What is a motel like?

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Nicole_Gestalt

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Hiya,

Ok I'm currently working on a piece in which my main character goes to a motel for a few nights. Now living in the Uk and never having actually slept anywhere other then my house or a caravan I suddenly find myself short of ways of describing the motel. Is there anyone who can help me?

I need to know what in general the rooms look like, the sort of things they have in them etc.. it doesn't need to be a wonderful place I just need general ideas as to what they are like?

I hope someone can help,
Thanks in advance
Nicole
 

Mandy-Jane

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One thing I've found common to all motel rooms is that they are musty smelling, and have furniture in them that was outdated about 10 years ago. The beds are covered with about 5 heavy blankets and a stiff white sheet. The towels are always white and usually very thin and worn. There is a kettle - once again, very old, and a tray with sachets of sugar, coffee and tea bags (usually a cheap brand). There is always a bible in a bedside drawer, and most often a hurriedly put-together folder of motel rules and local attractions. The carpet is worn and the curtains are stiff and smelly. (Yes I only stay in cheap motels.)

Hope this helps.
 

Nicole_Gestalt

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Ol' Fashioned Girl said:
What era are we in? That will make a great difference in the furnishings, decoration, etc. And are we in the city or along the highway or in a small town? What part of the country? :)

Thanks for the reply :)

Ok the era is well pretty much now, i've not specified a date in my writing but i'm using now as the standard (so 90's - 2007). The motel is in the heart of a desert (possibly Nevada although its not going to be named so it doesn't have to be specific) and at present i've put it in a small town but if along the highway is going to be more likely i'll move it to there.
 

eldragon

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There's a sign posted on the inside of the motel door, with all the rules about check-in, and check-out, etc. The door will usually have a peephole, and two locks. On the inside knob, there is a plastic hanger that has two options - one is for requesting maid service and the other is for privacy.

There's usually one big window with drapes.

A large heater / Ac combo unit that either stays full blast on - making it too hot or too cold, or it's off, making you too hot or too cold. When they work, that is.

The floors are usually covered with low carpeting. The beds are usually queen - with white sheets, two pillows, a blanket and a cheap bedspread.

There are usually two bedside tables, each with it's own lamp. One of these will have a telephone on it, so that you can call for room service, or dial 9 for outside calls. There's usually a charge for all calls, sometimes local calls are free.

There's usually cheap, large, framed pictures/prints on the walls. Seascapes, Magnolias, etc.

Across from the bed is usually a sideboard style desk - with a drawer that holds a bible, a pad of paper and sometimes a pen. There is usually a phonebook and sometimes ads for local businesses. Sometimes there are questionaires - like tattle sheets to see how clean the room was, etc. If the place is nice, there might be a room service menu, and sometimes there's a mini-fridge. Some of the mini-fridges are locked, and if you open it, it's full of soda, beer, wine, etc...if you consume them, the charges go on your bill. These charges are usually 2/3 times what the item is worth. Ditto with the bottles of water sitting on the desk - they aren't complimentary either.

There's always a mirror in the room. More lights on the walls.

A TV, either on a stand or bolted to a high shelf on the wall.

There's a place to hang your clothes, and the metal hangers are attached to the rod. There are usually bags for dirty laundry.

There is usually a round table with two chairs. Ashtrays if it's a smoking room. Matches if it's a smoking room.

The bathroom will have a stand-up tub/shower enclosure - with samples of soap, shampoo and conditioner. There are stacks of folded towels and washcloths in the bathroom - sometimes on a metal rack. The toilet has a paper sanitary ring on it - keeping the bottom two layers closed so that, when you open the seat - the paper ring breaks. This is supposed to ensure you that the toilet was cleaned.

There's a small plastic trashcan in the bathroom, lined with a small plastic bag. There is usually another one in the main room.

That's about it.
 
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Jamesaritchie

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Motels

Depends entirely on the motel. Some are run down rat traps, others are very, very nice, and quite expensive. Technically, the only difference between a motel and a hotel is whether the room opens to a hallway inside the building, or to the great outdoors.
 

pink lily

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Good answers so far. Seedy, cheap motels are prone to infestations of body lice, which could cause, say, an 18-year-old girl and her monogamous 19-year-old boyfriend to argue over who cheated on whom, since they both suddenly developed a case of the crabs. Their relationship might come to a tragic end based on accusations and denials of infidelity. The girl might learn, many years later, say, while waiting at a bus stop, that the owners of that particular seedy motel refused to let the workers use hot water to wash the sheets, because it was too expensive.

