When you travel without making bookings ahead, choosing a motel is a bit of a lottery. They can be judged by a number of criteria. My first impression of a motel with no car park is not a good one.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Then I judge the bathroom; some are so small that turning around without bruising yourself can be a difficult experience. If the taps come off in your hand it is definitely not a 5-star motel. An unforeseen trap is when you don’t know how the strange shower taps work and you can’t turn them on at all and there you are stark naked with nothing to do! Ditto if there is no hot or cold water or they can’t be balanced or there is not enough water pressure to wash the shampoo out of your hair and you have to get on your hands and knees and place your head under the bath tap. There can be other bathroom failures – shower water goes all over the place or there’s nowhere to put your towel so it gets wet before you use it. Towels can be too small, too thin or like sandpaper. Let’s not go into toilet failures.
The best motels offer you complementary lotions, thick lovely towels, a hair dryer and all the services work like a dream.
Now let’s go into the kitchenette – what, no sink! – you fill the electric jug from the bathroom tap. Poor quality coffee and tea bags, horrible little long-life milk – UGH. I need a coffee machine and fresh milk. Now, some rooms have only a microwave, two plates, two cups, one spoon, two glasses and plastic cutlery – I’d go somewhere else. Again you may find a lovely stove range which may be great but chances are that you may have a bad time trying to figure out which knob operates which element. If there is a sharp knife you are fortunate indeed. One motel I stayed in had a secret sliding cupboard in which was everything I needed but didn’t find until I was leaving.
Let’s try the bedroom – if it is separate from the living/eating space that is a good thing. Mattresses can fail you badly by being too soft, too hard, or squeaky or you can feel the springs all night. Pillows can be lumpy, and covers too hot, too cold or rough to the touch. And I hate not having a bed light or one too poor to read with or having to get out of bed to turn it off.
If these rooms pass my not too exacting test I am reasonably happy and can overlook the tacky furnishings, as long as they are clean and the heater/cooler and TV work.
Happy travelling, but ask to see your room before paying.
