Wednesday, November 18, 2009

On the Road

My hotel room has a unique alarm clock.

Instead of a buzzer or music, it makes noises resembling the sound of someone breaking into your room.

I must admit that it is rather effective.

My worst hotel experience, security-wise, took place somewhere in the Carolinas, where a client with usually impeccable taste booked me into a largely abandoned hotel similar to the one in "The Shining." I arrived around ten at night to find the huge lobby darkened but for a small light over the registration desk and a clerk who made Norman Bates seem normal. My room, once I found it, was down a long, barely lit, corridor and throughout my trek there was no evidence of any other guests. The bed, drapes, and chairs appeared not to have been used in a very long time. The bed sheets cracked from age. The highlight, of course, was when the door wouldn't completely close, much less lock. I piled chairs and luggage against it and went to sleep.

Business travel: Highly overrated.

2 comments:

Matt Rutherford said...

Awesome post - I used to stay in a similar hotel in Russia, out in the wilds... felt like there was only ever 3 or 4 rooms in use in a giant hotel. Every room had that feeling of not being used, and the reception and bar felt like they were locked in some 1980's timewarp.

The novelty of business travel has definitely worn off

Michael Wade said...

Matt,

That hotel in Russia sounds like a novel.

Have you noticed how, after a few days on the road, the business travelers begin to resemble war refugees?