Hotel room problems - What would you have done?
 

We had a strange motel experience that rates up with our room in Alaska that had a sign on the back of the door stating "no cleaning game in room" or the motel years ago that was out of towels yet was willing to check in guests with no plans to provide them with any. I'm curious what my fellow travelers would have done in the following situation:

My husband and I had to make an unexpected overnight stop at an airport due to bad weather. Exhausted from several days of outdoor activity and then a long day of flying, the FBO offered to drive us to a AAA 3* motel and pick us up in the early morning. They called the motel and made a reservation, we gathered our belongings (Had to take almost everything as I hadn't packed separately for a one-night stop enroute home) and headed to our overnight stay.

No clerk at the desk--sign she would be back soon. In about 5 minutes she showed up, found out who we were and said she had to check on something, leaving again for 10 minutes. Back to check us in, she said there was a shortage of towels jusst then and she had checked the room to make it was properly stocked, telling us to let her know if we needed more towels or anything else that evening.

Room with two double beds looked fine. We had to unpack quite a bit to find our shower things and clean clothes. Shower, dinner next door, and we were barely able to keep our eyes open. Undressed and headed to bed, my husband opened the bedspread to find one spot of fresh blood on the edge of the sheet. Either a guest had bled and the sheets had not been changed or the housekeeper had a bloody nose when making the bed. I had noticed a card on the bed from the manager stating if you had any problems, call Housekeeping at Extension ____ (blank). I called the front desk and the only response I got from the clerk who checked us in was "Oh my. That's awful."

Also, when we turned off the lights in the room, the ceiling light near the door flashed like a strobe every 3 seconds. When I asked a second clerk about it, she was unsure if the light was supposed to do that and said she would make a note for Housekeeping. When I told this clerk about the blood spot, her response was "Whoever from housekeeping was assigned that room is in big trouble."

I told both clerks the conditions were unacceptable and the manager needed to be notified.

We had no car to go to another hotel. Our belongings were unpacked and scattered throughout the room. My husband was so exhausted he was willing to sleep on the floor to avoid getting dressed and moving anywhere.

What would you have done?

Considering you really had no other option but to stay the night, I would have requested that they change the entire bed...right in front of me. At least that way you could be sure it was done.

Did they change the sheets for you?

Probably what you did, slept in the other bed & unscrewed the flashing lightbulb.

I would have insisted they change the sheets, or done it myself and gone to bed, never to return again.

Asked for a different room? Asked for fresh sheets? I'd go for the different room though as it sounds as if there was an electrical problem in yours.

FBO?? You've lost me. Who/what is that? Let them know your experience as well. If this is a hotel used by airlines for stranded passengers, they may want to rethink their position!

Call the front desk - complain. If I got no help I very nicely say, "I want make sure I get it right, how do I spell your name?"
Unscrew lightbulb, sleep in other bed.
Entertain myself with letters and bad reviews on tripadvisor when I get home.

Nothing much to be done, given your situation. I'm in the --would have unscrewed the lightbulb and slept in the other bed-- camp.

Not sure of what I'd have done...but for sure...I would not have slept on the floor! One could only imagine....
Debi

Now you see, I would not have slept in the other bed. How do you know they actually changed <i>those </i>sheets?

No, I would have insisted for a set of new sheets -- even changing the bed myself, if I had to.

Malesherbes....FBO = Fixed Base Operator...She was flying Private Jet.MillionAire is a familiar FBO servicing the private jets of the planet.

I tell you one thing. I surely wouldn't have taken a shower there, thinking Norman Bates might be lurking outside the shower curtain.

Some questions. What is an FBO? Fresh blood? That is really gross whether it is fresh or stale - but blood turns brownish/rust color after a very short time exposed to air.

Lots of hotels only have a front desk person and maybe a maintenance or security person at night - no housekeeping. So I might have asked for new sheets and changed them myself and figured it was better than a chair at the airport, which can sometimes be the only option for bad weather delays.

I would think you could tell if the sheets were slept in or not - although I am not sure why that would matter - blood is blood.

FBO = Fixed Base Operator - this is a privately run company that services the &quot;General Aviation&quot; industry (privately owned and charter aircraft). Every airport has a FBO but they are more prevallent at municipal airports. They are usually on the opposite side of the airport from the main commercial terminals.

I would've either done what everyone else said (sleep in the other bed, unscrew the light bulb) or called the front desk and asked them to have someone change the sheets and fix the light, instead of just informing them of the problem and accepting their &quot;Oh that's terrible&quot; response. It doesn't sound like you requested anything from them, just expected them to fix the problem when you told them about it, and obviously with these people you needed to be more assertive about the situation.

I think I would have insisted on new sheets or a new room, if possible. Even if it took going to the front desk and getting sheets and making the bed myself.

Camping out in the other bed and unscrewing the light if possible are good options, too.

I'd probably also contact the manager now and complain about the mess and the lack of service. The manager might not have ever heard about your problems. And tell everyone you know to never, ever go there.

Joanne
http://www.vacationing-with-kids.com

I agree with TheWeasel.

I don't see how sleeping in the other bed would be &quot;camping out&quot;.

How did you know it was blood?

Turned to that DH and sweetly said, &quot;Honey, I <b>told</b> you we should have been flying on a <b>real</b> airplane that can fly over the weather!&quot;

The first thing I would have done is to proclaim the identity and location of the offending motel prominently in this forum. Why not name them?

Thanks for the responses. We were in one of those married couples disagree situations with both of us exhausted so I wondered what others would have done.

Sorry, FBO, as explained is the folks who service general aviation rather than commercial planes, even tiny 30-year-old single props like ours, not just jets.

How could I tell it was a single large drop of blood? Pretty obvious. And yes, it was relatively fresh and went through the sheet, so it fell on the bed.

I put in the details about the staff because I think Gail is right--the motel was staffed by just 1 or 2 people and maybe no one from housekeeping at that hour. And they weren't rude or nasty, just clueless, as The Weasel suggests.

I was totally disgusted. As Debit, Seetheworld and Napoleon say, I then questioned the cleanliness of everything in the bed and bathroom. The towels did have a bleach smell and the clerk mentioned checking they had been placed in the room, so I thought they were OK.

I wanted to pack up and leave, but another hotel wasn't practical. My second choice was to request another room to sleep in. In a trip last year we were locked out of our room with all our belongings at a NJ hotel and given another room just to sleep in until someone came in the morning to fix the lock. I wanted to suggest that so we wouldn't have to pack up. My third choice was to request clean sheets and have them make the bed over, but I could tell they had no idea what to do about the light and its height would require my husband to stand on a chair and attempt to fix. For some reason I didn't think to ask for new sheets for us to put on.

My husband's suggestion was to check the visual cleanliness of the second bed, turn away from the ceiling light, and get some sleep.

I am communicating with the manager to make sure he received the messages and understands that such service is unacceptable to most of us. I will provide details about the motel and his response when he has a chance to explain.

&quot;My husband's suggestion was to check the visual cleanliness of the second bed, turn away from the ceiling light, and get some sleep.&quot;

I agree with him. It's a motel, they were undestaffed, and it was one night. No need for high drama.