Sorry, Steve, I really thought you were cheating. But it turned out that the motel was truly that disgusting. We should have known, after seeing the smears on the mirrored walls.
 

Kate Thornton

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High end motels are really nice - you won't find any of the icky stuff mentioned above at most Embassy Suites or other nice motels. The nice ones are clean, comfortable, plainly decorated and come with a hot breakfast or continental breakfast, a mini-bar refrigerator, temperature controls, hair dryers, shampoo and other nice toiletries and lots of clean towels. The beds are comfy and clean, with nice thread count sheets and comforters. I stayed in several really nice motels in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California and Nevada recently.

I have stayed in the icky ones, too (I travel a lot) but now avoid them whenever I can. I have found a high-end motel to be preferable to a B&B if I am interested in hitting the road early.
 

BottomlessCup

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I stay in hotels about 300 nights a year with work.

Eldragon described them perfectly. Dead on.

And "nice" hotels are exactly the same as crappy hotels, but with newer carpet and fancier soap. A standard room at Bellagio is essentially the same as a standard room at a run-down hotel in Cleveland. Just nicer and cleaner.

Keep in mind that a Nevada hotel will also have slot machines and video poker.
 

jennifer75

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Mandy-Jane said:
One thing I've found common to all motel rooms is that they are musty smelling, and have furniture in them that was outdated about 10 years ago. The beds are covered with about 5 heavy blankets and a stiff white sheet. The towels are always white and usually very thin and worn.

The carpet is worn and the curtains are stiff and smelly. (Yes I only stay in cheap motels.)

Hope this helps.

These details match almost all of my motel staying memories. Except usually only one blanket between a horrifically stiff white starched sheet and a horribly itchy bedspread.
 

jennifer75

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eldragon said:
The floors are usually covered with low carpeting. The beds are usually queen - with white sheets, two pillows, a blanket and a cheap bedspread.

There are usually two bedside tables, each with it's own lamp. One of these will have a telephone on it, so that you can call for room service, or dial 9 for outside calls. There's usually a charge for all calls, sometimes local calls are free.

There's usually cheap, large, framed pictures/prints on the walls. Seascapes, Magnolias, etc.

Exactly. Except the carpet is usually teal/turquoise or a dark red.


eldragon said:
Across from the bed is usually a sideboard style desk - with a drawer that holds a bible, a pad of paper and sometimes a pen. There is usually a phonebook and sometimes ads for local businesses. Sometimes there are questionaires - like tattle sheets to see how clean the room was, etc. If the place is nice, there might be a room service menu, and sometimes there's a mini-fridge. Some of the mini-fridges are locked, and if you open it, it's full of soda, beer, wine, etc...if you consume them, the charges go on your bill. These charges are usually 2/3 times what the item is worth. Ditto with the bottles of water sitting on the desk - they aren't complimentary either.

These things are most likely found in your Las Vegas motel/hotel rooms. Basic motel 8's, comfort Inns and such don't usually offer the mini-fridge, or note pads/pens.
 

Jamesaritchie

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jennifer75 said:
Exactly. Except the carpet is usually teal/turquoise or a dark red.




These things are most likely found in your Las Vegas motel/hotel rooms. Basic motel 8's, comfort Inns and such don't usually offer the mini-fridge, or note pads/pens.

Good, well-stocked motels are all over. Don't know what a Motel 8 is like, but some Comfort Inns are very nice, if you get the best rooms. We stayed in a Comfort Inn last year, and it was great. We had three rooms, two queen size beds and one King size bed, and a full kitchenette. The fridge came stocked with drinks, there was a microwave, coffee maker, sink, etc.

There were also two writing tables, broadband access, a sofa, and four comfy chairs. Can't remember what we paid. Something like $125, I think, but this could be off a few dollars.
 

Del

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I stayed in a motel in Gettysburg. It was awesome. Everything was antique. It was behind General Lee's headquarters. Then, Gettysburg is big on Civil War ambiance.

It was only a single room and bath but it was like stepping into yesterday. Pictures on the wall were 19th century prints. The bed was brass rail and soft. The dresser probably had some real value to it.

Mostly I find cheap dressers and headboards with unimaginative decor. Hard bouncy mattresses. I'd refer to these as a 'sleep and leave'. Colors are usually neutral except one that was bright orange. Ick.
 

