The Devil Made Me Do It
Written: Mar 04 '07 (Updated Mar 04 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good location, clean room, and good coffee
Cons: Address No Pet/No Smoking agreements in the online reservation procedure. Poorly filtered pool.
The Bottom Line: For the $89 price, sadly, this is average. Younger spines might fare better on the beds. Would be nice to filter the pool occasionally.
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| lightnin's Full Review: Holiday Inn Express And Suites |
Okay, I blew it. Because I was successful in the past in booking a room for the same evening at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Kingman, Arizona, I thought I could do it again. Wrong. Probably another Red Hat Society convention in town. Very well; the room there would have been $199 plus taxes anyway. So I booked a room at the Holiday Inn Express, decided because of its location next to I-40, easy off, easy on, available rooms, and near The Cracker Barrel where I intended to have breakfast and purchase the perfect quilt. Only $89 plus taxes. I thought, "Maybe the Rochester Holiday Inn Express experience was an exception." (See my HIE review, "Buttercream Frosting and a Workout in the Sack," here: http://www.epinions.com/content_197074062980.)
Booking online was easy and straightforward. I entered the dates, my name, e-mail address, credit card information, and selected all the "HUA" (Heard, Understood, Acknowledged) buttons regarding cancellation times and the room description. I got my confirmation number and my confirmation email, printed both out, and put them in my purse. I was ready to go.
I sorely needed that room by the time I got to Kingman. Traffic from Southern California was so terrible that afternoon that it took me four freeway hours to go fewer than 60 miles. In fact, I didn't reach freeway speed until I got to Victorville on the I-15. That's not very far. I rolled into Kingman just before midnight, tired, cross-eyed, and disheveled. When I checked in, not only did I have to remember the color of my car (I put "greenish", but today I remembered that the color is actually "magnesium") but I also had to acknowledge and agree, in three separate areas with initials, initials, and full signature respectively that the hotel was a non-smoking facility and that there would be a $250 charge if they discovered I had been smoking in the room. I had already selected a non-smoking room online. Then I had to do the same regarding their "no pets" policy. The young girl at the desk eyed me up and down, just knowing I was going to try to sneak a cheroot-puffing pit bull into the room. I just filled the entire page with initials and signatures and hoped they all landed in the right areas, grabbed my key card, and staggered to my room.
The Pool
The indoor pool, and the door to the pool, was directly across from my room. As tired as I was, I noted the color of the illuminated pool. It was green. Actually, it was kind of enchanting in a mysterious science-fiction sort of way. But it was green enough to make an impression in my exhausted mind.
The Room
The room had two queen beds, so I had my choice. The sheets were wrinkled, and because of my recent experience at another hotel (http://www.epinions.com/content_325274734212), I looked for any aberrations such as massive blood stains or long hairs interwoven into the threads. Thankfully, none were found. They just stuff their sheets onto the cart instead of folding them, apparently. I selected the bed next to the window and used the other one for my bag, and then visited the bathroom, which was adequate and clean. Then I used their simplySmart™ hand lotion which I found to be disappointing because the scent, which used to be the best thing about it, had changed from "buttercream" to something more like "gingerbread" and was thus nothing to write home about.
The View
I opened the curtains to see what I could see. I saw a wall. I looked down, and saw a walkway between my window and The Wall. Becoming a bit concerned that anyone walking between my room and The Wall would have an excellent view into my room, I closed the curtains and tried for fifteen minutes to get that little persistent slit between them to close. I had to tug pretty damned hard, but finally I felt that my privacy was secured.
The close proximity of The Wall to my window is presumably due to the scarcity of land in the Arizona desert.
Morning Has Broken, and So Has My Back
Ahhhhh! I awaken and I start moving. Uh-oh! Something's not right. Ouch! That was my back. The beds aren't very comfortable. However, compared to my previous HIE experience, they are tolerable. I did fall asleep and stay asleep until morning. I got out of bed and flung open the curtains. AAAACK!!! That damned wall, even worse washed in morning sunlight. Snapped the curtains closed again. I hopped in the shower, and what can I say about that? It worked, and it was clean. Gingerbread shampoo was applied and rinsed. The towels, though not luxurious, were clean and absorbent. The hair dryer worked, two speeds. I made myself a mini-pot of coffee, and it actually was very good, basic Arabica beans as per usual, but lived up to the "rich, full taste" as described. I decided to take the other packet (the decaffeinated one) with me, as I had to get on the road soon.
Morning News
I couldn't figure out the remote control for the television set. Most of the button-pushing had no result. There was only an On/Off button on the set itself. I decided to listen to the news on the car radio.
The Pool, Again
As I left the room, I was faced again with the indoor pool. It was still very, very green. Nobody was swimming in it. What's the matter with them? Doesn't everyone know that algae is a healthful food supplement?
Checkout Time
There was a very pleasant older woman behind the desk; she greeted me cheerfully and made me feel like a guest instead of an intruder. My mood matched hers; it's amazing how one's behavior can affect another's. I asked for change for a twenty; I have always tipped the housekeeper for clean rooms and bathrooms, well before this became a demand. I tucked my tip into an envelope and asked the kind lady to make sure it gets to the appropriate housekeeper.
Then I spoke to the woman about the ordeal the night before. I suggested that HIE include those agreements in their online reservation and told her that I'd seen those agreements many times in the past while booking online. I said that it is much easier and far less confrontational than the attack on check-in, especially if a guest were arriving at midnight after a horrendous drive. She replied that the terms are listed on their website. (I checked their website, both a generic HIE site and the one specific to that particular hotel, and no, those terms are not mentioned anywhere.) I bid her good morning and thanked her, and she wished me well on my travels and stepped away.
The Devil Made Me Do It
I do need to work on my impulse control. I just couldn't resist this time. I bent down to pick up my bag, and that's when Old Scratch took over. I patted the bag, which was exactly the size and shape to accommodate a pit bull, and said, "Shhhhh! It's okay, Sport. Attaboy!" The speed with which the lady whipped around, raised her eyebrows, and pursed her lips made me feel a bit guilty, but I just winked at her and walked out, bag in tow. I'll let you know if I get an extra charge on my American Express card. ;)
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
lightnin
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Reviews written: 47
Trusted by: 19 members
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