Sign of the times

It's hard to criticize a hotel that gives you a warm welcome, complimentary drink, a Hershey Bar with Almonds, and an upgrade to a large two room suite.

The hotel even had signs in all the the hotel elevators stating that floors other than the lobby are designated quiet zones. It politely reminded guests that other guests may be on different sleeping schedules. How considerate. Usually the signs are in the corridors. It's nice to warn guests in advance so they can go back down to the lobby if they feel the need to make noise after they arrive. It might just save them a trip.

The Crowne Plaza West Palm Beach in West Palm Beach, Florida seemed to have it all.

But... (yes, there has to be a "but" here.) You know that old saying about too good to be true? Well, this wonderful hotel had everything but quiet. Apparently no one reminded the nearby airport that the hotel guests had varied sleeping schedules.

Now, I booked this hotel knowing it was an airport hotel. I stay in airport hotels a lot because, well, mostly because they're close to airports. It's convenient.

Typically I don't mind the noise because there is usually a fan in the room that blocks everything out, and I travel with ear plugs just in case. But there was no fan in the room. Without a fan in the room even the earplugs didn't block out all the sound. I listened to airplanes well into the night.

Lack of sleep is not a good thing. It might keep me from staying in this lovely hotel again. What a shame.

Sugar coating doesn't always make it better

I don't like delayed flights. Especially when it makes me late for a meeting.

After my (late) meeting I arrived (late) at the Holiday Inn Airport West Palm Beach in West Palm Beach, Florida. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get a room upgrade, but I was guaranteed for late arrival and was glad to finally relax after such a long day.

Sometimes I think I just step into some sort of an alternate reality or something. Delayed flight, late meeting... and, the room.

When I opened the door to my room I was overwhelmed by a smoky smell. I knew I had reserved a non-smoking room, and this was pretty bad. Interesting to note here, the halls smelled fresh. Usually it's the other way around. That's when I realized I was not in Kansas any more.

I went to the restaurant and the sign said to wait to be seated, but there was no one there to seat me. There were only about seven other people in the the restaurant, and finally someone in the kitchen saw me standing there.

I was pleased when I saw a low-carb dish on the menu, and ordered the low-carb blackened salmon with steamed veggies. When it arrived it came with mashed potatoes with gravy, and glazed carrots. The carrots were good, but that's probably because they were cooked in sugar. Obviously they don't understand the concept. Now I know why I usually choose to order appetizers and eat in the bar.

I went back to my room hoping the smoke would have dissipated, but it was still there and quite unpleasant.

Every time the people in the next room flushed the toilet the walls rattled. Loudly. And they flushed a lot.

I woke up the next morning with a headache. But now that I think about it maybe it was a sugar hangover from the previous night's carrots.

As I checked out of the hotel the next morning I told the desk clerk about the smoke, and he called the manager. The very pleasant young man was the same person that had checked me in the night before, so he obviously spent a lot of time there. He told me he had heard that complaint before and the hotel attributed the smokey smell to a ventilation problem. He said he wished I would stay and offered me a spray bottle of room deodorizer.

No one ever offered me a bottle of room deodorizer before, and though I was flattered I still went to the Crowne Plaza down the street.