Sandi LeFaucheur

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I haven't stayed in a motel in 30 years, but here are some memories:
"Magic fingers" mattresses--you put a quarter in the slot and this thing rolled around inside the mattress for 15 minutes, giving you a "massage".
Old motels whose electrics weren't up to electric kettles. (Evidently, Canada had electric kettles before the US. We had a habit of fusing motels.)
In Norfolk VA--sitting on the toilet seeing how many cockroaches I could hit with a toilet roll. And the sailors from the local base on a weekend pass who tried to break in through the adjoining door in the night. And suspect rustlings in the mattress.
In rural (very rural) Quebec during the FLQ crisis--my mother sleeping with a saucepan beside her bed and my sister and I sleeping with the dog on the bed, afraid that we were going to be murdered in the night. Lots of people running around on the roof. A knife stuck behind the doorjamb down the hall. Broken bathroom mirror and beerstains all over the carpet. Lots of comings and goings at 3 a.m., despite the fact that we were miles from anywhere in the mountains.
Roller blinds that parted company with the wall when we pulled them down. Potbellied stoves in the bedrooms.
And just so people don't think all cheap hotels/motels are in US/Canada: The Brook Green Hotel in Hammersmith, London, England, where everything we touched fell off--the window latch, door knob, you name it. Later, when we moved to Canada, we saw a double-decker tour bus in Niagara Falls with "Brook Green Hotel" on the destination board! We fell about laughing, imagining how people thought it was some fancy place when it was anything but. (It might be nice now, though, I suppose...that was in 1963...)
 

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In addition to what Pam said (which describes the kind of motels I usually stayed in), there is often a swimming pool, at least here on the west coast. That's even true of seedy motels. I don't know if it's available in the UK, but the motel in "My Name is Earl" fits that description.

Also, for some reason, mid-grade motels (like you'd find in the AAA guide) are much more likely to provide free-WiFi internet connections than nice hotels. Who cares if the decor is crappy (and it almost always is) if I can get online?
 

WildScribe

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Seriously, the best advice I can give is to find a small town near Los Vegas on a map, and look for a best western or motel (6? 8?) in that town. They will have photos of the rooms on their web sites. Easy and ACCURATE.

ETA: Here's one in Vegas, with lots of room views and hotel views.
 
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BottomlessCup

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Peggy said:
Also, for some reason, mid-grade motels (like you'd find in the AAA guide) are much more likely to provide free-WiFi internet connections than nice hotels. Who cares if the decor is crappy (and it almost always is) if I can get online?

I've noticed this, too. And not just with internet - with all amenities.

Even within a chain's "product line".

Holiday Inn Express has free broadband, free breakfast, and lots of cable channels. Holiday Inn proper: you lose free breakfast and some cable channels. Crown Plaza: you're paying $9.95 for internet and the TV has maybe 10 channels.

It's stupid.
 

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Last year, our two families found ourselves off our route and had to find a place to stay in Quebec. We ended up in what they called the "Bridal Suite". It had mirrored ceilings (with cracks) a round metal fireplace, a jacuzzi in the bedroom and nasty shag carpeting. We called it 'The Elvis Room'.
 

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eldragon said:
The bathroom will have a stand-up tub/shower enclosure - with samples of soap, shampoo and conditioner.

Grrrr ...

I only WISH that these places provided hair rinse/conditioners -- it seems to me that the great majority now provide a small bottle of so-called "conditioning shampoo" that leaves my hair feeling as if I had washed it in straight lye.

[sorry, just a pet peeve of mine I had to get off my chest]
 

janetbellinger

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In one motel room I stayed in, the sheets hadn't been changed since the previous user left and there were bodily fluid stains still on them. We had 3 and 5 year old children with us, too. Another time, we had about one sixteenth of a toilet paper roll to do the four of us for the duration.
 

lfraser

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My personal favourite motel stay was in an establishment we were forced to stay in because everything else was full. The mattress had to have been thirty years old. The pillows felt like there were rocks in them. And during the night my partner stretched and the sound of the ancient sheets ripping woke us both up. In the morning I had to place a towel (one of ours) on the floor of the shower so I didn't have to stand on the mould and general ick growing in the grout. We had planned on making a quick breakfast in the room (it had a kitchen), but, well, no. Just no.
 
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