David and I are out of town for a conference. David is going to the conference, I am just tagging along. Madeline is at home with her grandparents so I’ve had a chance to relax which has been wonderful. As you can see from the title of this post, I have definite feelings when it comes to staying in hotels. Let’s just say that the hotel that this conference is being held at is below my standards for a “good” hotel. I know I sound like a snob, but I can’t help it. So let me me try to explain why.
When I was a child my parents would take our family on yearly trips. We would go all over the United States visiting natural landmarks, historical sights, living history museums (my mom’s favorite) and many other wonderful “memory making” locations. Back in the day money was pretty tight so we traveled in a very special way. Mom would scope out all of the Motel 6’s along our route and for $25 a night we could get a room.
In these Motel 6 rooms we would find toe nail clippings on the floor, dark hairs on the white sheets, random pieces of cereal on the floor, and other disgusting remnants from visitors past. If we were really going to splurge Mom would book us a room at a Super 8 which, if you are judging these hotels numerically, is just a slight step above a Motel 6. I’m not exactly sure what the numbering system indicates, but I was not impressed with either hotel.
After seeing one too many pieces of cereal or toe nail clippings on the floor my mom finally broke down and promised us that we didn’t have to stay at Motel 6’s anymore, and my brother and I were pretty excited because sleeping in a hotel with bars on the windows is scary when you are 8 years old.
I think all of this early hotel trauma caused me to take an extreme stance in the opposite direction. Now I judge a hotel room by the “barefoot” factor. If I feel that it is safe to walk through the room in my bare feet, then I know that the hotel is “safe.” This hotel is definitely a room where I need to wear socks and slippers to feel clean.
Also, hotel room comforters really freak me out. I mean, how often do they really wash them? I have a ritual where I pull the sheets down the bed to check for stray hairs on the sheets that don’t belong to me. Then I pull the sheets back up and carefully fold the sheets over the blanket (which I doubt gets washed often either) and the comforter. Then in the middle of the night I do my best not to reach my arm out from under the sheets so that I don’t accidentally touch the comforter.
I come from a long line of germophobes, so it’s not too surprising that I turned out this way. You’d think that after all those years spent in Motel 6’s the La Quinta Inn would seem like first class accommodations, but I will always prefer the Westin or Marriott.
David, on the other hand, would sleep on top of a hotel comforter with his face directly on it without batting an eyelash and just the thought of that makes me start to hyperventilate. So, hopefully Madeline will strike a balance between the 2 of us and won’t be such an extreme germ-freak!
1 Comment
February 29, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Gosh, this brought back so many wonderful memories, I’ve decided to look for a Motel 6 when we all go to the Dells in March…why stay at Chula Vista and spend all that money?