Personal Terrors – Cleveland, Ohio June 19, 2022

Let’s kick off today’s fun post by reviewing what hotel star ratings really mean.  Ron and I have gotten a crash course in this the past week as we have had two scary/icky hotels. 

1 Star – Hooker Hotel.  This was our first hotel when we hit planet Columbus.  While technically they got three stars this one breaks the rule where ratings matter and we need to note that comments are important too.

2 Star – Trailer Park.  These hotels are designated by crunchy sheets with cigarette burns in them, sticky floors, and without naming names let’s just say I wish they would not leave the light on for me.  After an extremely chilly 58-degree ride towards Cleveland, we stopped in Ashland, Ohio hoping to warm up and just grab a hotel.  Unfortunately, they were all sold out but this one.  It didn’t look terrible but 1 hours after checking in we decided we could stand it no longer and checked back out.  At least we got a refund and moved along to Middleburg Heights where we found a much better place.

3 Star – Family Central.  This is your typical stay designated by the halls being mobbed by kids typically at some sort of sporting tournament.  You have the soccer mom’s cooking the family dinner of hotdogs in their hotel coffee pots and simply hope you don’t share a wall with one of them.

4 Star – Corporate Road Warriors.  These are the hotels where everyone is expensing it and they pretty much keep to themselves leaving the common spaces largely untouched.  The upside here is there is usually a nice breakfast included.

5 Star – Land of the Rich.  I think I have only stayed on a 5 star once or twice, always on the company dime, and it tends to have an inordinate number of wealthy women who seem to do nothing but keep the onsite spa full.

Ron and I decided we fall somewhere between the 3 & 4 star hotels and if we are lucky, 4+.  See we want something clean but are too cheap to pay consistently for a 4+ however we do occasionally find one with a really good price and are most comfortable here being prior corporate travelers.  Now that we have personally familiarized ourselves with these ratings, we hope to have better luck with our hotel choices!

At least we got to top off our time with a great visit with Daughter’s #2 & #4 for Father’s Day and Ron for to face one of his fears…heights.  The kids decided we were going ziplining.  The poor guy hardly survived.  See for yourself.