Lost that Budget Hotel Loving Feeling

My sister and I were in Dallas this weekend to help my parents pack up and move out of the home they’ve lived in for 31 years. While taking a very brief break on Sunday, we read a travel article on Puerto Vallarta in the Dallas Morning News. The writer took a clever approach by comparing “Old Puerto Vallarata” to “New Puerto Vallarta”. He stayed in the old part of town, while his sister and brother-in-law stayed at the new Four Seasons Resort. His article compares and contrasts money spent; his entire trip, including airfare, hotel, and food was still $200 less than just one night at the Four Seasons Resort.

In describing his Hotel Pescador, he says the inexpensive hotel was “quiet and clean” and while my sister and I both agreed that it probably was, we also agreed that certain hotels had forever spoiled our budget travel buoyancy. And no matter how inexpensive or how clean, we are always left a little deflated. For me, it began with the Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica, California, and for her it was the Hotel Le Saint James in Montreal.

We still stay at the cheap, clean hotels, but no matter how cheap or how clean, that youthful bargain glee is gone unless the down comforters are sky-high, the linens crisp and white. A turn-down service perfectly timed to one’s evening return and *sigh*.

What hotel has forever spoiled your budget hotel glee?

-- Clear Plastic Bag