Is It Too Much To Ask?

We have been staying at a Holiday Inn Express. From my last experience with that chain, I expected more.

This one is only a year old. It's in tip-top shape. The service, however, is not. Yes, Mrs. Hillbilly Mom is a tough customer. But I don't think I am asking for too much. I just want the basics one would assume one was ENTITLED TO when paying a premium price for a suite at a Holiday Inn Express. Yes, Mrs. Hillbilly Mom has issues. Here are a few things that irked her during the stay.

No bedding and no pillow for the pull-out couch The Pony was destined to sleep on the first night. Farmer H said he would pick them up at the front desk when we returned from supper. I told him No Siree, Bob! The guest does not traipse through the lobby carrying his own forgotten-by-the-housekeeper bedding.

Barely enough toilet paper to spare a square. Both rolls on the bathroom holders were almost spent when we checked in. I know it is not cost effective to put a brand-new roll of TP in every bathroom every day. But we had hardly any. And we reserved this room for three nights! The girl at the front desk gave Farmer H the side-eye when he asked for bedding for the pull-out couch (we DID book for three people) and toilet paper on our way out for supper.

Still no pillow. Even though we returned to find bedding for the couch, there was no pillow. So Farmer H donated one of his. The other HI Express suite we stayed at had the bedding in the closet, pillow included.

Only two shampoos in the bathroom. The standard is a little bottle of shampoo, a little bottle of conditioner, and a little bottle of lotion. So...Mrs. HM had hair with the texture of straw all day on Wednesday, with added straw texture provided by the wind sweeping down the plain.

Stingy with the plastic cups. Believe me, I don't want glass glasses! Remember when you used to get them at hotels? Then 60 Minutes ran that segment on how housekeeping uses other people's dirty butt-towels to wipe them clean and put a little cardboard bonnet on them like they're fresh. Anyhoo...we had a total of six plastic cups when we checked in Tuesday evening, to last 3 people Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday/Friday. No more plastic cups have been left, even though we keep using them.

Substandard Breakfast Buffet. A free breakfast should at least be an edible breakfast. The Pony was disappointed due to the pancake machine proclaiming it was overheated. So he had no pancakes. He also had no biscuit, because Farmer H took the last one, and no more were brought out, even though there was another 90 minutes left of the free breakfast. Of course we did not sit there the entire 90 minutes, but you would think 30 minutes would be enough time to fetch some biscuits. Same with the cinnamon rolls, which The Pony also wanted, but they were old, and the ones that were sitting there saying they were ready were not put in the serving section. Poor Pony had to eat EGGS! Which, I don't know how they managed, were cold in some bites and lukewarm in others.

Today, we were starting to run low on our only full roll of toilet paper. I told Farmer H he needed to ask for more. He did not want to do so, but when he was down at the pool, he found four rolls stacked in the bathroom and brought one back! Also, after the room was cleaned today, we had our lotion and conditioner and more shampoo.

Not sure we'll stay here again.