Best ever - Kona Village Resort. Unfortunately closed since the tsunami lifted a few hales off their legacy foundations and lawers/rich folks … ok, changing the subject.
Best -Polonia Palace in Warsaw. One of the only buildings to survive the bombings. Exterior with balconies are refurbished to the original state. Interior marble staircases, high ceilings and common areas are beautiful. Amazing buffet breakfast - lots of traditional local specialties, including Vodka. With all it’s historic charm, it’s wonderfully modernized. Great beds, large rooms, balconies with great views. And all for about $100/night with a great exchange rate.
Best: Hotel Meurice (Paris), Parador de Santiago (Santiago de Compostela, Spain) Little Nell, (Aspen, Colorado),
Stein Eriksen Lodge (Deer Valley, UT) Windsor Court (New Orleans, LA)
Worst: No-name hotel on I-80 in Kansas–we were driving cross country and didn’t make reservations one night, so we pulled into the first place we found after we got too tired to drive anymore. It was a dive–slept in our clothes and left first thing in the morning.
A pretty bad experience… Marriott Ko Olina Beach Villas. We used to love that place, but after one incident where the mandatory valets smashed our car and then refused to acknowledge the responsibility (it took Mr. some creative social media research to finally get them to pay), we might take our business elsewhere. We are giving them one more shot… but we are not parking a car there.
Paper-thin walls is the worst in a hotel, IMO. Sadly, some nice places come with thin walls, like the Renaissance in Palm Springs. The nearby Courtyard, which was less fancy, was super quiet.
Where will you park your car, @BunsenBurner, if you don’t use the valets? That’s terrible that you had work hard to get them to pay as they should have. We’ve stayed at Ko Olina but never used valets, always did the self park. Usually we stayed in the hotel side but at least once we stayed at the Vacation Club side.
Here’s my favorite bad hotel story and totally appropriate for this site. I graduated from high school in California and went to school in Michigan. Freshman year my parents found me a ride to school with two sophomores I had never met from a nearby town. The three of us drove from CA to MI. The plan was to stop at Motel 6 every night to sleep because that was cheap and we had a Motel 6 book to choose each night’s stay (life before the internet you know).
The first night our plan was to stop in Salt Lake City. We rolled into town about 10 pm and it turned out Motel 6 was fully booked. There was a major Mormon convention going on. None of the 3 Motel 6’s in town had any rooms. It was a 3 hour drive to the next Motel 6 which we decided was too far. We asked the clerk to give us a recommendation for another cheap hotel in town. In retrospect cheap might not have been the best adjective to use.
We followed his directions to what seemed to us like a really sketchy part of town. The motel was a series of little connected cottage type things, very run down and we all had a bad feeling about it. But we didn’t feel like we had a choice. Since our car was full of all three of our college gear we decided we should completely unpack the car and bring it all into our room. Then, being good Christian kids, we walked around the room praying at each door and window that God would keep us safe during the night.
In the morning as we started to carry our stuff out to the car we noticed that while we had very carefully locked the door (and prayed over it) before going to bed, we had left the room key on its giant can easily be seen from the road keychain hanging from the door in the lock.
^^This is a GREAT story! And wow, the trust your parents had with that car trip with two strangers! Would we do that now??
Best: Luxury houseboat on Lake Powell. Absolutely mindblowingly awesome. I could live out the rest of my life there…
Second Best: “Tram House” in Austin. Amazing experience. We went in late spring, warm weather, lots of greenery, flowers blooming… very peaceful and relaxing place!
Best Hotels: Auberge du Soleil , Napa Ca
The Royal Hawaiian Oahu, HI
The Jefferson Washington,D.C.
Sonoma Mission Inn, Sonoma, CA
Chatham Bars, Cape Cod ,MA
Grand Wailea, Maui, HI
Worst: The Arena Hotel, San Jose, CA - We got bedbugs from this place !
Motel 8, Eureka,CA - mouse droppings in bathroom.
The Plaza Hotel , NY Stains on carpet( looked like old vomit) , noisy and dirty toilet, smelled of stale cigarettes
Worst, Florence, Italy a three star hotel. The Italian version of a 3 star and ours are very different.
Mostly due to the age of the building the hotel was and the layout.
Bed: mattress was fine but had no support. No box springs but one layer metal of support. I have had more support with a military cot or putting the mattress on the floor.
Bathroom: This one takes some explanation. The room did have a private bathroom. Open the bathroom door and the layout is a reverse L. The first step in and you are at the shower. Continue straight another 2 steps and you are at the bathroom sink. Once you stepped into the bathroom and face left, you can take another 2-3 steps and you have the bidet and the toilet. You do have a shower curtain that separates the shower from the other two open areas.
The bathroom is very cramped. I am under 5’8" and when seated on the toilet, my knees are about 2 inches away from the wall.
