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Travel Log Hall of Fame and Shame | ||
Our travel log was established to share some of the fun we have on our travels. It has never been intended to endorse any of the places we visit. Nor was it established to act as a critic of travel sites. But occasionally we find sites or businesses that impress us, or in some case outrage us. So this page will recognize the best, and sadly, the worst we have run into. Hall of FameMany times patrons of a business recognize just how outstanding it is; yet in many cases no recognition of the outstanding service is officially noted. So we will use this space to recognize those businesses that made our travel a pleasure. Best Motel
Town House Motel
On our trip to San Francisco in 2008 we took a chance on a motel and were so impressed that we felt it was necessary to launch our Hall of Fame page with them as the best motel. Out of habit, we book motels from a very short list of major chain motels. Our past experience has shown that our short list provides clean modern rooms, reasonable prices, and most important, NO SURPRISES! Our stop in Winnemucca Nevada was planned in advance based on travel time and the fact that we wanted to make this our stop for an evening. Since none of the motels on our short list had a motel in Winnemucca we searched the Internet and found the Town House. This motel must be 40 to 50 years old and of the older style with parking in front of each door. We had some apprehension about the motel at first sight, but once we checked in we found this to be the best kept secret in Winnemucca as well as in Nevada. The room was large, very clean and recently decorated. The bathroom was modern and very clean. We were surprised at how quiet the rooms were considering the older construction. We were very impressed with the entire setting and would recommend this motel to anyone stopping in Winnemucca. Hall of ShameIt seems a shame to share this page space with what we consider to be the best a business can offer with businesses that left us so upset we felt we needed to tell others. But in the interests of offering a comparison we offer this critique of those business locations that left us discouraged and upset. Worst MotelSan Francisco Central Travelodge
It seems ironic that on a single trip we would find the best and the worst motel, just a day apart. Luckily the best followed the worst renewing our confidence that some business owners keep the customer foremost in their mind. We did not seek the Travelodge on 17th and Market Streets in San Francisco based on price. It was located about 2-miles from our sons house. Travelodge is NOT on our short list of motel chains, but we recognized the name and the on-line booking site led us to believe that this motel would be a good place to call home for three days while we toured San Francisco. To say we were surprised might lead the reader to believe that it was a good surprise, it wasn’t. We were shocked! We were shocked that the room we were given had such heavy cigarette smoke that it is doubtful that this non-smoking room had been cleaned by anyone with any sense of smell. When we called the front desk to complain the owners acted as if we were being unreasonable and responded, “we can’t control people smoking in the rooms.” That was the only answer, except, “check at desk tomorrow and we see what we can do.” To be fair, we knew the motel was fully booked the night we checked in so there wasn't another room available. We were shocked at 6:00 AM the following morning to receive a phone call telling us, “shuttle here.” We hadn’t ordered a shuttle or a wake-up call. We were shocked when we called later in the day to ask what solution they had come up with and they responded, “we try calling your room all day, you didn’t answer.” Later that day we picked up keys to a new room, no apologies or concern by the clerk, he just shoved them through a night security window and walked away. We were shocked the next night to return to the motel to find that all the parking spaces were gone. We paid $11.00 per night (sign that was posted said $10/night) for parking and not a single space was left. Of course no clerk was on duty to help us! We were shocked when we checked out to find a clerk who didn’t recognize that we had problems and made no attempt to apologize, nor did she thank us for being their guest. She simply pushed the receipt at us and walked away. Don’t be fooled by the website (we won’t link it), the pictures do not tell the story. This motel and its owners, regardless of the name attached to it, offer nothing but unpleasant surprises and disappointment. If you do not see a menu on the left click here to go to our home page. | ||