Biggest Surprises in Hotels

Walking through the doors of a hotel, I am never 100% what I will find; there is often a surprise, some good, some not.

I have had some amazing views over the years, the second time I was in San Francisco I booked a bargain deal at a Holiday Inn in the financial district - figuring I'd have a decent place to sleep and a view of the dumpsters, imagine my surprise when I was on the 14th floor with balcony overlooking the Coit Tower with the Golden Gate Bridge off to the far left.  Then there was the $300 a night room in DC with a view of a brick-wall 10 feet away.   One time in Philadelphia I went to check in and housekeeping was running behind.  I said no problem, here is my cell number I will go get some work done call me when it is ready.  A couple of hours went by and I went back to the desk to ask.  The woman was very apologetic, the backlog had been resolved for over an hour, and they had missed the note to ring my phone (leaving the number had been their idea.)  She moved me to an outside corner suite with a spectacular view of City Hall, what a nice surprise.  Last summer in Germany we had two nice surprises to suites.

When I checked into the room above in West Glacier Montana, there was a surprise I never expected to see, a sign that instructed guests to not drink the water.  The water supply was from a stream, it was the end of the spring melt season and the runoff from the winter pastures had exceeded the ability of the local water plant, bottled water was supplied.

I am always surprised by good hotels, that have allowed rooms to become worn and tattered.  I am not surprised by poor maintenance in a cheap motel, but I am disappointed by it in a Hilton, or Marriott.  It is a pleasant surprise to find a hotel that has just completed a really good remodel, doing it right can make a 30 year old hotel look like new.