Let me start this post by saying: Never stay at the Howrd Johnson in Hot Springs! Unless, of course, you enjoy being treated with disrespect by a manager in windpants and flip flops. Then by all means, stay there.
So, my friends and I decided to go to Hot Springs this weekend. We needed a break. We needed to not be in Searcy. If you've ever been to Searcy, then you udnerstand why. We booked some rooms at the HJ, they looked nice online, and there was a deal, so we got two night for $190. We got the confirmation email, 4 adults, 2 nights, $190. Remember those numbers. They are important later.
So Friday, after a wonderful day hiking with the Boy, we loaded up and headed to hot springs. We got there about 9:30 and went in to get our rooms. We were charged $306!! For two hours we talked with the manager. He insisted the rate on our confirmation email was wrong and refused to take the charge off the card. We told him we no longer wanted to stay there and we would pay the cancellation fee and he still refused to take the charge off! Now, I'm sure he thought, 4 young females, we would back down and let him rob us. Well, he picked the wrong females. At one point he asked us if we were lawyers. He turned into a 5 year old. Just telling us no and refusing to do anything. He went back and hid in his little "office" (actually the bar in the hotel). He yelled at us, he told us he couldnt refund us because he didn't have the refund code, his wife did and he couldnt call her (even though he had just been on the phone with her). After two hours, only after we threatened to call the cops, did the guy refund our money and charge us $155 cancellation fee. He still lost money. He should have just given us the origianl rate. But we would have refused to stay anyway. The place was disgusting! Reeked of cigarette smoke and pee. And was completely run down and shady. Plus, we kind of figured dude was going to kill us in our sleep.
I think what burns me the most, is that if a guy had been with us, it wouldn't have gotten as ridiculous and disrespectful as it did. The guy "alan" wouldn't have dared talk to a man the way he talked to us. I guess discrimination and sexism and racism will always be around. To be completely fair, I judged him for the way he was dressed (which I think I'm justified in) and I judged him some for not being able to speak english well. Who knows, maybe he thought we were trying to screw him because he wasn't American. Either way, it was not a pleasant experience.
And we did have the confirmation email.... so..... I'm still thinking he's the bad guy in the situation.
We were proud that we stuck up for ourselves! And celebrated by getting massages and staying in the Peabody the next night, haha. Despite Fridya night, it was a good relaxing weekend, full of friends, laughter and pancakes.
I came home with a cold, but a little bit more self respect as well. And the weekend is proof positive that even if the people around you won't respect you, if you can still respect yourself, everything will be okay in the end.
Never staying in a Howard Johnson, especially the one in Hot Springs, will probably help as well.
Cheers!
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