I had an OB appointment yesterday and I’m a little tired, so rather than a real meaty post I thought I’d give you a chuckle with our stay in a small town motel advertised as “modern.” It became a family joke (don’t you love those kinds of memories) and I thought some of you would get a kick out of it. (I promise I’ll be blogging soon about the really awesome family-friendly hotel we stayed at on vacation.)
Here are a couple of photos of our modern motel experience. This motel shall remain nameless because while we will probably never stay there again, it did create some great family memories!
First off, that chair is broken…no one was allowed to sit in it. The television didn’t actually work and we were afraid to turn on the AC just in case it shorted out the rest of the room.
There was another room attached to this with another bed in it. We slept 3 of the kids in there. They had a fan. We did not. Oh, and the windows could not be opened. At 6:30 in the morning, my son woke me up to ask if he could open the door. I said yes.
This was the bathtub. It scared me.
This is how you turned on the bathtub. My kids were fascinated.
This is the front door of our modern motel and the most endearing quality of our stay. It made me want to pull out a lawn chair and have a seat on my “porch.”
Oh by the way, the train was yards from the modern motel. It went through several times a day and night. Thankfully, the kids were so tired they didn’t even notice.
After this experience, everywhere we went we looked for “modern” motels. It was a hoot!
So, what “interesting” family vacation memories do you have? I imagine some of you could majorly one-up me on my “modern” motel experience! 😉
Barbie says
Thanks for sharing your modern hotel with us. Get a load of that tub. What were all of those knobs for? So thankful you looked for ways to build memories.
Andrea says
LOL “modern” in what decade? It is good you have some great memories of it anyway.
Mark Sara Cowperthwaite says
We were living in Key West when my mom and dad came to visit. The whole island is very small and there are many places to rent bikes and electric cars. These electric cars are like golfcarts (no doors, 4 maybe 5 seats.) We rented two of these to tour the island. After driving around for 45 minutes one started to not have much power. (they are supposed to keep the charge for the day) We stopped at a different rental place and asked them to charge it. Then on our way home, the one my mom and I had with the little kids started to lose power. My mom and I each had to stick out a foot to encourage the car the last 1/2 mile home. Cars behind us kept honking and my mom and I could not stop laughing.
Amy says
Ha! I bet you were a sight!
Elizabeth King says
Sounds like a Flintstone-mobile!
Kayla says
We had a motel like that once too. Unfortunately we didn’t take pictures….but we still talk about it. Ours was really dark and dingy…..had a huge family of mosquitos that were breeding out back and apparently had a secret entrance to our room. And, the kids are positive that those many, many stains on the ceiling were blood stains! Seriously….they still talk about that one time, in Wisconsin when we stayed at the hotel with blood stains on the ceiling. Oh, there was no soap in the bathroom…and only about a half a roll of toilet paper too. Good times. Good times.
Amy says
Oh my! That is hilarious…and a little frightening. 😉
Tonya @ The Traveling Praters says
Oh my gosh, Amy! I chuckled as I read this post only because I can so relate to what you shared! When we started traveling with my husband’s job, we stayed at many “modern motels” with nearly an identical experience. I didn’t blog then so I didn’t “document” our experience but I certainly wish I had. No one believed me when I told them about the room that we stayed in that had the busted, on the ground dresser drawers stacked in a neat pile- or the one with the light fixtures duct taped to the ceiling! You have one up on me though- in the 100’s of rooms that we’ve stayed at- I have never ran across a bath tub with knobs like that. lol I’m sorry, I’m still laughing. I just have to say that though those rooms were miserable at the time they sure lead to some funny stories now. Stories that will never be forgotten! They just make vacation more interesting, right?
Amy says
Absolutely…something we will never forget!
Christy dR says
Ahahaha! That is hilarious! Very good memory builder indeed.
Coby says
That is too funny! If that’s modern, I’d hate to see one that hasn’t been updated!
One of my fondest memories of staying in a modern hotel is when I was a college student traveling in Lesotho. Granted, Lesotho is one of the poorest countries in the world, but the decor of this hotel room was straight out of the 70s, with maroon shag carpet, dark paneled walls, etc. Oh, and it was winter. And there was no heat. There was only a bathtub with no shower head, and the water never got above lukewarm. So rather than fill the tub and take a bath, my roommate and I turned on the water, squatted in the tub, and gave ourselves the fastest sponge bath known to man!
Amy says
I waited for the next hotel to take a bath! lol
Teresa says
We have stayed at many of these. The best was one that we could not even get the front door to open. It was stuck shut. They had no other rooms (I am glad). The place had stray cats all over and the check-in desk was a card table. I am afraid of what we would have found if they got the door open.
Last week we had a nice modern hotel with orange carpet, and green sinks and a wasp nest in the corner of the room by the window that had a hole (the size of a basketball) in the screen. Yes they were alive! We got rid of the nest and then had a good night sleep. And for $55.00 I guess I got what I paid for as it was the only hotel for 40 miles and it was booked for the wedding we attended.
