Home sweet home

After two nights in a dodgy hotel it was very nice be sleep in my own bed last night. As a quite experienced traveller I’ve have stayed in both weird and cheap places over the years. My threshold is usually pretty high before I start complaining, but my latest experience from London was a bit too much.

I got in pretty late on Monday night about 11:00 pm. The receptionist who checked me in didn’t speak much English and got a bit upset when I wasn’t British since he then had to fill out more forms. My room turned out to be a double room so for five minutes I just laid flat on my back relaxing on the big bed. Having kicked off my shoes I later bent down to pick them up two cockroaches ran next to skirting board before disappearing behind a cupboard. Eeek! The threshold between the room and bathroom had probably been dampen by water over the years and two times when I turned on the light I noticed how dark grey oval little things (not silverfishes) sneaked under threshold and carpet. Eeek again!

I usually sleep pretty light the first night in a hotel and by 1 o’clock in the morning I woke up hearing a man and woman outside my door. According to the conversation and noise things were about to get steamy. And yes, five minutes later I could hear the bed squeaking in the room next to mine. I dozed off and was startled by the man shouting "Get the h*** out of there! Here’s you f****** money!" and the door closed with a bang. While I was trying to understand what the man had just said I could hear the woman walk away in the corridor. Five minutes later the phone rang in the other room and a couple of minutes later the man left the room as well. Lying there in bed I felt quite uneasy even though I knew I was safe and sound in my room. After a while I managed to doze off again, but not for long.

Around 3 or 3:30 am the same procedure happened again about. The steamy conversation and noise outside my door, the squeaking bed, the paying off by the door, someone walking down the corridor, a phone ringing and then the other person leaving the room. By then I was really wishing that I were at home in my own bed. I know things like this could happen in any hotel regardless of number of stars, but being on the other side of a very thin door was a bit too much for me. It’s very important for me when I stay alone in a hotel that I feel safe and secure. When travelling for business the hours in the hotel room are needed for relaxation and sleeping. Not for feeling uncomfortable or worried.

The second night I slept like a log. I don’t know if it was from the lack of sleep from the night before or from having had a nice dinner with wine and drinks. Maybe a combo of both. But I did sleep. Even though the pillows where driving me mad for a while. One was too soft and the other one was too hard. So I guess it’s true what they say, there is nothing like your own bed. And another thing is also true. I will never ever stay at this hotel again.