Motel Hell
 

I'm doing a story on some of the most disgusting motels the U.S. has to offer.
Does anyone have a motel hell story they would like to share?
Please give details of where the motel is and what happened.
Cheers, Nik

Two words: Days Inn

My husband (then boyfriend) were driving to St. Louis from our university a day before we were due for a wedding. We decided to pull off the highway and stay at a Super 8 just off the expressway outside of St. Louis. The neighborhood looked ok, we were poor college kids,it was late, so we checked in. Next thing you know, the headboard to the room next door is banging against the wall, moaning is going on and then it stops. A half an hour later it starts again, it starts again but a different guy's name is being called out. :o This went on all night with different names all night!!! Then at about 4 in the morning all hell broke loose with sirens, police cars, etc. There was a drug bust in the parking lot!! And we had borrowed my husband's roommates car to make the trip and he was afraid it would get stolen so he kept checking out the window every 5 minutes all night but we were too afraid to leave the room to change hotels!!!

How do you plan to divvy up the fees you get from doing your story? I have a few, but if you're gonna make money on it, I want my share too!

....and stories written on an anonymous chat board would qualify as journalistic quality research?
I think not.

To rb: Interesting point about getting free stuff for the story. And that actually raises another issue--Since this is an anonymous internet forum, you can't quote anyone or verify the information. We could all be making this stuff up, since there is no way to prove the validity of anything. Which leads to the next point--why don't YOU just make up this stuff instead? Maybe because that would require YOU to do some actual research and/or be creative????

Nikj, if you're planning to sell the story to a legitimate newspaper or magazine, they will want attribution -- for example, Jane Jones of Utica, NY -- especially so since these will be negative comments about real businesses. Using a nickname from a bulletin board won't do.

Bates Motel. Weird guy behind the desk. Funky shower.

Gotta go. I think I hear Mother calling.

Wow, you guys really are interested in your journalistic integrity are you? Been burned one too many times by the NY Times have we? Why don't you let Nikj worry about that and share if you want too, otherwise move on.

It was a few years ago when I drove into San Angelo Texas. The Miss Wool contest was in progress that night and all the decent motels were taken. In desperation we looked at one of the sleazier establishments. Big mistake. First the inside of the room was 90 plus degrees. Second, the bath tub was well covered with dead roaches. We did not stay there!! At least we understood why it had a Vacancy sign.

The Miss Wool contest? In San Angelo Texas? There are so many things wrong with that I don't know where to start. Pretty funny.

Ashedown Arkansas, before we could sleep I asked for a broom (the handle was broken) to get the cob webs down.

Sheraton Westport plaza in STL, no body would clean the puke out of the elevator.

Baltimore MD Ramada Inn, tha carpet was sticky. I don't even wanna know with what.

My "Motel Hell" was at a seedy little place in New Orleans, although the name escapes me now (wonder why that is?).

In my absent minded youth, I neglected to remember I would not be able to cash an out-of-state check once in Lousiana (had no credit cards then). This was after DH and I (dating at that time) decided to make the 6 hour trek from Houston about midnight one Friday, just to hear some good jazz and have a little fun for the weekend. With not being able to use an out-of-state check, we ended up in this filthy dump cleverly referred to as a motel. We had no other choice with our limited cash on hand.

We were too afraid of what we might catch to sleep in anything but our clothes on top of the covers. Too afraid to walk anywhere in the bedroom or bathroom w/o shoes (I even showered with mine on). Nearly every plug had been burned out. We got to see the crack addict in the next room watching TV every time we passed by his open door, and the car alarm went off all night long. It was awful, and we actually lived to tell about it (my mother would just die). We mostly stayed out all day and night and only went there to have a roof over our head to sleep.

Needless to say, we've never gone anywhere w/o major credit cards again, and our travel habits have drastically changed...ha. We do laugh quite often at the story nowadays, though, and we did end up having a lot of fun.

Side note: I've never eaten so many biscuit and sausage sandwiches from a convenience store as I did when we finally saw a Texas state-side Chevron, for which we DID have a credit card! ha! We were starving by then. Oh, to be young and dumb.

Statia-it's amazing what we'll put up with when we're young, dumb and broke isn't it!

swalter,

Yes, I do agree! Live and learn.

Sorry for the massive amounts of confusion. Let me clear up a few things.
I am a university student who loves to travel and has had many horrorible things happen while on the road in motels. I am merely writing a short story for our university paper.
I DO NOT get paid.
I had merely wanted to hear other people's stories to add to some colour to my story. Plus, I Do Not use other people's names.
Thanks for the notes so far.

obxgirl, that was funny! Thanks for the laugh!

Judy24, sometimes writers hit road blocks and need a muse.
Crappy motels are not easily researched. They don't advertise that they are hooker or roach motels. The only way to really find out the TRUE story of what the establishment (if you can call it that) is like is by word of mouth. And most people love to tell their holiday horror stories.
As for the money point. I have given tons of people some excellent advice on this forum. Everything from restuarants in T.O & Quebec City that are great, to travel advice for the Galapagos Islands& Peru. I wouldn't dream of charging for that. (or my time!)

Why don't you review extended stay hotels like Homestead Hotels (http://www.homesteadhotels.com/) and Extended Stay Network and offer alternatives not just the problems with Motels. A Thought...

Jon

Nikj, I don't pretend to be an expert on journalistic ethics, but I agree with rwilliams and Judy24: anonymous sources from an online message board do not meet the lowest standard of research, even if you are using them just "for color". I realize you're writing a light piece, but by putting your name on your writing, you're implicitly vouching for the authenticity of the stories you include. I guess indicating the source of the stories in your article would help, but something still doesn't smell right to me. Just my opinion--good luck with your writing.