Saturday I departed from the SC bound for Minneapolis to participate in the American Planning Association’s National Conference. A coworker and I left from State College about 4:30pm. It was the last flight out for the day. We had a short layover in Detroit before continuing to Minneapolis. The weather was nice and we left State College on time so I was hoping that was an indication of what was to come. It wasn’t.
Our flight was about an hour late departing Detroit because the flight crew taking us to Minneapolis was delayed getting in. There was also some bad weather in the area so I figured even if the flight crew was on time we still would have been delayed because of the thunderstorms. I was okay with it and the Detroit airport has some cool underground walkways with really “trippy” lights so that provided some entertainment while we waited. Eventually we departed with little fanfare and arrived about an hour late in Minneapolis. We took the train from the airport into downtown and proceeded to our hotel. It was about 10:30pm when we got there and then things got interesting.
We had two rooms reserved (as there were two of us traveling). I was under the foolish assumption that by making a reservation and securing it with a credit card I would h
ave a room waiting for me. Oddly enough, I was the only one who thought that. The desk clerk proceeded to tell us they had only one room left in the entire hotel. It had two beds and was a smoking room. That was the last thing I wanted to hear.
To compensate us for the “mix-up” the desk clerk said they would pay for us to stay at a nearby hotel and have rooms for us the next day. I was tired, cranky, and didn’t feel like dragging my suitcase another three blocks only to bring it back to the very spot I was in. He continued to tell us that we could have the smoking room at half price. I asked if they could just comp us the room. He said no. Slightly confused I said, “Wait a minute. You can pay full price for two rooms at another hotel but you can’t give us one of your rooms for free?” He said, yes, it’s the hotel policy.” I didn’t understand and this concurrence stoked my already agitated state. Fortunately I managed to keep my cool and didn’t tear the guy a new one.
We took the room at half price and the hotel threw in two bottles of wine for our troubles, but I have to say, there are not many more things worse than trying to sleep in a room saturated with stale cigarette smoke. I made sure to not unpack any of my clothes and risk having them soak up the stench. I considered just sleeping in the lobby, but I decided to out for a few beers to unwind.
I had a terrible night of sleep and I’m still not sure if it was worth it. Soon I’ll return to my hotel and get my new room. Hopefully a nap in a less toxic environment will do me some good. I just hope the rest of the trip has a few less surprises.
Our flight was about an hour late departing Detroit because the flight crew taking us to Minneapolis was delayed getting in. There was also some bad weather in the area so I figured even if the flight crew was on time we still would have been delayed because of the thunderstorms. I was okay with it and the Detroit airport has some cool underground walkways with really “trippy” lights so that provided some entertainment while we waited. Eventually we departed with little fanfare and arrived about an hour late in Minneapolis. We took the train from the airport into downtown and proceeded to our hotel. It was about 10:30pm when we got there and then things got interesting.
We had two rooms reserved (as there were two of us traveling). I was under the foolish assumption that by making a reservation and securing it with a credit card I would h
ave a room waiting for me. Oddly enough, I was the only one who thought that. The desk clerk proceeded to tell us they had only one room left in the entire hotel. It had two beds and was a smoking room. That was the last thing I wanted to hear.To compensate us for the “mix-up” the desk clerk said they would pay for us to stay at a nearby hotel and have rooms for us the next day. I was tired, cranky, and didn’t feel like dragging my suitcase another three blocks only to bring it back to the very spot I was in. He continued to tell us that we could have the smoking room at half price. I asked if they could just comp us the room. He said no. Slightly confused I said, “Wait a minute. You can pay full price for two rooms at another hotel but you can’t give us one of your rooms for free?” He said, yes, it’s the hotel policy.” I didn’t understand and this concurrence stoked my already agitated state. Fortunately I managed to keep my cool and didn’t tear the guy a new one.
We took the room at half price and the hotel threw in two bottles of wine for our troubles, but I have to say, there are not many more things worse than trying to sleep in a room saturated with stale cigarette smoke. I made sure to not unpack any of my clothes and risk having them soak up the stench. I considered just sleeping in the lobby, but I decided to out for a few beers to unwind.
I had a terrible night of sleep and I’m still not sure if it was worth it. Soon I’ll return to my hotel and get my new room. Hopefully a nap in a less toxic environment will do me some good. I just hope the rest of the trip has a few less surprises.
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1 comment:
oh boy. that sucks. you were way nicer than I would have been!
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