The first day of our vacation was spent mostly in the car. We drove to Asheville, NC and wandered around the shops and art galleries. It was a little later when we got dinner and then checked into the hotel.
Or tried to.
There was no one at the front desk. We waited for a few minutes and no one showed up. There was no bell and a check down the hallways didn’t show any other offices. I noticed a courtesy phone between the outer doors and went to give that a try. It rang and rang for a while, then someone picked up. It was the after-hours answering service. Which was a little odd since it was only about 7 pm.
I explained what was going on – or what wasn’t – and she said she’d try to find someone. She put me on hold and I waited. After I’d been on hold for a few minutes, someone else came through the doors to check in. I saw him talking to Jim at the counter. Jim was also trying to call the 800 number and not getting an answer.
Eventually, the woman came back on and said she was still trying. She put me on hold again and I opened the inner door to report. “Still on hold, no success yet, but the music was nice.”
A few more minutes passed and finally the woman comes back on. She apologizes that she still can’t find someone, but will let me go and keep trying. I thank her, hang up, and head back inside. We wait a few more minutes until finally the desk clerk arrives – about 20 minutes since we first arrived – smelling strongly of cigarette smoke.
Hmmmm…
There was no apology for keeping us waiting, but he gets us checked in and we head up to the room. And when we open the door, the room smells terrible. Like old, stale, cigarette smoke.
Again, hmmm…
I sit down on the bed and pick up the phone to call the front desk. I explain the problem and ask for a different room. He checks and does have one, but that we’ll need to come down to the lobby to get different keys. Before we do that, though, would I mind opening the window in the room for him?
What?
So, I open the window and we take our stuff back down to the lobby. He gives us new keys and a new room number as he expresses disbelief that someone had been smoking in the room since this was a smoke-free hotel.
Really.
I was a little curious why the cleaning staff didn’t report it – since there’s a fine if you smoke in the rooms – and why it smelled like old cigarette smoke. Something didn’t really add up, but the new room was okay – it at least smelled better – and we got settled in.
I then went looking for a vending machine, but there were none on our floor. Back down to the lobby and I asked the guy the desk. He indicated the guest laundry room and I went there.
Except the door was locked and my key didn’t work. Back to the lobby and got my card re-keyed, then got a soda.
Back up to the room and Jim wanted some ice. He went back down and returned in a bit – there was no ice machine, but there were of course trays in the fridge in the room. That were empty.
So, he filled them up for the next guest and we called it a night.
I got a survey from google asking me to rate and comment on the hotel. Since this would be associated with my name and I’m well aware of how lawsuit-happy some places can be if you talk bad about them – I commented with “Room was adequate, staff could have been more attentive.”
By contrast – fortunately – the condo we stayed at for the week was clean, well decorated, comfortable, and had a great view. I may or may not have microwaved a palmetto bug, but those things are everywhere and I just rolled with it.