"Specifically" Seaside Thailand
We have just booked our trip to Thailand. We are heading to Phuket again, but this time to picturesque Kata Beach not Karon Beach like last year. No specific reason, we just want to try something new. It got me reminiscing about the different trips we have booked over the years. Most of them have provided great memories and I look back on them fondly. On our honeymoon, which was many moons ago, I can’t remember how many years ago, exactly. Hah! I’m worse than a man.
Anyhow, at that time we booked one of the so-called unspecified tours to Crete in Greece, if you know what they are. They are discounted, roll of the dice type trips, which means you take a chance on the hotel and specific location. Basically you choose to be at the mercy of the travel agency and just hope for the best. I don’t know why we decided to go down that route for our honeymoon, but anyhow I guess we like living on the edge. So, we got lucky that time and were put into a nice hotel and it all went well. Since we felt we were on a roll and the Crete trip was such an overwhelmingly success, for our next trip, which was to Paris, we went unspecified again. This is where our lucky streak ended with an abrupt halt.
We booked only for four nights but they set is up in the worst hotel I’ve ever stayed at. Hmm, what can I compare it to? Have you heard of a comfy, cosy little place known as the Bates Motel? Well, the Bates Motel is actually luxury compared to the hotel we stayed at in Paris. What a rat trap. For the first, the lock on our door was broken. That didn’t give me a lot of peace of mind considering the fact that we had a bird’s eye view of what looked like ongoing criminal activity, taking place outside of our window. There was no bathroom or shower in our dark and dingy room, just a sink, peeling wallpaper and dusty sheets and blankets. So, I asked, “Excuse-moi but where’s the toilet and shower?” The answer mademoiselle was unbelievably, “Down the hall and to the right.”
So, we talked to our equally unlucky neighbour at the hotel, although he didn’t see it that way. (We could practically talk to him through the walls, they were so paper-thin.) It was also his first time in Paris as well, and he was excited, positive and appreciative about being there. He had a good attitude about it all, so at that point I started to take my cue from him. So, even though our digs were frightful, I decided to concentrate on what was important, that being “Paris.” We just spent most of the time out and about taking in the beautiful sights in this famous, historic city. Needless to say, we’ve decided against the unspecified option since then. We have also opted to get what we want from the get-go because we know we’ll just complain and want to switch hotels once we get there, if we don’t.
Sometimes we say, “Awwww, we don’t need to stay on the beach” but then once we arrive, it’s like “Why didn’t we book a hotel on the beach?” But you know some people prefer not to be so close to the water. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. Anyhow, we’ll see how it goes. I’m already writing the hotel, verifying that we do “not” have a room overlooking the noisy road.
