Sweet Dreams

I’m in Minneapolis this week staying at the Double Tree and the beds are awesome. Quite a switch from last year. I was in town last year at the same time and had decided to stay at the Holiday Inn Express. When I arrived I realized that the hotel was currently being remodeled. My room had no chest of drawers, a rock-hard bed, no hot water in the middle of the day and a drippy shower head (which by the way really burned me up because I had just seen an add in USA Today about all new shower heads in the HIE rooms!). There was no restaurant, no workout facility and no pool…even though the web site boasted all these features. I had no forewarning of the remodeling before I showed up I’m sure because they figured (rightly so) that I would decide to stay somewhere else. Well, they burned me once…but not again. I’ll never stay in a Holiday Inn Express. "Stay Smarter?" Yeah right.
This year it was the Double Tree, which by the way is being remodeled as well…but I’d never know it. It’s done in a very subtle and behind the scenes way. It’s been great and it goes way beyond the chocolate chip cookie…although that’s pretty good too.
I wonder what might have happened if Holiday Inn Express would have admitted to the remodeling when I registered and offered to upgrade me or cut my rate, give me restaurant vouchers, maybe a day-membership at a local club. What would that have cost? What would that have done in my case? I probably would’ve been a lifelong fan. Instead…my advice…never stay at a Holiday Inn Express. You can’t trust ’em. Hooray for Double Tree/Hilton