR> OK here it goes.<BR> (1) Hotel Kazimierz in Krakow<BR> 2 small rooms in damp cool <BR> basement,iron grates on windows<BR> overlooking a small dusty courtyard <BR> wher at 6 am and old hag would come out and BANG the empty garbage cans for<BR>about an hour and than fed the nasty wild cats.Breakfast was laid out very early in the am,so early in fact that<BR>it would dry up by the time we got to <BR>it.They could not for the life of them <BR>make a good cup of coffee.I can go on for days.<BR> Travelman<BR>ps Why did we stay for 4 days.<BR> Inernational Child Day ,and everything else was sold out.
