I do apologize for not having more quilty content for you all of late. I have been so darn busy with trips to the Bay Area for medical appointments. And it isn’t like driving 20 minutes there and back. I live almost 3 hours away from the medical group that I go to, so it is too much to drive there and back in one day. I always have to spend the night, either at my sister Kate’s, my friend Miriam’s, or at a hotel.
I had to resort to a hotel last week, which cost nearly $300 for two nights, and was a terrible experience. For a business that was supposed to be in “the hospitality industry”, this La Quinta Inn I had to resort to was probably the worst hotel experience I’ve ever had. There was something going on in the Palo Alto area (Homecoming/Reunion Weekend at Stanford) and all the hotels were either fully booked up or had raised their rates ridiculously high. We usually stay at a Marriott and have found the experience just great. Friendly staff, clean rooms, plenty of amenities like free bottled water, free parking, and a great lobby to do computer work, read, or lounge in.
Let’s just say, this sad La Quinta experience involved borderline unfriendly staff, super stained and dirty carpeting, $6 bottles of water, $15 a night parking, and one rickety elevator for a five-story hotel. Oh, and if you wanted Kleenex in your bathroom, you had to request it specially. When I asked the front desk guy about these issues, he said, “We are always full, so we don’t really care”.
Ok, I really digressed there. Today I travel to my friend Miriam’s, where she always seems glad to see me, feeds me dinner, and loves to sit up and chat until my eyes start to close.
My feeble attempt at a blog post today is not a completed project, but the next two blocks I need to make for the Cali & Co sew along that Corey Yoder from Coriander Quilts is hosting. I think I will love this bright, cheerful quilt when I finish it. Each block consists of a design made with
2 1/2″ squares and 2 1/2″ half-square triangles. Corey had us make a gazillion half-square triangles for our first six blocks, only half of which we used. That means for the subsequent blocks, all our hsts were already made and good to go!
So, no sewing and no blog post Tuesday, but I will be back on Wednesday with who knows what to share!
15 Responses
Glad you will be back in the welcoming warmth of your own bed shortly. What a sad comment on the hospitality industry that customers are dealt such disdain especially if they may be there while working through medical challenges. Here’s to happy, colorful sewing soon in your quilt castle☺️
That hotel was an appalling experience. And they really didn’t care. I should have read the reviews first before booking. One man who gave a bad review even included a photo of a cockroach in his bed. I didn’t experience that, but it was a pretty awful experience that you wouldn’t think you would have from a major hotel chain in an urban area.
I was so glad to get home!
That’s a terrible experience for you. Not as if you had any choice in going! I feel your pain – especially as you were there for your appointments. There’s only one place I wouldn’t have recommended years ago and that was in Vancouver, Canada, dirty and unpleasant. The owner wasn’t Canadian – he was English – as are we. We decided to leave the deposit and walk away – I remember my husband throwing the keys at him, and we decided to splash out on an expensive hotel instead. Oh boy it was heaven there!
Hope all goes well for you and a safe journey back home.
What a terrible experience! It was so frustrating for me. I would have left, but there honestly wasn’t anything else available in the area. My husband was frantically trying to find me another hotel so I could just check out, but due to the local event going on, everything was booked. I just tried to get through it. Never again!
It’s an experience – that you could have done without. But you are away from there now thank goodness. Onwards and upwards!
What an awful hotel experience & you being a single woman guest probably emboldened the desk clerk to tell you that! The worst I’ve had was a less than stellar hotel with a Midnight arrival from a long day of flying. The guy at the desk announced my room number as he handed me my key card! Of course, there was a man sitting on a nearby sofa who’d been talking to him. I was pretty flustered trying to gather my things & head to my room while looking over my shoulder all the way! I hope you enjoy staying with your friend tonight to make up for the lousy experience from last week!
that’s awful!
I am so sorry for your terrible experience at that hotel. The service industries just don’t have the custom service they used. It’s appalling. And to say to a customer “we don’t care”, just dreadful. Fortunately you didn’t bring home any unwelcome crawly guests!! Take care❤️
So sorry for your horrid and distressing stay at that La Quinta. That is just wrong and should never ever happen to anyone. Am glad you usually have wonderful options with your sister, Miriam, or the Marriott.
I’m always glad to read whatever you want or need to post about.
I look forward to seeing your delightfully colorful quilt blocks!
Hugs!
when we were young, in our 20s, we use to stay at places like Motel 8. remember that chain? we look back and laugh and wonder how did we do that? we were young, poor, and only knew dumpy places. I’m surprised we didn’t catch bed bugs. ugh!
glad you’re out of there and at a friend’s. safe journey home. oh, you inspired me to buy halloween fabric. man, I need to start another halloween quilt….I have a bee in my bonnet. retail therapy continues until this country gets it together.
Your experience gives me flashbacks! It is so awful to pay for these kinds of experiences! It is one thing to have something bad happen but to pay for it is something worse! Right? We stayed one night in a small hotel called the Royal Inn in a small tourist town where the offerings were slim. It was not a royal experience to say the least I will refrain from too many details. I can laugh about it now. This is our benchmark for hotel choices. We just say we will never choose another “Royal Inn experience” again…
I’m sorry you had to experience this! It’s just gross. $6 for one bottle of water. That is more than we pay for a case.
Sorry you had such a bad experience at your hotel. I find most places are hit or miss even with regular chains, amenities are no longer free like they used to be, not to mention the crazy prices to stay for one night. Hopefully you can book in advance next time and get a better rate or at least some points. Have fun tomorrow!
I know what you mean about more and more appointments (that cut into our time for doing things that are much more fun). It’s all because some of us are becoming “women of a certain age”. 😠
The hotel experience is really sad. So sorry you experienced such poor service. We had not stayed in a hotel in 11 years (we owned a trailer for travel). We recently sold it and decided to take a few days on our anniversary. The Hampton Inns were a huge disappointment. Not only for the amenities but the prices were outrageous. Plus they charged a $50 (some were more) deposit that was to be returned after check out. It was such a shocking experience and we decided that we would rather buy another RV than stay at another hotel.
It’s too bad you had that experience when you weren’t at your best. I had to attend a workshop in W. VA for work. I had a messed up leg and was on crutches, so hubby came and drove. I tried to save work a little money on the hotel, but honest to God, the room was filthy and the sheets were from the previous folks and smelled the whole room up. We had arrived late and had to stay the first night (on the bedspread!) but the next morning I had hubby find the other recommended place and get a room there for the rest of the week! Much better and lesson learned.