Saturday, November 26, 2011

How to get a free night's stay in a hotel...


I stayed at a Marriott hotel in Savannah, GA a few months back. It was a very nice place, in fact, no complaints about the posh Neuvo-Asian decor, or the two bathrooms. 

My accident from 2006 has left very few ongoing issues for me, except one. I have some chronic pain in my left side that tends to flair from exhaustion, stress and lack of sleep. All of which are possibilities when I travel... with or without Nuevo-Asian decor. So, I carry a bottle of Norco, an interesting blend of Hydrocodone and Tylenol. (since Tylenol alone doesn't seem to cut it for me these days). 

The first day I was in Savannah, I left the room, with the "Do Not Disturb" sign up... and came back about three hours later, in need of a little pain reduction. That's when I discovered that a lot of my Norco had vanished. 

The hotel manager scanned the door swipes and discovered that sure enough, someone from housekeeping had come into the room at exactly the same time my Norco grew legs. (They issue, he told me, a new key to each housekeeping staff, every day). Coincidence? I don't think so. But even now, the manager claims the person flatly denied any such thing, (never mind that he/she entered in spite of the DND sign!!!) ... and, "well, it's your word against theirs". Hmmmm. In the end I think Marriott credited my rewards account (after three phone calls and two emails) with 5,000 points or something. I think that can be used to upgrade to bigger towels the next time I stay at a Marriott.

So today, I am in Tampa FL. I don't want to miss an opportunity to get more reward points from Sheraton so... I set up a Contour camera on a 3-second time lapse interval just before I left the room today. And... the results are, well let's say, INTERESTING. It would be silly for me to write it out, when I've got some pretty good footage.

Have a look at the video and see for yourself that there is just something about prescriptions that make a person stop and well... wonder, I suppose, about the street value of little white pills.

I will continue my little game while I stay here and see what evolves. Is it just me, or does this woman spend just a little too much time on an activity that shouldn't take ANY time at all. When I do the math on the time intervals, she spends around 15 seconds just reading the label! 

Makes you wonder.... well... it makes ME wonder anyway, how many free nights I'll get from Sheraton if I actually succeed in documenting it. 

Sweet dreams.....



Here's a large, High Resolution version of the video if you have a fast connection: Tampa Sheraton