I used to review hotels for a company and you would not believe what I saw at even 3 and 4 star hotels. I have learned to close my eyes and just sleep:(
Teresa says
I forgot last month we were in DC and stayed right next to the White House. Roaches everywhere outside. It was awful. At least we never saw one in the hotel. And that was a $250.00 a room stay. You would think in such a area as near the White House they would take better care of things. We also saw a rat the size of a cat about a block down. It made me glad to get back to my nice clean farm. We don’t have rats or roaches.
Amy says
Ack!
Carolynn Slocum says
I took our children, we only had 5 at the time, on a 13 day road trip across the U.S. One day I was driving, we had just left Devil’s Tower and I called my husband from the middle of Wyoming and told him to book me the closest hotel because I could not physically stay awake any longer. This was pre smart phones, etc., When we pulled into the hotel I could tell it wasn’t even bottom of the line! I was so tired it didn’t matter. I lugged all our stuff up to the second floor room and put someone in the tub for a much needed bath. The water sprayed everywhere when I turned on the faucet and the toilet wouldn’t flush and the leg on the bed was broken. I also requested extra towels because 3 towels isn’t enough for 6 people with swimming, and showers. The hotel didn’t have any extras. Needless to say we moved to a different room-down the hall, around the corner and down the stairs- as far away from the pool as possible.
The next morning we got up for Continental Breakfast that consisted of day old muffins and hard boiled eggs. The staff did not have a clue what Starbucks was either. I was thankful for a bed to sleep in but extra grateful to be on our way!
Amy says
Ahhh, Devil’s Tower…know the place well! We ate in a little bitty town (ok, they are all little bitty up there!) late one night several years back. It wasn’t day old muffins and hard boiled eggs, though. 😉
AmyC says
I drove by a motel the other day and had to do a double take. They were advertising “Color Television” on their sign. Made me laugh right out loud!
Amy says
That sign might have been put up about the time the “modern” motel I stayed in printed their brochure. 😉
Cathy says
We live in AZ and have travled to Mexico a couple of times. In one hotel the room was done in blacks and reds. While I have never been in a brothel, this is what I imagined it to be. They had painted on the side of their motel “the cheapest place to stay in ………..” I will refrain from saying the city 🙂 Then in another city we got a little room, walked into the bathroom only to discover there were electric wires coming out of the shower head!! They ran from the shower head to the wall. My husband said “I have read about this, they run those in and that is how we get hot water!” Now I did take a shower in there (with my husband, that way if one of us got shocked, hopefully the other one could save us both!) He reached up at one point because he saw a bit of sponge in the shower head. He got it out and then realized it needed to be in there to help the pressure. While putting it back in he got mildly shocked! We moved hotels the next day 🙂 Fun times!!!
TT says
omgosh that’s too funny!!!! your electric shower story is the best so far! xD
Amy says
I’ve heard about those kind of showers too! YIKES!
Meg says
Wow! “Modern”! Reminds me of our stay at the Tam-O-Shanter on the Las Vegas strip. Not realizing it was Super Bowl weekend we went to Vegas on a whim (I was about 7 months preggo). There were absolutely no rooms available, at least that we could afford. Except at the Tam-O-Shanter. It was a small room, but with two beds, the kind that you stick the quarters in and it shakes! The bathroom was tiny, and you didn’t exactly want to go barefoot in it. The worst part was there was no heater! In January! We had to turn the shower on full heat to warm up the place before bed, and then again in the morning. That was over 11 years ago, and the place has been torn down, but we still like to joke about it! 🙂
Amy says
LOL – now that is funny!
Josi says
I am cracking up at everyone’s stories. And to think we’ve all paid for these experiences! One of our memories like this is when we went to San Francisco…. on a BUDGET. In fact, I remember one of the kids asking me before we left why we needed to bring a suitcase of food! Definitely BUDGET! I had a coupon for a motel, not a hotel mind you. I had a wonderful experience of being in the shower with my daughter, with shampoo in her hair and the water went freezing cold. We were both miserable. Then I had the same experience a day or two later with the other daughter! Thankfully all those rides on the cable cars are the memories we remember the most. And Amy, I figure your experience is just great preparation for future missions trips with your kids! You guys will be able to handle anything. Oh, by the way, that pink tiled shower looks very similar to our bathroom before the remodel!
Amy says
There ya go…mission trips, here I come! (I might come back rather stinky, though since I decided there was no way I was taking a shower in that tub! lol)
Sidetracked Sarah says
So funny. Glad you got some good memories out of the deal! I do like the entrance of it!
Elizabeth King says
Oh Amy, what a modern hotel!! 🙂
In 2002, we were going across the country on an extended vacation. My then 10 year old daughter didn’t like being bored. Every time she was bored on our trip, she would pray for the Suburban to break down! Well, you know how the Lord likes to answer the prayers of children!! The transmission died in Ontario, the front end died in Nova Scotia.
