No More A Crash...

That was a much awaited vacation from the busy schedule and yes, it was worth travelling out 'quite a bit' in the available time! Thanks to the Independance Day Loooong Week end - Without work, browsing & emails:)

Well, I sure can write a lot about my trip & all the different places I visited. But... Why to do so, when there are some aspects which really pulled me in - Like playing Sudoku in the flight when people around me are all dozing off:) - That was my first try to solve a set of those puzzles and were quite easy. Give it a try, when you find time!

What really made a difference is the 'crash room' - That's how I prefer to call the hotel bookings which I make for such tours & trips! Usually, I visit different 'to be seen' places day long and try to just crash down on the bed in the hotel room for the night. So, it doesn't matter what '*' rating the hotel has? All we need is a bed for night and a room to freshen up in the morning:) So, my booking was in some two & a half star rated hotel - Hampton Inn.

To start with, the hotel is somewhat right on the freeway (kind of road) itself! I had the driving directions but the address of the hotel says a number on the freeway without any exit?! Anyways, found it & drove in. And it started right away with an issue. Shouldn't the previous customers check out before 12 PM? I mean, I was there at that hotel around 2.30PM and still the room is not ready! Had to wait for more than 45 minutes to check in. Very poor service was my feeling...

With that frustration, when I entered my room it was different! I guess, I couldn't ask anything more for that 2 1/2 *s:) Here are the few regulars - TV, Towels, some toilet items, a spacious closet. Something more - May be the Coffee Maker - Sure, served big time and the free internet connection - Though didn't use it! And here are some surprises...

• Along with Coffee Maker, ofcourse we need Coffee powder! The surprise is, they had the 'No Caffeine' packets too, which I haven't seen in other hotels till now!
• Add a very handy and a latest Hair Drier to the bathroom! A electric gadget in bathroom is sure welcoming:)
• A brand new iron box with different features and a stand for the same in the closet - Well, I usually go prepared & wasn't of use to me though.
• A complete directory of all the restaurants around with all menu details, address, delivery options, timing and varieties like Thai, Chinese, Italian, Mexican, Indian.
• More utilities - Fridge, Freezer & Microwave. (Hmmm... May be they should put a Washer & Drier too:)). And the kitchen was missing for this room:(
• If needed, we can take a Locker to safe keep our valuables. Wow!

And here are some of the heights of surprise & satisfaction, inside the room

• The TV remote had an option for Menu. Entering the same shows a set of Movie names which are currently running in theatres. Ofcourse, can be watched for payment, didn't expect 'Superman Returns' as one of the options!
• And the TV is connected with a 'Controller'! The TV menu takes us through to Nintendo games. That's really kind of cool. Any American kid will peacefully continue playing the game without disturbing the adults:).

Walking out - The hotel had a swimming pool just like any other. And there was a note for complimentary free breakfast. So, checked that out. It had quite a lot of items - Well, not only readymades but there are also chefs who cook fresh & hot stuffs. Kind of really a great way to attract customers because such breakfast is not even a usual thing in some of the 3* rateds!

Well, added to all these, the location of the hotel is also great. There is a big shopping mall behind - With WalMart, Krispy Kreme, Pizza Hut and many more. I guess, a hotel can't find a better place.

I wasn't prepared for these 'extra' features and wasn't prepared for many more. There were no maps & sight seeing details provided in the hotel, the direction back to the hotel from a different route was too confusing. And the hotel receptionist wasn't much helpful either. To my surprise the door keycard didn't have the phone number for the hotel I'm staying but had a general 800 hotel chain number! What the heck? Who knows, which BPO Indian will pick up the receiver at the other end??!!

As a whole, it was more sweet & somewhat bitter experience. And can say, the bitterness is more because of the local variables. Got to admit, the mistake was on my part too because I didn't check Hotels.com and A9.com:). I guess, I'll prefer this hotel chain for my future 'crashings' - Looks like can't use the word Crash anymore?!