Folks, I try really hard to get along with the world. I don’t get angry quickly, but when I do it isn’t pretty. I have told y’all that I travel for a living; I settle into my hotel room for a week, and that is my “sanctuary.” There isn’t anything glamorous about travel for work. I tell stories to kids all day, grab a bite to eat, and hunker down to rest for the next day. All I ask is a bed without bedbugs, a clean bathroom, an internet connection, and a little bit of peace.
Several years ago I was in South Texas staying at a pretty decent hotel. At least, I thought it was. The first part of the week was just dandy, and I was enjoying being able to work at night. I even opened the window so I could feel the night breeze. Midway through the week, things changed drastically. The room next to mine was rented to a pack of wild animals. Well, they acted like animals. Now keep in mind that there was no reason that the management had to put these fellas next to me. It’s not like the hotel was packed in midweek, in fact most of the rooms were empty. I guess they were clustering the customers to make it easier on the maids the next day.
I don’t know how many men were in that room, but they brought in women for “brief interludes” during the afternoon. At night all Billy Heck broke loose. For two nights, I got very little sleep and I just lived with it, because they ended by midnight or so. However, on Thursday night, I had to get some sleep. The next day, I would pack my car before 6:00 a.m., head to the school and work for a full day, and then drive six hours to get home. I needed to be rested. That was not a part of their plan. They had the Mother of All Parties going on in that room, and I counted more than 25 people streaming in and out in the space of a few hours.
1. I tried to ignore the noise of the headboard banging against the wall (yes they were doing “that” in a crowd!), and of those varmints hollering and slamming the door every time they shut it(which was every few minutes). I gritted my teeth and thought, “It will go away.”
2. It didn’t go away. I turned on the television and the air conditioner to try to drown out the noise. They took this as a challenge and got louder still.
3. My momma had told me to be polite, so I decided to try that approach. I heard some of them in the hall, so I stepped out and with a smile on my face and my sweetest Southern drawl I asked, “Gentleman, could I ask you to please keep the noise down just a tiny bit. I have a long drive ahead of me tomorrow and I need to get a little sleep. I would appreciate it so much. Thank you.”
4. These men were not “gentlemen.” They laughed, used swear words that I would be mortified to print (I am capable of turning the air blue if I start cussing but they even embarrassed me), and called me a euphemism for a female dog. I did not see the humor in it. Now, I didn’t like the idea of being a “tattletale,” but they didn’t give me any choice! I called the front desk.
5. The little girl at the front desk was barely out of her teens, and she was a timid little thing. I told her, “Honey, those men are making too much noise for me to sleep. Can you ask them to quieten down a little bit?” She said, “Well, I’ll ask, but you know they are guests here, too.”
6. I heard the phone ring in that room, and after they answered it the men started roaring with laughter. The noise escalated. They started fighting and slamming each other against the walls. I got dressed and marched downstairs to the front desk. The girl said, “Ma’am, I tried to tell them, but they won’t listen to me.” I told that little girl, “This isn’t right. Can’t you call security?” “Well,” she said, “the guard is on supper break right now.” Of course. I told her to tell him to get up there as soon as he could.
7. Well, a little while later I heard a knock on the door, and I eavesdropped. I heard the security guard, who sounded young enough not to have grown whiskers yet, as he asked them to be quiet. Shoot. I don’t think he was back on the elevator before those men were yelling again. They had some cronies outside under the windows yelling, too. The men in the room were throwing beers down and God knows what else.
8.All that night, the noise kept up. Even if they had gotten quiet, at this point I was too riled up to sleep. So, I just tossed and turned and plotted.
9. By 4:30 a.m., it was silent in the room next door. The men had finally passed out, I guess. It was almost time for my alarm to go off. My night was over. I got up and got dressed very quietly. Then, I began to load my car. One trip at a time. Every time I opened the door, I made sure to slam it shut hard behind me. It took me seven trips.
10. When I came upstairs to get my last bag, I turned my television set around to face their wall. Then, I turned it on at full volume. I think there was an exercise program playing on the Spanish station, with lots of loud music.
11. With an evil grin on my face, I set the alarm clock to go off at full volume in about thirty more minutes.
12. As I went out of the room, I banged the door shut one last time for good measure, and pounded on their door as I went past.
13. In the lobby, I saw one of the house telephones. Gleefully, I dialed their room. One of the men answered groggily and I hung up on him. Then, I called again. Two more times.
