Comfort? Style? Or Companions?

In the past 13 years the hubby has spent more time living in a hotel than time living in our Kansas home.  He has experienced every Starwood, Hilton and Marriott brand hotel known to man, and can give you detailed descriptions of them all.  

This man is simply the easiest person to please on the face of the earth when it comes to living conditions.  Side note:  he pretty much has to be to endure my slovenly habits.  All that being said, there was one Starwood hotel brand in Baltimore that he absolutely abhorred to the point of near anxiety.  (yes, calm Mr. Coffman.  yes, anxiety).  When driving recently on Oliver near 96 he caught a glimpse of a new hotel being built there and when he saw this same brand he said "I won't be able to drive near Oliver and 96 again".  He was serious!

Hard to believe his least favorite hotel was in the USA considering the accommodations we experienced across the pond in France and Germany.

France.  2008.  In the 12th district of Paris.  See the floor space in this picture?  That's all the floor space in this lovely room.  See that tallish piece of furniture?  It was a combination closet/mini-bar fridge.  So convenient. Room for hanging two items of clothing.  After only one sleepless night spent searching the internet for Marriott hotels in Paris ($$$$$), I marched myself down to the front desk. 

After explaining the difficulties of occupying a room with these minuscule parameters compared to the ample parameters of our bodies, the desk clerk took a look at me, had mercy, and gave us this room: 
Much better. Tiny balcony opened up from the bath.  Right across from the toilet. Odd, but hey the bedroom was considerably larger and way more comfy.  My hips no longer were bruised from hitting the walls trying to walk from the bedroom to the bathroom.  I spent a lot of time in this room while the hubby was working and really appreciated its quality.  Oddly enough one afternoon while waiting for the Mr to arrive after his workday there came a knock at the hotel room door.  I looked out the door's peephole and saw a hotel employee holding a tool box.  When I opened the door and greeted the man it was clear that we had a severe language barrier as he tried to explain why he needed to come into the room for a repair.  He finally was able to come up with 3 English words.  Animatedly waving his arms around he said "Fix your douche".  Hmmm.  That brought me very little comfort but since he was so desperate in his quest to work on SOMETHING, I let him in.  Come to find out, "douche" was our shower.  Who knew?  The shower head needed to be tightened up a bit but we hadn't reported it because to us it was no big deal.  Previous guest must have felt otherwise and complained.   

We found hotel rooms in Germany to be quite a bit larger and more comfortable.  Our first hotel room in Weisbaden was in an older building.  In the process of updating the old hotel to be modern, they needed to add bathrooms to each hotel room.  To do that, they simply put the toilet, shower and sink inside a glass enclosure close by the beds.  Yes.  If you were sharing a room with another person, or happened to have visitors in your room.... all bathroom activity was visible.  Granted, the glass was slightly frosted, but still.  To clarify, I am fully clothed in this picture as I stood in the shower to take my own picture:

Recently when going through old family pictures I came across pictures of a hotel room from the 1980's.  We were on a trip to Arkansas with DeWayne's parents, grandparents, and our two little girls.  His grandpa and grandma never left their Kansas farm to travel anywhere, so this was a big big deal to them. Grandpa in particular made sure everyone we met  knew that we had "four generations of family right here on this trip".  It was so much fun and a really precious memory maker.  Truly, it was a "big big deal" to all of us.

 This picture captures a typical scene in one of our rooms.  Playing Pinochle.  Every single night.  So very much fun.  

Probably our oldest daughter who was maybe 8-ish at the time took this picture.  She and her little sister, maybe 5-ish, spent their time in the hotel room playing "restaurant".  We were served the finest imaginary food known to mankind.  In a little bitty cramped hotel room.  Who knows, the "douche" might have even been in need of repair.  But we didn't care.  

I would have to think that the hotel we used on this Arkansas adventure back in the 1980's was nowhere near as nice as the hotel currently being built near Oliver and 96.  If I were given a choice of re-living any of the above experiences, I would undoubtedly choose the Arkansas trip from the 1980's. Clearly not because of the luxurious hotel accommodations.  Expensive hotel rooms?  No big deal. Spending time with those you love every chance you get?  Priceless.