The price was great for $30 euro/night, but couldn’t imagine spending over $100 euros in the high season for the room.
If I was younger, the room wouldn’t have bothered me as much. Glad I was a solo traveler. I’ll spend more next time.
“You get what you pay for” is so true. Ahh, the memories. We tend to go for less expensive places, especially when just using the room to sleep. Learned NOT to use the least expensive options- hearing the couple next door’s muffled sounds and late night shower…
Best free upgrade was a Chicago upgrade one weekend celebrating Westin’s (?) 50 years a couple of decades ago (kid was a baby with all of the paraphernalia). Luxury part with plush robes…
Some out of the hotel’s out of their control incidents were bad experiences. Learned to take a flashlight when the suburban Chicago good brand hotel lost power in the morning. Dark stairwells…
Decades ago (before cell phones) we needed an October Saturday night place to sleep- who knew everything would be booked for a hundred miles in Tennessee for the BIG college football rivalry??? We rejected one overpriced so-so place and ended up paying that much for a place a with cold, poor water pressure shower (I was willing to sleep in the car at that point- just the two of us).
Sister in law decades ago was taking an Illinois PT licensure exam so we were in a northern suburbs hotel one winter night. She was relatively new to the country and didn’t try to switch rooms when it was below zero and her room had no heat. We found out the next morning- were checking out anyway.
London hotel almost twenty years ago. Halls convoluted and with steps because they combined adjacent buildings that had slightly different floor levels. Not fun with the era’s versions of rolling luggage.
Only I noticed the shaving mirror sway when I sat on the throne around 5 am in Costa Rica the morning we left after our tour- offshore earthquake. Went back to sleep…
Last summer stayed at one of those Quality/Comfort… motels. Booked 3 nights in suburban Seattle after being there a few days earlier. Woke up the first morning to NO water. It turned out that there was a broken water main that was discovered in the kitchen (free continental breakfast) early and they shut off the water so the city could fix the pipe. Fortunately there was another building with water so we could go use a room for the shower. Couldn’t switch as fully booked… One of those “Patel Motels” (H is Indian, btw and we use the term- amazing how many chain places run by Indian immigrants, often the Patel clan members and owners known by many Indians H knows all over). It was an outside staircase with both rooms on the second floor. I got the key for the across a small parking area and schlepped my stuff for my shower. Called H to come take his (save time) so I let him in for his and returned to our room. Oops- lost my key card. Dilemma- if I had the room rekeyed while H in the shower he would not be able to get back in. Found a housekeeper and asked to be let into our room. She was an Indian immigrant with only fair English but remembered my H from the same Indian state. However, she told me I must have the wrong room because an Indian gentleman was staying there- I had to tell her that I, a north European American, was his wife. The water main was fixed and the rest of the stay was fine for our purposes.
We spent a weekend in Portland, taking our Seattle son. Got an upgrade- had booked a suite at a nice price at a nicer place so son could have some separation. They were going to be full because of a dog show (kind of cool to see dogs around) so we were asked if we wanted a free upgrade. We had two bathrooms, son was in the bedroom opening onto the hallway while we had a separate bedroom with its own bath. 3 TV sets total I recall.
Worst hotel design. Again, decades ago in downtown Chicago. Many stories up place with openable windows near the floor- not good with a toddler! Much better to have the top part be the openable.
Last trip the end of last year had some faux pas. Forgot to check on parking when booked a night near the San Diego Zoo- no parking (street parking filled up for blocks) so paid a lot for the lot across the street and the flight path for the airport meant a lot of loud planes. H also considered nearness to freeways in Orange County, CA (relatives there) but neglected airport traffic noise. A tradeoff for price and nearby great eating… plus NOT in the hotel of same good chain where inlaws were for part of overlapping stays. Liked the décor of our first hotel better than the second one- better to grab a local McD’s breakfast sandwich than overeat at the free breakfast buffet…
We have learned a lot over the years. We are also more willing to “spend our son’s inheritance” than before. Worth paying for more amenities. We are hopelessly middle class despite our ability to pay more. Also are upgrading to full/standard sized (6 cylinder) rental cars.
I like nice but I don’t like stuffy. I don’t need 5 stars but I’ve outgrown Motel 6 and that tier of lodging. If it is an unknown locale on the hwy we will do one of the chains. Courtyard, Residence Inn level of lodging. My H hates a place that doesn’t allow him to park his own car or bring his bags to his room. H loves the Drury chain that he stayed at when driving with my D from Indiana. He loved the afternoon snacks.
Best hotel- Lewa Wilderness Lodge in Kenya. Two game drives a day plus horses. If you ever get an opportunity go on safari in Kenya don’t miss this place. A couple of the other spots we stayed at in Kenya would also make the list. All of them offered wonderful kind hearted staff with great service. Starting the day with coffee, tea or cocoa and biscuits delivered to your room at wake up time. Great meals, afternoon tea each afternoon. And in several spots if you left your laundry out in the am you would come back to fresh laundered clothes in the afternoon.
