Hotel fun in Sydney
I was originally scheduled to leave for Melbourne tomorrow. Actually I should back up a bit.
I was originally originally scheduled to stay in Sydney for only a week from the 21st through the 25th of January but because the Australia Open was going on then and hotels were scarce to come by I was told to go ahead and stay for two weeks through the 1st of February. So no problem, I reserved a room for two weeks and booked a round trip ticket to Sydney. When I got to the hotel room I was booked into a non-smoking King room. Two days later I got them to put me into a smoking room and voluntarily repacked my luggage and moved.
Late into the 2nd week I was asked to extend my Sydney trip by a week to the 8th of February so I paid the $60 to change my airline ticket. When I went to extend my hotel stay I was told that all the smoking rooms (including the one I was in was booked) so I would have to move to a non-smoking room. So I packed up my luggage and moved to a non smoking double room.
Late into the third week I was told that they would like me to stay an additional week and since I was scheduled to leave on the 13th to go back to the US, that I should just cancel my return trip to Melbourne. I paid the $60 cancellation fee and extended my stay at the hotel without issue.
On the 12th of February I was told that I would not be allowed to go home (which you've read about in my previous post). I was told to return to Melbourne so I booked a ticket to Melbourne for the 16th of February (tomorrow) and extended my hotel room yet again only to be told that there weren't any double rooms available (including mine) so I had to pack my bags again and move into another room.
This room was quite nice. Like all of my other hotel rooms it had a nice 50" widescreen television but unlike the others it was a family room. The room was bigger, there was a second room with two twin beds attached also. I had a nice view of the street and could watch the almost silent monorail trains as they cruised within 10 feet of my window (silent enough where I couldn't hear them go by unless I strained to do so).
So today (Friday) I was told that they would like me to stay until Tuesday of next week. Once again I paid the $60 to change my plane ticket and once again I was told I would have to switch rooms. They apologized and offered to put me into an "Executive King" room which sounds pretty fancy so I accepted.
The "Executive King" room is complete and utter crap. The only differences from the other king room's I've been in at this hotel is access to the "Executive Lounge" which means you can get free potato chips and juice in the afternoons between 5-7pm (even though I'm rarely in my hotel before 8pm) and a free continental breakfast (which may not be that bad of a deal considering breakfast downstairs will run you $28). The television is a 19" piece which by far makes it the worse room I've stayed at in this hotel.
I cannot wait to get back to Melbourne where I'll be put into a services apartment with a stove, washer and dryer, large screen with DVD player, and a seperate bedroom. After having to repack and unpack 4 seperate times in a period of a month all within the same hotel I'm looking forward to settling down somewhere, even if it's in a foreign country I've long gotten over.