Satisfied that I had gotten a little bit of my own back, I went off to school. Later that weekend, when I was safely home and rested, I wrote a letter to the management of that hotel. I complained about the experience I had. The management sent me a letter apologizing profusely, and gave me a coupon for a discount at the hotel the next time I choose to stay there.
Oh, yeah. Like that’s gonna happen! Don’t leave the lights on for me.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Leave a comment and you will be magically linked on this post. Then go visit other Thursday Thirteen participants. Come back another day and “set a spell” on the porch with me.
Here are some Thursday Thirteens I’ve enjoyed this morning:
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Technorati Tags: hotel, humor, Thursday Thirteen
I’ve had stays in hotels like that, too, and what it taught me is that Step One is asking to be moved to a different room. WAY far away.
That’s well and good, but I was already ensconced! I had things in the drawers and in the closet for two days before they moved in. I couldn’t see the point at the time.~skt
I would have gone postal!
~skt
But, I thought only postal WORKERS did that?!
I once had a job interview on November 6th. Bonfire night is November 5th over here. I needed a good nights sleep. Unfortunately you can’t ask an entire nation to stop setting off fireworks. And calling all of them at 6:30 would have been a little impractical too…
Sorry you didn’t get to taste revenge.
~skt
Sometimes courtesy does not pay. I won’t tell you your TV probably didn’t penetrate their drunken stupor enough for them to know you bothered. You could always just buy a tiny vansized RV, you are more apt to get sleep - and there are more windows to open - oh, but you have to do your own cleaning - and dumping.
Unfortunately, it is not just a TX problem - and surprisingly enough, in some of the brand new motels - the walls are less soundproof then before. Travel is not what it could be, but this made a good “glad we weren’t there” TT.
I wouldn’t want to drive an RV to the places I travel, Marcia. I’m already a bad enough driver with just my Honda Element! Don’t burst my bubble. I thought I got back at them :lol~skt
They sent you a coupon!!!
Yep…like I would use it!~skt
Ugh. What a night.
No kidding! Thanks for stopping by!~skt
OH…you were a lot nicer than me!!!! I think I would lost it!!!! Hope you have better hotels in the future!!! Happy TT!
I hope I do, too. I would love to hear what YOUR revenge would be. I didn’t think I was being very nice
~skt
Love your creativity….I might have banged into their door going by while loading up the car.
That is a miserable night, could be worse, you could own a camper and they could be your neighbors. Been there, done that, sold the camper! I hate inconsiderate, drunk, rude people! ( our neighbors were kicked out, the year after we sold, “we” were the only ones who complained to the campground even though everyone was complaining among themselves)
I try my best, Jen
. It can ALWAYS be worse! Yeah, neighbors are worse. Sounds like your experience was worse than mine~skt
I had a night like that once in a hotel . . . the TRUCKERS next door were watching WW whatever . . . wrestling. And YELLING. OMG. It was awful.
And don’t even get me started about the Red Lion Inn in Bakersfield with NO hot water.
Hey, I’m tagging you Decided to tag you to participate in “Eight Things About Me.” Come on by, read the rules and then let me know when you post your response.
Thanks in advance to playing along!
Wrestling! Yeah, those fellas were rednecks! I’ll stop by.~skt
Whoa. I’ve had bad experiences, including the youth hockey team who broke the elevators in the hotel (two of the three, anyway) and all sorts of other wild adventures, but nothing as frustrating as that.
I did once get yelled at for making too much noise in a hotel lobby … at 9AM on a Friday. I looked at the woman and said, “It’s past time for business guests to be at their destinations and where the hell were you when my neighbors were screaming at five AM? And you’re mad at ME?”
They backed down. Go figure.
Hotels seem to be a wonderful place for bad experiences! Too big a chance of running into the crazy folks.~skt
I think I would hav called the police!!
Man, you are way more generous than most folks would’ve been. They could have at least moved you to another room away from the monkeys.
Great TT post.
I could have moved I guess, but I was perverse enough to believe that I had “squatter’s rights” since I had been in one room all week.~skt
I think I would have called the police as well. I liked your revenge though.
If the police had come out, we would have been talking to them all night, and they might not have gotten carted away! Then what would I do?~skt
Oh man, I feel for you. I can’t stand it when I encounter jerks around. That’s really awesome that you got back at them though. Even though I doubt that they’ll never know, it’s good that you let out some of the anger on them rather than keeping it all in and affecting yourself. Way to fight.
