Hotel California

The past three years for Dance Nationals, we have stayed at the Sheridan Hotel, just down Harbor Blvd. from Disneyland and just a hop, skip and jump from the Anaheim convention center.  You can walk anywhere you want and it is such a nice hotel with a great pool area and ambience.  There are plenty of gathering places for the team and I just love it. 

Because we were staying three extra nights this year, I decided that I would book us a hotel down the road at one I had seen the previous year that I found through priceline for half the price.  So, with Sunday night approaching, we drove past it.

Suddenly didn't look nearly as good as I had remembered and the pictures online had really made things look much better than they were.  I slyly got online back at the Sheridan to see if I could cancel the other reservation.  Yes, but with a whopper of a cancellation fee because I booked through Priceline.  (I don't think I will use them again for this reason.)  I decided that I would just have to leave the comfort of the Sheridan for this new one.  So, we checked out and headed down to the other hotel.  We couldn't check in yet, but we needed to change out of our church clothes.  Prepared to eat the cancellation fee,  I asked the man in the office if we could cancel our reservations.  Well, if you had cancelled yesterday (when I first wanted to) you could have, but now the rooms are paid for and you're committed.  (I was about to be committed!)  He offered us a bathroom to change in.  As I walked in, it smelled like a cross between stale bread and really old mold mixed with damp dust that has been around a minimum of 5 years.  It was disgusting. I didn't end up eating anything that day until about 3:30 and I think this is why. (couldn't have been a cumulation of  all I had been eating that week.....)

"Let's walk down and check out a couple of the rooms and the pool", Gordon suggested, trying to gingerly handle the situation.  The pool looked nice and blue but when we got close, there was dirt settled on the bottom in little colonies.  The hot tub was worse.  On our way to look at the rooms, I thought to myself, "I can stay here if the rooms are clean, and I'll just have to suck it up".  We came to the first room; same smell as the bathroom we changed in.  Second, third and so on. 

I told the guy at the office that his rooms stunk.  He looked puzzled.  Must have been the Indian food reeking from the small kitchen area behind the office. 

We got in the car and I was near tears wondering what we could do and feeling like a spoiled little brat.  My head was aching and I was feeling beside myself.   I don't do smells. 

We went back to the Sheridan and I got online and on the phone to Priceline to their customer service.  I told them about my tour of the hotel they had fixed me up with and told them that it was dirty and smelly.  Long story short, after waiting 10 minutes on the phone, they cancelled the reservation and refunded all of our money.  The key words I gave them, I believe, were dirty and smelly.  I was so relieved and happy the rest of the day; it was the best day of the whole trip. (that, and the picture below of me in my Happy Place).

The bonus:  Gordon scored us three more nights at the Sheridan for a significantly reduced price than we had been paying because it was Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

At this rate, I am hesitant to book our cruise.  I mean, I don't have the greatest track record with these things.  I have Champagne taste on a beer ability.