It’s a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it’s great to have instant access to helpful information before I select my next home-away-from-home.


On the other hand, I’ve found myself spending way too much time on something that, really, should be more spontaneous — isn’t that what vacations are all about, giving in to a whim? Going with your gut instinct — hey, this place looks nice, let’s just book it?


Not these days. We want everything mapped out for us in advance, with no surprises awaiting us. It’s like the old motto for Holiday Inn: “The best surprise is no surprise.” Then again, if you’re going to drop multiple figures for a hotel room, I suppose it’s best to see what you’re in for.

So I’d rather find out in advance from somebody else who begins their post “Gross!” than experience it myself.


I like the even-handed nature of this concept. Very famous, expensive hotels have gotten bad write-ups; budget motels have been praised. Democracy in action.


I’ve found myself looking for key words when I read this particular site. “Clean” is a good sign. “Lovely” is another. “Small” pertaining to room size, is a red flag, unless it’s paired with the word “cozy.” And the word “roaches” in any way, shape or form is the signal for “don’t go there” — my favorite all-bad-things-in-one-package review came from a woman staying at a large Manhattan hotel who said her room was so small the roaches got mad and left.


The words “hair” and “moldy” don’t exactly herald five-star either. Nor does any combination of the words “unidentifiable” and “stain.”


Another caveat is “thin walls,” which recalls the words of the late actor George Sanders: the thinner your hotel room walls, the greater your odds of being housed next to the guest with all-night explosive dysentery.


Then there are those tales of the off-beat — such as the one from the young girl who leaned out the window of her high-rise New York hotel room and got hit in the head with a Frisbee. Manager!


I have learned, thanks to this site, to give my room “the sock test.” More than one writer has posted about guests walking about a room in stocking feet and the bottoms of their socks turning black. That’s a pretty good sign to leave. I’m happy to say that when I kicked off my shoes at my last hotel, the room passed the sock test with flying colors.


It’s nice, this blending of human know-how and technological savvy, but there’s also something to be said for sitting down with a good travel agent or friends who have been everywhere for advice.


Travel, after all, is a human experience, and nothing beats seeing the rapturous expression of somebody relishing the memory of the time they got upgraded at the Ritz or the horrified giggles accompanying a recollection of What Happened When They Flushed the Toilet at the Hilton.


This, of course, before they wrote about it online.




Stephen Kopfinger is a staff writer for the Living section. Write to him at skopfinger@lnpnews.com. blog comments powered by Disqus