Check Me Out

There is certainly an excitement to a hotel room, to begin with at least. You have a whole new home for at least a night, and there is a learning process. You must figure out where things are and how things work. I enjoy that part of moving, and so that's the main thing that I like about staying in a hotel. That is most of what I like though, outside of the obvious appeal of having a place that is very clean, or at least seems to be by comparison with my home.

I don't much like other elements of a hotel stay. Most of a day's routine is about making do under the circumstances. You just can't have all the things that you have at home, such as your own bathroom appliances. There are the little tiny soaps, shampoos and hair dryers, and it all feels like you are driving on four spare tires in a sense. How long could you live with a coffee machine designed to make two cups at a time?

I hate to sound like a complainer, but what of the television? I don't even have a high definition set at home, and yet somehow this one where I am presently staying disappoints me. I can't work out where the channels are and what they're airing. Also there is the brutally powerful air conditioning, which does not let you know just what the temperature is and what it's aiming for. It also so happens that the little table where one can arrange their laptop is right where the air blows out.

I was advised that the breakfast service ends at 9am. That was a disappointment, as I generally make a point of getting up at precisely that hour. I imagine that if I had made breakfast, I would only now be complaining about what people feel constitutes a "Continental breakfast". Having never been to Europe, I'm in no place to doubt that it is orange juice, coffee, danishes and just maybe some hot eggs, bacon and sausage. Well, perhaps I'll find out about that tomorrow morning, after which I will not be entirely sorry to check out.