Special Treat

Hey peeps, guess where I am!  I'll explain shortly.

 

Update:  As part of my "real" job (i.e., not the one where I'm a big time travel blogger read avidly by people from coast to coast and courted by the folks at National Geographic), I frequently arrange hotel stays for overseas employees of my company who are visiting the corporate headquarters.  So I get invited to attend special tours and hospitality events, and I'm sometimes offered complimentary stays at hotel chains who are hoping I'll be impressed by what they have to offer and choose them over the competition.  It's not a bad strategy, especially since I have a somewhat protective feeling toward people I arrange travel for, and I'd hate to send them somewhere crummy.

Of course, I'm not sure I'd make it as a professional hotel reviewer.  I'm the girl that sleeps in her truck with no curtains and has been willing (albeit grudgingly) to climb out in the middle of the night and trek across the parking lot to the all night discount chain store or the truck stop restrooms.  Also, I've stayed in some seriously bad dives in recent memory.  The two other places I've stayed on this trip weren't total dives . .  .more like semi-dives.  Which is usually good enough for me because I'm perpetually short on cash and usually what cash I have is being dumped into some wacky plan, like the one where I buy a beat old travel trailer and drive three quarters of the way across the country to pick it up and tow it back with my antiquated gas-guzzling Suburban.  But you already know about that one.

Anyway, the fact is I'm impressed if the place is clean and has hot water.  But I do have much higher standards for the lodging I book for others.  Usually a quick tour is sufficient to ensure the place is good enough for the employees entrusted to my care (as I like to think of it).  And I seldom have use for complimentary stays at hotels that offer them to me, since I can usually be found in some back country, out of the way corner where big chains don’t have a presence.  But when the local account rep for Extended Stay America offered me a certificate good for a night’s stay recently, this time I accepted.  I knew I’d be driving across a lot of real estate and through some major cities, and a free night at a hotel could come in handy.

I made notes of which points along my route had Extended Stay and affiliated properties, and thought I’d take advantage of the offer if everything lined up.  When I pulled into the TA (Travel Center of America) in town tonight, I knew I wouldn’t really be happy there.  I checked my routing notes and saw there was an Extended Stay hotel in town.  Hah!

It felt sort of traitorous to stay at a hotel when I have KD handy.  But I had some blogging to catch up on, could use a shower, and honestly by this point I’m getting pretty tired.  I’ve been on the road for 15 days now, and I’ve got at least a couple more to go.  A safe place with a hot shower sounded good.  So I made the call.

Jason answered the phone, and I explained that my account rep Michelle had wanted me to stay for a night so I could evaluate a random location for my company’s travel needs.  Which is true, as far as it goes, but probably makes it sound a little better than the reality of a grubby Kimmie hoping for a shower and a plug for her laptop.  I added the bit about having a trailer in tow.  Jason didn’t laugh himself silly and tell me trailer trash weren’t welcome here.  He was warm and welcoming, told me he had a room waiting for me and that there was plenty of room for my trailer.

Turns out I was only a few minutes away.  I got to drive through a small part of Albuquerque, which was a bonus.  There are a lot of adobe-style houses.  I don’t think they are made out of real adobe—although some might be.  They are probably stucco, but they have the charming, pueblo and adobe style, and very few are alike.  At least in the neighborhood I saw, there were no cookie cutter houses.  They lined the streets in rounded, earthy shapes, sometimes with the log post and beam technique, sometimes with organic-looking curvy walls, sometimes with designs stamped or molded into the walls.  It was funky and charming and utterly unlike the bland ticky-tacky housing that fills up a lot of cities.  Also, people here don’t seem to have lawns.  Or maybe they do, but not where I was looking.  They have gravel.  Which makes sense in this hot and arid climate.  Even a cemetery I passed had no grass in it, or at least not until one end.  Maybe you have to pay extra here to have grass grow on your grave.  Water, after all, is like gold in the desert.

There were easy, sensible streets and no snarled up mess of one-ways and traffic circles and narrow roads meant for mule carts like you find in some bigger towns that have accreted over the years.  I appreciated the straightforward grid and wide-enough roads, since I was hauling KD along.

Then I turned into a clump of hotels, all clustered near the airport.  Back home these collections of medium-priced hotels manage to be dreary and boring.  But here they somehow looked welcoming and bright.  Not luxury resort lodging for big pocketed vacationers, but comfortable and decent places for business people and budget minded travelers (though probably not as budget-minded as me, LOL).  I cautiously turned into the parking lot of the Extended Stay America, and was pleased to find a pair of spaces I could use as a pull-through right off.  I even backed KD up a little to get her positioned, since there was no pressure and there weren’t any truckers to watch me hash it up.

Jason was waiting, and he had my room ready, along with free WiFi and free breakfast.  He told me there was electronic security overlooking the parking areas and someone staffed the desk all night.  He gave me a key, pointed me to the elevator and made sure I knew where to call if I needed anything.  The elevator makes the third floor room ok.

When I got to the room, I was greeted by quiet comfort.

 

The room has a cute little kitchenette, with a two-burner stove, sink, fridge, and microwave.  Also a comfy dining table and dishes with cutlery for two, plus some basic cooking equipment. 

 



 

I set up my blogging station at the separate desk with lamp (this feature will be appreciated by anyone having to get real work done and not wanting to share space with the TV or the remains of their dinner).

 

 

Baby Bear was happy to get out of the truck (he's been muttering something lately about not leaving animals closed up in hot cars, which has been happening a lot, I admit).

 

 

There's order-in room service available, but only until 10:00pm.  I have food with me, I just had to bring it upstairs from KD.  I'll never make a food blogger, or food photographer either, for that matter.  But I tried my best to arrange an attractive repast.  The plates and silverware were provided as part of the room amenities.  The Lunch-N-Go kit came from the Sapulpa Walmart because I thought they'd come in handy sooner or later.  Tonight was the night.

 



 

This room is clean.  It doesn't have a funky motel smell.  It's spacious, with a big-screen tv, and most of what you need to be comfy for awhile if you are far from home, including a concerned and friendly staff.  After I'd been in the room a few minutes, the phone rang.  It was Jason, calling to make sure I was happy with the accommodations and had everything I needed. 

 

Maybe hinting that I'm a blogger endorsed by Miss Rodeo Wyoming 2011 and the City of Laramie gets me the VIP treatment (sorry, Brittany!).  Or maybe these folks just want their guests to be happy and comfortable.  I would certainly stay here again, and I'd recommend this place to anyone looking for a decent place to stay that is reasonably priced.

 

Outside a furious wind is howling.  It's a lonely, eerie sound, and I know that KD is rocking on her wheels. I'm glad to be inside tonight.