Quality Content Writers Group
Don't believe the Hype!
by Cheryl Baumgartner Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
Cheryl Baumgartner 
Medical...
I just got back from an overnight trip to Laredo Texas. For my friends in foreign climes, Laredo is directly in the border of the U.S. and Mexico. As a matter of fact I guess you could technically say it straddles the border since Nuevo Laredo on the Mexican side is only separated from Laredo by a bridge and a very shallow Rio Grande. It's like one big city for the most part. This trip turned into a lesson on "hype".
The hype started before I could even get the car packed for the two-hour drive. Well meaning friends began to warn me of the rash of "kidnappings" of American citizens. Good thing I don't give in to paranoia, I would have totally canceled my trip. On my arrival in Laredo I found a city full of friendly people who were very clear to let me know that the danger lay across the border and not on American soil. In fact Laredo itself it a small but booming city.
Just when I thought everything was fine, I got "hype" lesson number two. We has reservations at a historic downtown Laredo hotel. But incorrect directions from Mapquest had us making reservations 15 miles from where we needed to be, Texas A & M International University. We canceled our reservation since there was a Holiday Inn Express an mere mile and a half down the road. Once we were checked in we took up our bags and headed off to find something to eat. Well once we'd had dinner I was beat, my sister decided to work on her presentation so I decided to simply crawl in bed and watch a little TV.
Ladies and gentlemen a suggestion, always check the sheets before you climb into a hotel bed. As I turned down the bed, I noticed it was full of crumbs, hair and what looked like chocolate chip stains. Ewww! I immediately went down and reported it to the front desk and was told they would make a note of it. Well that was the solution to renting a room with a nasty bed, make a note of it, housekeeping was gone for the night.
They were helpful enough to give me a clean blanket. Now call me picky but if the maid didn't change the sheets, I can only wonder what else she didn't clean while she was at it. I can only wonder why the front desk clerk didn't seem very surprised and didn't offer to move us to a different room that had been properly cleaned. Were all the rooms just as nasty? Well I can say that Holiday Inn doesn't have to worry about me darkening their doorway again after this trip!
Dec 6th 2007 18:56
Medical...I just got back from an overnight trip to Laredo Texas. For my friends in foreign climes, Laredo is directly in the border of the U.S. and Mexico. As a matter of fact I guess you could technically say it straddles the border since Nuevo Laredo on the Mexican side is only separated from Laredo by a bridge and a very shallow Rio Grande. It's like one big city for the most part. This trip turned into a lesson on "hype".
The hype started before I could even get the car packed for the two-hour drive. Well meaning friends began to warn me of the rash of "kidnappings" of American citizens. Good thing I don't give in to paranoia, I would have totally canceled my trip. On my arrival in Laredo I found a city full of friendly people who were very clear to let me know that the danger lay across the border and not on American soil. In fact Laredo itself it a small but booming city.
Just when I thought everything was fine, I got "hype" lesson number two. We has reservations at a historic downtown Laredo hotel. But incorrect directions from Mapquest had us making reservations 15 miles from where we needed to be, Texas A & M International University. We canceled our reservation since there was a Holiday Inn Express an mere mile and a half down the road. Once we were checked in we took up our bags and headed off to find something to eat. Well once we'd had dinner I was beat, my sister decided to work on her presentation so I decided to simply crawl in bed and watch a little TV.
Ladies and gentlemen a suggestion, always check the sheets before you climb into a hotel bed. As I turned down the bed, I noticed it was full of crumbs, hair and what looked like chocolate chip stains. Ewww! I immediately went down and reported it to the front desk and was told they would make a note of it. Well that was the solution to renting a room with a nasty bed, make a note of it, housekeeping was gone for the night.
They were helpful enough to give me a clean blanket. Now call me picky but if the maid didn't change the sheets, I can only wonder what else she didn't clean while she was at it. I can only wonder why the front desk clerk didn't seem very surprised and didn't offer to move us to a different room that had been properly cleaned. Were all the rooms just as nasty? Well I can say that Holiday Inn doesn't have to worry about me darkening their doorway again after this trip!
Dec 6th 2007 18:56
Sponsor Ads
Comments
|
|
Cheryl Baumgartner
Medical Billing/Coding/InsuranceI really did expect better from a company with such a good reputation. The really sad part is this is a new hotel. It"s not even two years old yet! Dec 6th 2007 19:44 |
|
David Schupbach
 Too many people don't seem to care about the quality of their own lives, let alone anyone else's. Glad that's not true with us! D Dec 6th 2007 20:41 |
|
|
Cheryl Baumgartner
Medical Billing/Coding/InsuranceThat's too true Dave. Whatever happened to good service? I'd expect this from a flea bag hotel but not Holiday inn. I went to Oklahoma City last year for our annual convention and accommodations were scarce. We ended up staying in the less savory part of town in a real fleabag but the rooms were spotless. They may not have been the fanciest or the nicest but they took pains to be the cleanest! Dec 6th 2007 21:39 |
|
Not Here
 just want my account deletedWell a chain that size I am not all that suprised. Odds are some of them are poorly managed. Speaking of chains...y'all ate any fast food lately, now there's a scary thought! Dec 6th 2007 23:11 |
|
|
Cheryl Baumgartner
Medical Billing/Coding/InsuranceWe won't even go into fast food. I worked in the fast food industry in my teens and some of the stories I could tell would curl your hair! Dec 7th 2007 08:34 |
Yech, I hate dirty motels.
In the middle east, years ago, we had really putrid bedsheets, plus bedbugs.
Not to mention guys who tried to watch us change, shower, etc.
Didn't use the bed, used our sleeping bags.
Would have expected better in the USA though!
Dec 6th 2007 19:37