Well, Derek, I’m great at fighting as long as I don’t come face to face with my opponent
!~skt
I love your revenge! We would get along just fine!
I already figured we would
~skt
What an experience. Yuck.
We stayed at a place in San Diego that was a nice new complex and the people next door weren’t crazy or anything like your friends were but the walls were so thin we could hear every sneeze, every word they said. I could tell our neighbors were Japanese and what show they were watching on t.v. I couldn’t believe they’d build a place that non-noise friendly.
Michelle, those hotels don’t spend any more money than they have to, because it’s about profit. I always have to turn on the air conditioner for white noise.~skt
Well done ! those people don’t know the word “polite” !
No, they sure didn’t! ~skt
Nice . . . like poetry in fact. Have you ever seen those news shows where they shine a black light on the beds and sofas in motels? That’s why they leave the lights on for us!!! LOL. Great Thursday 13.
OH!! Disgusting! I have seen those shows! I strip the covers off the bed first thing. Ick! Damien I was doing fine until you mentioned that! Wonder if they washed the covers in the room next door to me. Eeeeww!~skt
[...] give myself very good advice but very seldom follow it.” Thanks to This Eclectic Life for a humorous post about bad hotel neighbors. I was inspired to do a TT after reading that [...]
That definitely qualifies as the night from hell, but I laughed so hard at your ingenious pay back. Good for you.
Happy TT.
It was a very loooong night, I can tell you that! Happy TT to you, too. Thanks for visiting~skt
Are you kidding me?!?!
I liked your leaving though…the alarm clock is the ultimate revenge
Yeah, I thought the gal at the desk was a half-bubble off plumb, myself. I had been a paying guest all week! Oh well.~skt
I’m not 13-Thirteening today, but I had to see what you had up your blog for 13. So glad I did. Love your payback. Priceless. Stumbled.
And, I love you for that stumble, Susie J. It’s already gotten me some traffic! I love the series you’ve been doing about your son’s entrepreneurial activities in school!~skt
Thanks for the linky! I am an equal opportunity nut job!
And, I appreciate that, yes I do!
~skt
Very creative revenge. I would have asked to be moved especially since you had to pack everything up in the morning anyway.
On a positive note, it made for great reading. Thanks for the chuckle this morning.
You are so welcome. I can say, that at least the experience gave me a story
~skt
Sometimes Revenge does just taste ooooooooh so sweet it’s hard to resist! I can just see you do all of those things, you probably had a sneaky gleam in your eyes! My favorite is the tv blaring and the phone calls - thanks for a good laugh!
I didn’t know people did ‘that’ while others were in the room, I guess I am such a prude…lol!
These people did “that.” The phone was my favorite
~skt
I agree with your comments leading into your TT, and add that by taking a little thought in creating your blog those who visit feel that they haven’t wasted their time.
I feel for your poor nights sleep but the rewards of the morning after must still make you grin with malicious glee - or is that just me being happy to find someone who gets satisfaction from getting their justified revenge. Classic… way to go girl!
Thank you, Robyn. I must say that the adrenalin rush of getting my revenge is the only thing that kept me pumped long enough to get all the way home late that night!~skt
Great ‘payback’…I love it!! Unfortunately, my ideas like that always come too late.
??:
(the morning phone calls were a nice touch.
)
Thanks, Mo. The phone calls were my favorite part. I would have kept calling, but I was afraid they would come storming downstairs.
~skt
I would have demanded another room as far away from those boneheads as possible! Wow, what an awful experience.
Years ago, the former and I were at a motel in San Jose, CA. We’d just arrived and were taking our bags up to the room when a couple of low-lifes told me to ‘dump the loser’ and party with them. I told them the only losers I saw were them.
Your paybacks were perfect!
I thought they were worthwhile. I love your pics of your vacation! Did you notice that?~skt
You’ve done your usual wonderful job of making this experience a fun read, but boy howdy, that must have been miserable. I guess the law of averages will catch up to you now and then as much as you have to stay in hotels, and you’ll be next to folks like this.
Makes me angry just to read about it.
Again, JAM, it’s one of those cases that you just try to go with the flow. I tried hard to do that, but evil Shelly came out in the end.