She didn’t tell us that she’d prayed for the truck to break down until several years later – when the truck broke down yet again! Actually, we ran over a piece of equipment left on the road by a work crew, and developed a tire blow-out. It turns out that both my husband and I had forgotten our wallets with our AMA cards in them – and our money! We quickly took a collection from our now much older children. We scraped together enough to pay for the 2 cabs we needed to get to the auto shop. AMA chose to honour our request for a two even though we didn’t have our cards. And we had enough to pay for one replacement tire. Then she told me that she had prayed for the truck to break down during our trip in 2002. I told her that the money she had lent us for the breakdown that day was only a down payment for the damage she had indirectly caused in 2002!!
(I was joking, of course, and did pay her back. 🙂 )
Amy says
Eeek! I have a child who would probably do something like that too…must remember to NOT let her read this comment. LOL
mommymichael says
When my husband deploys, I gather up my kids (3 so far) and head to my parents house in Texas. I’ve made this trip several times from both CT and again when we moved to WA state.
This latest trip we drove from WA down to Texas in early December. The last leg of the trip we had to stay in a small border town between New Mexico and Texas. A ice storm was upon us and we couldn’t see very well out the front window so we stopped at the first decent place we could find.
Once inside our room we discovered the beds looked gross. The toilet was BROKE and we couldn’t properly flush it. We had to reach into the holding take and pull up on the chain!! There was an odd smell about the room and just over all a nasty place.
I ventured out into the storm to cross the parking lot and complain at the front desk. They were “kind” enough to give us a room with at least a properly flushing toilet.
I’m thankful for at least a place to stay during the storm. The next day we counted no less than 10 crashed semi trucks who did NOT pull to safety. It was scary!
Amy says
That would be a case of praising the Lord for a gross motel! So glad you were safe and snug – ish. 🙂
mommymichael says
Yep!
Snug with all the other bugs in the rug! 😉
Britta Kreps says
This reminded me of our Thanksgiving trip of 2008 out to my brother’s house in Maryland. At the time we lived about a 13hr drive from them. It was quite an adventure with just 4 kiddos at the time..one still a newborn. On those long trips you can never predict how many times or where you’ll have to stop for the potty.
Well, one of those stops holds many a family memory – Ruff Creek, PA. It was the first pull off we could find when one of the older kids said, “I gotta go, mom.” So we zipped off the interstate. Us big city folks aren’t used to the bank, post office, general store and gas station being all in one. We all got a kick out of that, but the restroom left much to be desired. Let’s just say I was so glad that I had my mini bottle of Lysol in the diaper bag. No one would go potty until I sprayed it!
We really just laughed about it all because it wasn’t worth stressing over. Under a nice veil of probably toxic Lysol I got everyone through the potty and a diaper changed! We make jokes about places like that still.
Mary says
If you’re ever in Junction City, KS check out the Dreamland Motel. It had good reviews online, so I booked it for $35 for a night while we were driving through. My husband slept on top of the covers and kept his knife close by. He also barricaded the door so lots of things would fall and make noise to wake us if anyone tried to get in (though I don’t think he slept at all). It was disgusting, but has been a fun joke ever since!
Gaby says
I LOVED this post, along with all the comments and funny adventures your readers have had! But my favourite is the “we only had 4…”, “we only had 5…” kids along on the road trip! Oh man, it reminded me of my childhood vacations, with the 9 of us in the station wagon! I guess my mom was looking back on the easy trips when there were “only 5” along! Great post!
Amy says
It’s all about perspective, isn’t it?! 😉
Christine says
Nine of you in the station wagon?? How did that work? LOL I was just laughing with my husband about all of my family’s vacations in our station wagon, and there were only 6 of us. But since we couldn’t all have our own seat belts, we took turns riding & sleeping in the back. How times have changed!! Haha!
Kari says
Wowzers! That bed looks rather…..not flat. You are a brave, brave soul. But, I agree with the front door picture. It makes me want to sit on the front porch waving at neighbors.
I remember a “modern” hotel I stayed at once on my way from SC to TX. It was a major chain hotel, so I thought it would be a safe bet. I thought wrong. Let’s just say they still have hotels with twin beds, no A/C (in Mississippi…in the summer), and a bathroom that makes the one in your picture look absolutely 2012. Sigh. But, at least I can say I have had that experience. I can mark it off a list of things I have done. And I can pray I don’t have to do it again. I didn’t sleep much that night at all.
Reggie says
Oh, good night! We stayed in a hotel once that shall also remain namelss but shall not be used again either. The experience left me insisting on seeing a room first before I would let my man make a hotel reservation for us ANYWHERE for about a year afterward. I still carry my own Basic-G as a safety precaution. That’s Shaklee talk for high-powered-germ-killing-all-natural goodness in a bottle! Call me biased, I take no chances.