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My room faced a street inhabited by feral dogs. At night, feral dogs bark loudly to express alarm, anger, interest, a desire to communicate with other dogs, joy, curiosity, fear ... anything. The dogs were quiet in the morning, which probably emboldened the roosters outside to begin crowing at that time. -- Eurotrash or Eurotreasure
The husband and I still joke about that place we stayed in Costa Rica, a hotel with such a peculiar and vaguely creepy vibe that I've yet to sit down and write about it. He refused to let me use the shower, which had a terrifying bare wire contraption dangerously close to running water. The sheets were gray, the floors dirty, and the hillside landscaped with roosters. Sometimes, I think about that place and wonder if it was an indigestion-fueled dream, but verification with the sidekick confirms that no, there was a very skinny Tico and a very tiny dog and a very burly American in a Corona tank top. Thankfully, we were only there for one night, going to bed early enough to sleep a little bit before the roosters kicked in. Whew.
He returned another 15 minutes later with a colleague, mattress protector, and doona. However, when they pulled off the mattress protector to turn the mattress over, we saw an enormous yellow circle. Yes! Urine! Why on earth a maid had remade a urine-soaked bed in a five star hotel that clearly wasn't full was beyond me. By 1.30 am, the Night Manager had moved us. Did I ever tell you about the bed bugs story? -- Cool Travel Guide
We also stayed in a windowless cell in Chau Doc, a border town between Vietnam and Cambodia. We had to climb over the extension chords that were lighting the tree in the lobby, everything had a vague mildewy dampness to it and our choices were to leave the jet-engine-noise-level air conditioning running or stifle in the oppressive heat. I don't even like to think about the weird nylon bedding at this place. I'm sure it was washed once, maybe several months prior to our stay ...
What we weren’t prepared for was the ickiest hotel room I’ve ever seen. The bellboy showed us our dingy, interior room with a view of decrepit buildings across the street (above left), a bathroom with no toilet paper (above right), fingerprints all over the walls (left), a balcony door handle that fell off, scuffed shelves and old wire hangers in the closet. ICKSVILLE! -- The Vacation Gals
These are exceptionally bad cases, but sometimes, things just go south for no apparent reason -- you're in a room next to a noisy elevator shaft (been there), there's a drunken volleyball team staying in the rooms above you (done that) or there's construction happening when you planned your siesta (sent postcards). There's one thing to do and one thing only: high-tail it to the desk and make your grievances known. You know what I'm going to say here -- be polite, keep it together, explain the issues and allow the hotel to make it right.
But often, as I hear the teller describe how the entire hotel staff conspired to ruin her stay, I see a different side. I see employees trying to help, and I see guests getting in the way. And I can’t help but think that if travelers had a bit more insight into how hotels worked, they’d have more time to enjoy their trips. And I’d have more fun at cocktail parties. --Opus Hotel's Blog
Some complaints are best kept till you get home, others are best dealt with immediately. If you are in your hotel room, and something is wrong, don't wait to complain. Call the front desk right away, and make sure someone with hotel management knows about the problem. If your coffee maker does not work, and you send a letter 2 weeks later, there is little the hotel can do about the problem, and they'll let you know that they would have been perfectly willing to help you out when you actually wanted that cup of coffee. --Gadling
It can still happen that things to go hell in a handbasket, that you're faced with apathetic staff, it's the middle of the night, the place is booked solid, or you've made the rookie