~skt
Wow did this bring back memories. Stayed in a fancy hotel where there just happened to be a cross-dressing convention going on. And you can imagine the kind of questions my three kids had! Oiy.
Cross-dressers aren’t a problem, Joy. In my “artsy-fartsy” world I know several and they are a mild lot
. If your children ask questions, it’s a good time to teach them tolerance. However, if those cross-dressers are having a WILD PARTY, then you have my permission to be as intolerant as I was!! 
~skt
Revenge is SWEET, SWEET, SWEET!!! This was a great story and I really enjoyed it.
As for the group thing, my husband says there are some guys in one building at his work who will go out after work, rent a hotel room and bring in women. Then those guys go to work again together the next day! YUCK!!
I know, I don’t understand it either. Go figure! Revenge is indeed tasty.~skt
I’d have personally called the law and had them removed!
A group was removed from a nice motel near New Orleans one night - lots of us complained! Sounded like they were playing. Also, last year, my daughter called and reported about 25 boys holed up in one room, having a party, and they got removed, as well. We pay our money just as they do!
My Thursday Thirteen is finally up.
If I had called the police, they might not have gotten arrested, and then I would REALLY have had a problem
~skt
Oh, I see, yeah, it’d be a pain to move if you were all settled in for a long-term stay.
I might have considered it, but you have to see how much junk I carry!!~skt
I think I would send the coupon back along with a “Kiss My You Know What Note”. Geez!!!!! Hopefully, the flea bags contracted more than just bed bug bites, if you know what I mean….
But I have to say, I adore your revenge tactics paired with your “evil grin”! I can picture it and it’s a riot!!!!
Jessica The Rock Chick
If I had sent back the coupon, gal, I would have spent a stamp! That’s good money after bad. Evil grin is probably my normal expression….~skt
There are just certain things you can’t mess with. Sleep, food, hydration…Those essential things we need to survive. You are quite the lady though. I like how you got back at them. All married
I’m sure. Just a bunch of ho’s if you ask me. Very entertaining post. 
Thanks, Sandee. I think they were visited by a bunch of ho’s…but then I don’t know that for sure.
~skt
I’d not realised the unintended consequence of my TT would be cat taunting
It’s a perfect tool
~skt
One of my worst pet peeves; loud neighbors who have no respect for you or others.
As to what you did, honey… I would have done the same. Oh yeah. Good for you.
Sleep deprivation can drive people mad so really… they earned their punishment.
I was pretending I was their “Karma.” Actually, for doing that, my karma will probably get me!
~skt
I don’t even know where to begin with that. So I’ll just say. Good. Very good. I’ll be calling you when I need to seek revenge.
Feel free to do so, Shauna. I’ll be proud to help in any way I can!~skt
Holy Cow! You are such a good writer. I am jealous…..
??:
I am always astounded at how rude people can be! At least you got a little bit of revenge.
Ahhhhhh, Shelly, you tell a story so well! What rude and thoughtless young fellows, and I laughed and laughed to read about your payback — in your case, revenge was oh-so-sweet!
Happy TT to you!
LOL My husband has been in some loud hotels, But that one takes the cake. I’m sure you could have called the police yourself, though. I am just mean like that. Or you could have demanded they give you a room far away from everyone else after the second night started up again.
This is the funniest TT I’ve read in quite some time. Thanks for posting it. I’ve had my own hotel nightmares. I won’t do a TT about them, but I think I might write about one for tomorrow’s Friday Flashback. Thanks for inspiring me.
Go for it, girl. I appreciate the kind words.~skt
WOW - that is nuts!!! I loved your post after this one on getting the most out of Meme’s - great post!!!
Thanks, Crystal. I dropped by your “house” a day late and love the look of your blog! Hope to visit with you again.~skt
Good grief…
If that happens again, tell the folks at the front desk that either they stop the noise or you will - by calling the police. Hotels never, ever like to have the police come take care of disturbing-the-peace calls. But if you happen to run into Ms. Timid and Simpering Sam the Security Guard again, you have another option: call the police on these rude individuals. (The bonus there is that if there are underage people or drugs or heavy alcohol usage at these things, the police will have another excuse to show them to their new hotel room for the night: the local lockup.)
That’s not being evil.
Contacting the local chapter of Hells’ Angels and telling them that some braggarts are dissing Harleys…now -=that’s=- evil.
LOL! I like your definition of evil…and I might use it if I ever find myself in the same situation.~skt