Bonnie’s folks, intrepid ones, host an overnight at a local hotel for five of their grandkids every winter.
The kids enjoy it, there’s a pool and a game room, and it gives them a chance to visit with their cousins.
In past years, the hotel has had special activities for school vacation week, and it’s been packed.
This year, the hotel is almost empty because it changed hands and is undergoing renovation. There is so much scaffolding in the front that you had to use your imagination to figure out which door to use.
As in the past, “Grandpa Ed” asked if I’d consider joining them to give him and Judy some help, so I phoned the hotel earlier this week to see if I could finagle a decent rate.
I was told that rooms are $110 a night, no negotiation. They don’t even offer a discount for AAA.
Turns out, the rooms don’t have working televisions, microwaves or coffee makers. For $110 a night.
I couldn’t help but compare this to the Marriott Residence Inn in Norcross, Georgia, where I stayed a couple of weeks ago.
I had a beautifully appointed one-bedroom suite with a kitchenette that included a full-sized frig, stove top, microwave and, thank you very much, a well-supplied coffee maker. There were not one but two working televisions and free wi-fi. The hotel only has one pool, and it’s outdoors and was closed for the season, but it also has a nice exercise room with yet another working television.
The hotel offers both a complimentary breakfast buffet and a manager’s social hour with beer, wine and hors d’oeuvres, the latter of which is generous and hearty enough to serve as a light supper.
All of this for the princely sum of $99 a night. Given, that’s a corporate rate, but still…
One might conclude from this that Cape Cod is a rip-off, in which case one would be absolutely correct.