γράψω

As many of you may know, I’m doing a lot of traveling lately recruiting for Fuller. On Saturday, I arrived in the bustling metropolis of Grand Rapids, MI for a week of recruiting at some colleges in the area. When I checked into the hotel, little did I know what a confusing and somewhat frustrating ride was waiting for me.

You should know something – I don’t often complain about things like food, stores, or hotels… at least not to the servers, associates, or front desk people. I generally just deal with whatever it is that I’m given, whether or not it’s perfect. Don’t get my wrong. I complain a whole heck of a lot – just ask Nikki or any of my close friends. It’s a problem I have, and I admit it. But for the most part, I don’t complain when there’s something wrong with a good or service that I am purchasing.

But this trip was different. I checked into the first hotel (yes, I said “first”) and made my way up to the room. As is my custom, I check the place out, feel the bed, see if there’s an iron and ironing board, a hair dryer, enough hangers, etc, and I always check the water pressure and what kind of shower head is installed. I also see if the room is well lit, comfortable, and if the TV is nice.

Upon inspection of the room (#1), I first notice that all of the lights have those wonderful florescent energy saving bulbs in them. Now, I’m all for saving the environment, but these bulbs are pretty much unbearable for me. They’re pure white light makes the room feel much like a hospital waiting room or a senior center – not exactly conducive for the amount of in-room work I have to do on a trip like this.

Next, I notice there are no large towels. None. I scour the place wondering if perhaps they keep them in the closet or in one of the drawers. There are none. This is troubling, but it’s not a big deal. I make my way over to the phone to call the front desk, and I find that the phone is dead. Very strange. I look under the desk and see that it’s not plugged into the wall… OK, no big deal, but when I plug it in, it’s still dead. I head over to the phone by the bed, and it’s the same story – phone is unplugged and when I plug it in, it’s  still dead.

So I walk down to the front desk, explain the problem, and they set me up in another room (#2). I head up to this new room and realize much is the same as the other room, but this one has towels and the phones work.

So I decide to sit down and check my email/facebook/massive amounts of visits to my blog/etc. I sign on to the wireless network, and it prompts me for my username and password (provided by the front desk). I punch the appropriate info into the fields, and I’m told that I can now use the internet… but there’s a little clock running… 2 seconds, 3 seconds, 4 seconds… OK, this is strange. I call the front desk and ask if I’m limited in terms of how long I can access the internet. The answer is “no,” but that I will be logged off automatically after a certain number of minutes, and I will have to re-log in.

OK… that’s not going to work. You have to understand – I access my work computer in Pasadena using gotomypc.com, and this is already a bit of a hassle by itself. Add to that the fact that I will now be logged off every chunk of undisclosed time, and that the wireless is painfully slow, and I’m starting to see that my work week will be very unproductive.

I decide to give up and go to bed. In the quiet of my room, I realize something that should have registered when I first checked in to the hotel, but is only now beginning to become a reality – the place if FULL of young children. They are running up and down the halls, screaming and carrying on. Not good. I get up, call priceline, and demand a refund. I’m leaving this hotel and finding another one.

After about 3 to 4 years on hold with the efficient machine that is priceline, they tell me that I have to stay in the room that night, and they will work out the details with the hotel manager. Whatever. It’s 1:30AM, and I just don’t care anymore. I finally get to sleep, anticipating a fun filled day on the phone with priceline tomorrow.

I wake up, get ready for church (I visited Mars Hill Bible Church… another blog topic there), pack up all my stuff, and head out. I was expecting a call around 9AM from priceline, but no luck. After church, and after realizing that I still hadn’t heard from priceline, I give them a call. 1 hour later and after talking to at least 5 or 6 people from priceline, they issue me a refund, and I’m left to find a new place to stay for the night.

I call my personal assistant (don’t tell Nikki I called her that), and she helps me book a new hotel through priceline (I’m a glutton for punishment, I guess), and I’m set to go. Mind you, this new hotel is supposed to be a 3 star, when the first was only a 2.5 star. Why risk it, right? Best to go with a nicer hotel in hopes that I can avoid the above problems again.

I check into the new hotel room (#3), and after inspection, I find that it is significantly smaller (you can’t use the bathroom with the door open – not enough room) and not nearly as nice as rooms #1 and #2. But, the wireless is fast, and there are no hoops to log on, so that’s good. After being in the room for about 30 minutes, noticing that the bed almost doesn’t fit in the room, my frustration builds. This was supposed to be a 3 star hotel! There is only one 4 star hotel in Grand Rapids, so this is supposed to be among the hotels that are second best! In my opinion, it’s about 1.5 to 2 stars at best.

After firing off a nasty email to priceline, I call the front desk and ask if there are any bigger rooms. There are, and they are the junior suites, but they are more expensive. UGH! I finally decide at least to go “look” at one just to humor myself. They are, in fact, much bigger than the normal rooms, but they are only about as big as you would expect a hotel room to be. But there is a couch, so I guess that’s why it’s called a junior suite. I head back to the front desk, and talk them way down on the price of the room to the point that I’m just a few dollars different from the junior mint box of a room I had at first. Whew!

Finally. A comfortable room (#4) for me to spend this wonderful work week. I enjoy my evening, relax a little, do some work on the significantly faster internet, and hit the sack. I sleep relatively well, even though the jet engine heater keeps turning off and on through the night. I wake up nice and early to get ready for my 2 hour drive to a college, turn on the water for a nice warm shower, and am greeted with a nice little trickle out of the shower head. “You have got to be kidding me.” I try all the normal tricks one tries when working a new shower, and none of them are working. I do my best to shower off, but the water pressure is not quite enough to get all the shampoo out of my hair, and the temperature is just barely over 98.6 degrees. Not a great experience.

I finish getting ready, head down to the front desk, and ask them if the low pressure is normal. They assure me it’s not and a maintenance person accompanies me to my room to check it out. After treating me like an idiot who doesn’t know how to work a shower, he realizes that, in fact, I’m right. The pressure is terrible, and the temperature is tepid. He tells me they will probably have to move me to another room when I get back from my long day, and they will leave a note to let me know what to do.

After a fantastic day of convincing young men and women that Fuller is the right fit for them, I arrive at my room (#4) to find no note, and no fixed water. OK, no big deal. I head to the front desk, and she says, “Oh yes, sorry. I have to move you.” #5.

While packing up my stuff from #4 (I fully unpack my suitcase when I stay more than a few days at a hotel), I notice that my body puff is gone from the shower, and the little brush I use to clean out my electric razor is in the trash… weird, but I just don’t care anymore. I pack up and head to #5, which is full of those dang florescent bulbs! Screw it. I’m swapping them with the normal ones from #4. I also notice that there is no desk lamp in #5, so I have to ask the front desk to find me one. Thankfully, they do, and quick.

So here I am, typing this blog in #5, hoping #6 is not in Grand Rapids, but is waiting for some other trip.