This is number four in the series documenting my recent trip to Utah. Today we discuss the hotel. The hotel near the Salt Lake City International Airport that I couldn’t find to save my life because of all the construction. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to a Grand Prix race. Long Beach, California has been known to host a Grand Prix every now and then. They put up barricades to officially protect the spectators from the vehicles. Some would say the barricades redirect traffic flow and allow drivers the ability to drive super fast, using the entire roadway (both directions) for their dangerous dance of speed and precision driving. Truth be known, nothing happens at the Long Beach Grand Prix in a high-performance race car that doesn’t happen most weekends with either a ’67 Monte Carlo, a ’73 Lincoln or a herd of ’04 Subarus and Mazdas. Okay, I doubt the Grand Prix drivers are gang members or a tagger crew on their way to the next target, but you get the idea.
Except for the fact it was pouring rain, night-time and I’d never driven on that road before, I felt like I was in the Grand Prix. Barricades on my right, barricades on my left, orange cones here, flashing lights there; it was almost awesome. Had I not been going 25 MPH or less looking for non-existent street signs, I would have had fun. I was like a pace car. The locals behind me, the “pros”, clearly didn’t appreciate my detail for respecting the posted construction speed limit signs. Okay, that’s a lie. I didn’t care about the speed limit. I just wanted to find the freaking hotel.
My daughter was able to get me into the general area, kind of like an FAA radar. I then had to switch to “the tower” which, in this case, was the front desk of the hotel. Even the woman who worked there couldn’t easily direct me. We had to go through a series of landmarks based on flashing lights; turn right at the flashing red signals, straight through the next set of flashing reds and then left at the flashing yellow barricades. No street names, no business names, just flashing lights. When I got to the front desk the woman who helped me said the construction was causing all types of problems with getting guests from the airport to the hotel.
You may remember that I love Travelocity, particularly the Secret Saver deals (or whatever they’re called). I used the site to book my room for two nights in Salt Lake City. I won’t say the name of the hotel but it was, by Travelocity ratings, a 3 to 4 star venue. It had a heated, indoor pool and hot tub that bordered on the Japanese restaurant within the hotel. They had complimentary coffee and pastries available 24 hours a day and the staff was very courteous.
I went up to the room and just about wet myself. The door opened into a living room with a large flat screen TV, a sofa, a recliner and a complete kitchen which included very nice quality plastic plates but actual glassware for drinks. Down the hallway was the restroom and then the bedroom. The bedroom had a very large bed, an even bigger flat screen than the front room and a step-down (step-up, in this case) tub. I was very, very happy.
I had a great time in SLC mostly because I was able to see my daughter, not because I enjoyed the hotel. Your results, of course, will vary.