kevin_standlee | Still Too Much Hot Water

When I got back to the motel about 9 PM, the shower still hadn't been fixed. And it was the same story at the front desk, with a third person in three days. Each one of them has had the same reaction, has written down the issue, and said that s/he will pass it on. The second and third persons have said there was no record of the previous reports and that s/he can't do anything themselves. Nor can they move me to another room. That can only done during the day when the manager is there. The fact that I'm not here during the hours that the person who can actually do anything doesn't matter; these people are helpless and under orders. Sigh. I rather expect that it will never be fixed, including after me leaving. After all, if they can keep selling the room to people who are desperate enough to rent here, they'll do it and avoid spending any money at all if they can.

This morning, I used the shower at the office for the first time. I feared that I might have traded too hot for too cold, but it was just that I was the first person who had used it that morning and it took a long time for the hot water to make its way to the shower. It works, but it's annoying. At this rate, I should have just taken out the rear seat of the van, slept there and saved the motel rental.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Can you call in to the manager? Make a point to get the name of Thursdays clerk and ask when the manager will be in "so you can call and follow up"?

Can you give a Written Report to the Manager?
And don't forget posting to Yelp and Tripadvisor. They may respond to bad reviews there.

I suspect, given your skillsets, that you've done this, but have you looked into upgrading your motel while in S.F. to a just slightly better chain that offers rewards points? Perhaps the points would offset the low, low cost of the current place?

The jump to anything I've found so far increases the cost of the room between 100 and 200% and destroys my economic case for casting off. That doesn't mean there aren't places I can stay; I just haven't found them yet.

I'd prefer a Holiday Inn Express, for instance, but they cost >$100/night, not <$50/night.

I may check out Vagabond Inn San Jose on a future trip. It's more expensive, but not twice as expensive, and their frequent-stay plan is a simple stay 9/get the 10th free, which I could consider as an additional 10% discount.

I hope you find something. My partner stayed at a chain (I'm not sure which) several years ago and they gave him an extended-stay rate...have you looked into that? It might help bring a more expensive room down closer.

Oh, I work every angle that I can. The underlying issue is that hotel rooms in the Bay Area are absurdly expensive from the point of view of most people who aren't in the Bay Area. Let's look at the next time I have to be down here, which is arriving July 21, departing August 2.

I am not staying in San Francisco, which is 30 miles north of me. I work in Mountain View, on the Peninsula. Anything there, or San Jose, or Southern Alameda county (Hayward south) works okay. Here are the best rates I can find (AAA or extended stay rate where available), before tax, for a selection of places. Rates are per night, sometimes averaged:

Ramada Inn: $124 Mountain View (close to office)
Country Inn: $116 Mountain View (closest to office)
Holiday Inn and Affiliates: $109 Union City
America's Best Value Inn: $106 Mountain View
Extended StayAmerica: $105 Milpitas
Hotels.com returns $96 for the Camino Inn & Suites, Mountain View
Vagabond Inn: $66 San Jose (10th night free, so effectively only about $60; however, it may require payment in advance, no changes)
Caravelle Inn & Suites: $70 San Jose
Motel 6: $60 Sunnyvale (Substantially closer to my office than where I am right now)
Motel 6: $46 Newark (shares a fence with where I am right now)
EZ-8: $43 Newark (where I am right now)

I think it rather likely that I'll try Motel 6 Newark next time I have a chance, as $3/night more is acceptable for a clean, comfortable room. There's no refrigerator, although I can finesse that if Lisa will let me take the electric ice chest.

A further complication is that on the next trip, Lisa will probably be with me because we want to take her to the osteopath again if we can. I need a better room in that case because she will be living in the room rather than just sleeping in it. Also, she hates shower-only hotels, so Motel 6 is out.

How are you paying for your accomodations?

If, by any chance, you are using American Express, call up *their* customer service line and tell them the story. They (at least they used to) take customer satisfaction with accomations pretty seriously.

Or call the BBB and report the facility.

It's on my Diner's Club card due to the affinity program. It's what pays for the train trips: transferring DC points into Amtrak Guest Rewards points. (It also paid the points for the first-class trip to Australia, but United isn't part of the program anymore, so it won't pay for the trip to the UK next year.)

I think I told you the story of one of Furlandia's GoHs who discovered his hotel room toilet didn't work. Reporting this did not result in anyone showing up to fix the problem. Eventually when he had a hole in his schedule he went to Home Depot, got some parts, and fixed it himself. I hope he billed the hotel.

While first-year conventions are notorious for odd problems, this one wasn't the organizers' fault! File this under 'hotel failure' not 'neglecting guests.'

This motel seems to be part of a chain. Write to the corporate headquarters. Also post about your situation on Twitter.

Laurraine Tutihasi

Still Too Much Hot Water

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