Well it seems obvious to me that Emucom took the opportunity to share an experience he/she had and to comment that "neighborhood" is an important consideration in selecting a motel.

I agree. I think this is good advice, and I see no reason to question the motive behind it.

I will keep watch to see if Emucom chimes in to explain that I was wrong in my conclusion.

Wow, I must be missing something completely. I don't see a "Ranier for Rainier" anywhere on this thread - or corrections/ typos. I was corrected last week for mispelling a word - that I don't think I mispelled. That sort of stuff is so unimportant. I just shrug and guess the corrector (sic?) is either an English teacher, writer or similar. There was a funny thread a few weeks back by someone who started a thread asking who was "horrified" about misspelled words. That OP didn't get a lot of support! :-)

Topping old moldy threads just sinks current, topical threads faster.

Topping a really old thread about something specific is one thing -- "tell me about such and such hotel" - if the new poster is looking for info about the same place.

But just topping an old general rant - not much value . . . .

"Wow. A very old post is topped. Any particular reason?"

I don't see how this comment can be construed as implying that it's a "big offense" to top old posts. I don't think Emucom took issue with the inquiry - in fact, I'm sure the question is what made him/her realize that the thread was started years ago.