Oddest bathroom situation was at The Intercontinental in Nanjing China. The entire bathroom was open to the room. Separated from the room only by thick clear glass. No privacy whatsoever. Otherwise the hotel was beautiful.
More traditional hotel Fairmont Charlesvoix in Canada.
I’ve stayed in a few places I wouldn’t want to go back to but no horror stories. The Best Western we stayed at many times in one college town was clean and decent but had the most uncomfortable beds and the decor reminded me of a hospital room. The price and location was right so we stayed there numerous times.
Most memorable hotel was Hotel du Cap Eden-Roc in Antibes, France. Rooms are very nice but the real draw is the grounds of this villa built in the 1800’s and the balcony where almost every table overlooks the Mediterranean.
Second best was Durrow Castle in the Irish midlands where we attended a wedding a couple of summers ago. Old world european charm so if you like contemporary this is not for you. All the rooms are ridiculously large, like 750 sf+ and the grounds are simply gorgeous. In the milder weather they have a formal tea service and cocktail hour on the back terrace overlooking the formal gardens. Our stay there is etched in my memory and both of my children still speak of it as one of their best family trips.
I haven’t had any truly horrible hotel experiences yet, but am certainly enjoying some of those recounted in this thread!
Years ago, I stayed at a Howard Johnson’s in a Midwestern city for a business trip.It was winter, so it got dark early. About half an hour before I was supposed to meet the local manager in the lobby, I took off my clothes in the bedroom and went into the bathroom nude for a quick shower. I left my watch in the bedroom. The light switch for the bathroom was outside on the wall in the bedroom. While I was showering, the lights went out. There was no window in the bathroom and it was truly pitch black.
I was petrified. I had no idea why the lights had gone out. Was there someone out there in the bedroom robbing me? I stayed as quiet as possible, straining to listen. I heard nothing. After a few minutes, I groped my way out of the bathtub/shower slowly.I tried the light switch…no light came on. Finally, I crossed into the bedroom. All was dark. I fumbled in the dark and found the hotel phone. No dial tone. I groped along the wall searching for the curtain pull to open the drapes. There were lights in the other buildings. I dressed in the dim room and opened the door. No lights in the hallway. No elevator service. I am afraid to walk down the stairs in the dark. Suddenly I see a flashlight coming towards me. Of course, I don’t know if it’s good or bad news. It was a janitor who was fixing something. The lights went on and the elevator came.
It was only 15 or 20 minutes, but I swear that being alone in a shower naked and having the lights suddenly go out was one of the scariest experiences I’ve ever had.
@jonri – your story, and the earlier one about having had to jump from the second floor window due to a hotel fire are both terrifying to me. You are brave – I don’t like the dark and probably would have passed out from fear.
@Nrdsb4 - you will love the French Quarter Inn. I think I might have stayed there after a C C recommendation.
Priest’s House at Sissinghurst was definitely one of the best. We had access to the gardens after hours. There was a full moon.
We have stayed at plenty of dives, including some where most customers seemed to be renting by the hour. Luckily for me, I can barely remember those places.
You can be in a luxury hotel and have a hotel fire. I was a guest on a business trip at the Copley Plaza Hotel in I want to say around 1980 and there was a fire. I knew to grab my bag and head downstairs, but stupidly I didn’t bring my jacket (at night in Boston in March). Same night there was another fire set at the Sheraton Boston. When I was outside and walked around the building, flames were shooting out the Copley Plaza and there were fatalities.
IN RE: three star hotels in Italy. My daughter and a friend stayed in a 3 star hotel in Venice. They woke up in the morning with ants all over their bodies.
I looked online for other reviews and several people said it was their dream honeymoon hotel.
Funny story in Japan…
My sister-in-law and I with our kids checked into the Westin Hotel in Kyoto. My girls were smart enough to say, “We’ll stay here until mom finds a room she likes.” They showed us quite a few rooms before I finally settled on one. We had booked 2 double rooms, but ended up with a 2 bedroom suite. We finally settled in, but SIL looked outside of the window and said, “We can’t stay here, there is a cemetery right outside.” I said, “This is Kyoto, there are cemeteries every where. If you want a different room, you are going have to do it yourself.”
SIL called the front desk.
SIL, “We want a different room, there is a cemetery outside of our window.”
Front desk, “Wa, wa, wa.”
SIL, “CEMETERY. Yes, cemetery, where dead people are buried.”
Fron desk, “Wa, wa, wa.”
No joke, in less than a minute, someone came burst into our room, “Dead people? Where? Dead people?”
They thought SIL said there was a dead person in our room. They checked under the bed, bathroom, closet, every where.
Our kids still laugh about it.